#so I want to see if I can get any planet pics with my telescope or if I need to get a better telescope

[southislandwren]

If anyone can guess how many pairs of pants I’m wearing right now you can come stargazing with me

[reflexletterpress]

Bonus astronomical content this evening… it was a pure cloudless sky so of course I had to go out to see if I could see the two planets near the Sun. To do so I went to the big field in the local park, and Sloan came along with Mr. Pink to help. Hopper, alas, stayed at home. So did the telescope, because I didn’t feel like lugging it seven blocks, so I took the binox instead. So I was worried about getting a decent clear western sky with no trees or houses, because both Mercury and Venus were pretty low, but it turns out they were easy to spot — with the binox. I couldn’t see them with the naked eye, but both were bright and obvious in the eyepiece. It was also pretty easy to get pics of both planets (Venus is first), so inferior planets for the win! Everything was setup, so I said, why not try to get a pic of Jupiter? It’s dark, the moons should be visible by now, let’s do it. Well, that’s when I wanted to throw my phone across the field after fifteen minutes of fighting cameras, software, positioning and user interface. Seriously, it just shouldn’t be this hard. You can talk about advances in AI all you want, but when the code is presented with a uniform field of dark color, and there’s ONE BRIGHT SPOT in the pixel grid, HOW BLEEDING HARD IS IT to assume, hey, maybe I should apply the Autofocus algorithm to that OBVIOUS OUTLIER ON THE VALUE HISTOGRAM? And since it’s a circular disk bookended with tiny white sparks, IT’S GOING TO BE REALLY EASY TO TELL WHEN THINGS ARE IN FOCUS. But no. Have the human use the shitty manual focus interface piecemeal to bracket shots to find the actual depth setting, because WHAT SHOULD BE FOCUS-AT-INFINITY IS SOMETHING NOT THAT. [pant pant pant] Obviously I have no opinions about any of this. At least I got one good shot, tonight we have Ganymede-Europa-Jupiter with Callisto and Io squished together. And while I was doing this, Mr. Pink decided to jump in a tree, so have a pic of him, too. #iphoneastrophotography #lunarphotography #themoon #shallowskyastronomy #newtonianreflector #telescope #114mm #galileanmoons #jupiter #io #europa #ganymede #callisto #mercury #venus #mrpink #reservoiraxolotls https://www.instagram.com/p/Cmc_C2VrRLZ/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[mindhuestudio]

Bonus astronomical content this evening… it was a pure cloudless sky so of course I had to go out to see if I could see the two planets near the Sun. To do so I went to the big field in the local park, and Sloan came along with Mr. Pink to help. Hopper, alas, stayed at home. So did the telescope, because I didn’t feel like lugging it seven blocks, so I took the binox instead. So I was worried about getting a decent clear western sky with no trees or houses, because both Mercury and Venus were pretty low, but it turns out they were easy to spot — with the binox. I couldn’t see them with the naked eye, but both were bright and obvious in the eyepiece. It was also pretty easy to get pics of both planets (Venus is first), so inferior planets for the win! Everything was setup, so I said, why not try to get a pic of Jupiter? It’s dark, the moons should be visible by now, let’s do it. Well, that’s when I wanted to throw my phone across the field after fifteen minutes of fighting cameras, software, positioning and user interface. Seriously, it just shouldn’t be this hard. You can talk about advances in AI all you want, but when the code is presented with a uniform field of dark color, and there’s ONE BRIGHT SPOT in the pixel grid, HOW BLEEDING HARD IS IT to assume, hey, maybe I should apply the Autofocus algorithm to that OBVIOUS OUTLIER ON THE VALUE HISTOGRAM? And since it’s a circular disk bookended with tiny white sparks, IT’S GOING TO BE REALLY EASY TO TELL WHEN THINGS ARE IN FOCUS. But no. Have the human use the shitty manual focus interface piecemeal to bracket shots to find the actual depth setting, because WHAT SHOULD BE FOCUS-AT-INFINITY IS SOMETHING NOT THAT. [pant pant pant] Obviously I have no opinions about any of this. At least I got one good shot, tonight we have Ganymede-Europa-Jupiter with Callisto and Io squished together. And while I was doing this, Mr. Pink decided to jump in a tree, so have a pic of him, too. #iphoneastrophotography #lunarphotography #themoon #shallowskyastronomy #newtonianreflector #telescope #114mm #galileanmoons #jupiter #io #europa #ganymede #callisto #mercury #venus #mrpink #reservoiraxolotls https://www.instagram.com/p/Cmc-_cXscIv/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[soldiermom1973]

N7 Month, Day 29 - Sun

Some Allie & Kaidan fluff.  You can also read it on AO3.

. . . . . .

It was strange, seeing Allie hunched over her telescope in the middle of the day.  It gave Kaidan a new appreciation for the way the sun shone through her hair – how had he never noticed the reddish tint to it before?  He was probably too busy watching her laugh or was too mesmerized by the shine in her eyes.  His own smile spread across his face as he watched the woman he loved light up with excitement that the eclipse would be starting in a few minutes.

“Hello?  Earth to Kaidan?”  Allie called, waving her hand in front of his face.  “You in there?”

“Hm?  Yeah, I'm here,” his smile broadened into a grin.  “Sorry.  I was just... thinking.”

“Oh?  About how you need those sunglasses your mom has?”  Allie crossed her arms over her chest and smirked, nodding to the woman standing at Kaidan's shoulder.

He looked down and saw his mom had a pair of special sunglasses that would let them view the eclipse safely.  “Oh, yeah, right.  I guess I need those, don't I?”

“Yeah, it would help, kiddo,” Dawn laughed.

Not only was this the first time Allie had forayed into solar eclipse territory with her telescope, she was also trying her hand at astrophotography, too.  Her hope was to partner up with other astronomers and put together a coffee table book of eclipses from around the galaxy and donate the proceeds to different charities.

“Of course, there are only a handful of planets out there who get the beauty of a total eclipse like we do,” Allie said, checking her adjustments one last time.  “Our moon is just the right size and at just the right distance...  oh, look!  It's starting!”

She snapped a few pics, then stepped back against Kaidan, watching as the moon slowly crept in from the lower right part of the sun.  “Can you see it?” she asked.

Dawn didn't answer and Kaidan couldn't quite see it yet – the glare from the sun was still too bright – but he didn't tell her that.  He didn't want to dampen her enthusiasm so he kissed the top of her head and hummed an affirmative.

“What are the odds?” Kaidan asked in between Allie making adjustments and snapping some pics.  “There just happens to be an eclipse here while we both happen to have some shore leave?”

“I know, right!”  He grinned at the excitement in Allie's voice.  “I mean, I probably could have made it a point to see one elsewhere on earth at some point, but I just... didn't, you know?  There was always something else going on.”

“Well, now you can cross it off your bucket list,” Dawn chimed in.

The sky gradually got darker and Allie told them to watch for the Diamond Ring.  “It's that very last bit of sunshine you see before totality.  Aptly named, too, and you'll see why.”

When it happened, Dawn gasped and Kaidan said, “Oh, my, that's beautiful.”  He looked at Allie, who was staring up at the sky with a look of wondrous awe on her face. He thought he saw tears glisten in her eyes – a fact confirmed when she cleared her throat and turned away, casually brushing her hands along her cheeks.

The totality lasted only a few minutes and Allie took more pictures of that than she had in her entire life. But the moon continued its trek along the sky and the sun gradually got brighter and brighter.  Dawn excused herself to get dinner ready but Kaidan stayed back until the eclipse was completely over and Allie tore down her telescope.  “Did you get the pics you wanted?” he asked.

“Oh, yes,” she said breathlessly, “I just hope they come out ok.  I've never done this before.  If it works out, I might start taking pictures at night, too.  Might even turn it into a little side thing to earn some money if I ever get around to retiring.”

Kaidan had to laugh at the thought of the great Allie Shepard ever leaving the Alliance, but at the same time he could see it – her tending a small garden, helping at the local soup kitchen, still keeping busy with her beloved charity work. Was it any wonder he loved her as much as he did?

She slung the telescope case on her back and slid her hand into Kaidan's as they walked back to the house.  “So, what did you think?” she asked.

“It was definitely an experience,” he said, “one I won't forget any time soon.  Honestly, I was more entranced by watching you.”

He gave her a sidelong glance and his heart swelled when he saw her face flush and a small smile creep across her face.  “You were supposed to watch the eclipse, silly,” she murmured, squeezing his hand.

“Yeah, but I don't need special sunglasses to look at you,” he replied.

She laughed and leaned against him. “I'm glad you liked it.  We might never get to see one again.”

“Well, why not?” Kaidan asked.  “I mean, they're predictable, right?  So why not find out when the next one will be and we can schedule our leave around it.”

“Really?  You'd do that?” she stopped walking and looked up at him.  “I mean, I've thought about doing that, but I wasn't sure how you'd feel about it, taking time off school like that.”

Kaidan turned and wrapped his arms around her waist.  “Of course I'd love to come with you for this.”

He didn't add that even if he didn't want to watch the eclipse, he'd want to watch her watching it – the way her face lit up, how excited she got made him fall in love with her all over again.

[icantbelieveitslevi]

Hey!! I saw on your Instagram that you're into astronomy and have a telescope. I'm a complete newb and want to get my own one soon. Do you have any recommendations?

Yo! So when it comes to telescopes, it all depends on: 1. What you want to see, 2. What you want to use it for, and 3. What your budget is. This answer is long as frick, but hopefully it helps!

The most important things to look at when choosing between telescopes:

Aperture: This is the most important part of any telescope, and has to do with the amount of light the telescope collects - more aperture = brighter images.

Focal length: Longer focal lengths = narrower images; shorter focal lengths = wider images.

Magnification: How much the scope can magnify what you’re looking at.

Focal ratio: Longer focal ratio = more magnification and narrower image (good for viewing planets, double stars, etc), shorter focal ratio = less magnification and wider image (good for galaxies, star clusters, etc).

Resolution: This is the scope’s ability to distinguish objects that are very close together.

1. What do you want to see? For deep-space objects such as galaxies: telescopes that have an aperture of at least 200mm. These scopes are extremely expensive, need a bit of time getting set up (so I don’t recommend it if you’re completely new to astronomy), and tend to be massive and bulky. For planets, stars, etc, then a scope with an aperture of less than 200mm is fine. Honestly, 102mm or 90mm scopes tend to be the best for the money, usability, etc.

2. What do you want to use it for? For viewing the planets, a 90mm aperture is good enough, though the 102mm aperture just adds a bit more to it. For photography, even a 70mm will take decent pics of the moon, but I’d still recommend looking at higher apertures - a 102mm can take pics of Jupiter and its moons (they look like stars, though, so no planetary detail or clouds). For deep space viewing and photography, 200mm and above aperture.

3. What’s your budget? The more expensive the telescope, the more you’ll be able to see, but you don’t have to spend a lot to get good viewings. It all depends what you want to use it for.

** I have the Celestron Astromaster 102AZ. A buddy of mine has the Celestron Nexstar 4SE.

I can see Saturn and its rings through my scope, but I can’t see the rings on photographs (it’s too bright, lol). My buddy can view and take photographs of Saturn. Below are pics of my scope vs his scope.

Here’s Jupiter and 3 of its biggest moons through my scope (even though I can see it way better - I take pics with my Android phone, so, you know):

Before I get to moon pics, here are some extras you should look at when buying a scope:

The most important thing is the tripod’s stability. You don’t want a flimsy thing that’ll drop your scope when there’s a bit of a breeze, so make sure to look at other people’s reviews to avoid those.

Which eyepieces do you get with? I have a 20mm eyepiece and a 10mm eyepiece. The 10mm is nice for zooming, but my fav is the 20mm simply because it gives me a wider view of what I’m looking at. It’s easier to find objects, I can adjust the scope without losing objects, and I can take whole pics.

Barlow lenses are cool to have because they magnify stuff, but if you don’t get them with, you can buy them separate.

Pics of the moon through a 20mm eyepiece vs 10mm eyepiece, same moon and day:

So, what do I recommend for someone who’s just starting out with astronomy?

Definitely Celestron (try to focus on their best-selling products if you’re unsure)! You get cool free software for your computer which will help you find stuff, upcoming stuff, information, images, etc. Their tripods are sturdy, and they’re the top brand in scopes and accessories.

I also highly recommend you download an app called SkyPortal. Trust me. It’s way harder to find stuff in the sky than you think. It takes me at least 3 minutes to find the moon even with a viewfinder, but this app has made it infinitely easier.

Hope this essay helped!

[mielikki-austin]

11262021

Happy day after Thanksgiving! Yesterday was a lovely day with friends and lots of food; we did a pot luck where we ordered all the meat from a local place because people mostly care about the sides, and everyone brought their favorite sides. I'm the cranberry girl so I did a traditional cranberry relish with orange zest, and also a cranberry dip that Bro gave me that has sour cream and onions and sugar, and it's an alarming Pepto-Bismol pink, but it's very tasty.  We ate, watched TV and napped as we digested, then played board games.  Today I'm working a short shift but thankfully calls are light.  How about some pics? 1.  Mylo and the tiny Christmas tree - Grandma had one of these little ceramic Christmas trees with the little lights in it and I always wanted one.  A couple of years ago Bro got me an unfired ceramic one that I finally took to a ceramic studio and painted.  It gives me all sorts of nostalgia and I love it dearly.  This is a picture that I ran through a filter called 'oil painting' so it looks all classy.

2.  Ceres, maybe? - So last week there was an almost-total lunar eclipse and I tried to take pictures of it.  Phone cameras have not gotten to the point where they can take any kind of photo of the Moon that isn't super washed out yet, but they can capture faint things that are not visible to the eye, and I remembered that the asteroid Ceres was supposed to be in the area so I pulled out some charts, and am almost certain that I managed to get a picture of our biggest asteroid which was thought to be a planet until other asteroids were discovered in the same region.  I have been waiting for a clear night to verify that it is in fact Ceres, but haven't had much luck there.  Even still...

3.  Uranus, maybe? - The same charts I got from an astronomy magazine that helped me find Ceres also mentioned that our 7th planet Uranus is visible (to binoculars or a telescope) nearby, so I tried to get a picture of that last night.  Like many nights in the last few days it's been partly cloudy and hazy, so the best pic I was able to get was this one, and the planet's position is right at the edge of where the clouds are- but this is supposed to be considerably brighter than Ceres (though still unable to be seen with the naked eye unless you're in an absolutely lightless area with perfectly clear skies) and I'm pretty sure that I caught it.  Neither of these are particularly impressive pictures by themselves, but considering that I'm taking pictures of things with my little cell phone that Galileo never dreamed of seeing with the best telescope he had available is astonishing to me.  It's supposed to clear up on Sunday night so I'm hoping I'll be able to confirm these 'discoveries' then.

4.  Mushrooms and peppers - here's my chili pequin plant, though I think some folks are saying it might be a close relative, the chiltepin.  I've collected some of the peppers but left a lot for the birds, and nearby we've had some mushrooms pop up that I think I have identified as jack-o'-lantern mushrooms.  They grow on decaying stumps, which makes sense because these are in the area where a couple of our old live oaks died some years ago during a severe drought.  They're not edible, sadly, (well, as the old saying goes, every mushroom is edible at least once, but eating these will involve a lot of barfing, so no thanks) but I'm told they are bio-luminescent- which is to say, they glow in the dark. I haven't verified this because it's only the underside, and that part of our yard is lit up with a very bright street light so I don't think I could see it anyway.  But hey, it's there!

5.  Rough earth snake - latest in this week's nature-heavy photo set is this tiny snake I found in a compost bin.  Since he was in danger of being squashed by compost getting dumped on him, I grabbed him up and relocated him.  It looks like he's had a rough life, someone seems to have bitten off his tail, and I briefly considered keeping him but I don't really have the means to so I put him under a tarp in the side yard where hopefully he'll find a place to hibernate for the winter.

More next week!  My love to you both!

[bobs-spaces]

   Here is a collection of pictures and comments from Science Teacher members of the NSTA (National Science Teachers Association) who viewed the August 21st total solar eclipse from different locations across the United States of America. The State where the picture(s) was/were taken is abbreviated to be part of the picture name – so you could scroll down to the bottom of the picture to see that.    The caption below a picture starts the sequence of pictures from each teacher. Clicking on any picture will open it into a slide show where you can move forward or backward through the various pictures.    From Ryan Westberry: Here’s a video I made after watching the totality in Wyoming at Green River Lakes just off the center line. I sent my drone up really high to capture the landscape while also filming our reactions on the surface- and set it all to music. I did edit the language in the beginning of totality (overcome by that moment) but there are some “Oh S^*t” toward the end that need to be known if anyone plans on showing it. (I’m not promoting that.) I’m just wanting to share in the emotion (I was literally shaking and had tears of joy) and magnitude of watching the event and the love of the science. 🙂

   Here is one of the 360o videos I made while the school yard was filling up with families and the students.

   If you are wondering what do with any eclipse glasses perhaps donate them to the Eclipse Glasses Donation Program – organized by Astronomers Without Borders.

#gallery-0-5 { margin: auto; } #gallery-0-5 .gallery-item { float: left; margin-top: 10px; text-align: center; width: 25%; } #gallery-0-5 img { border: 2px solid #cfcfcf; } #gallery-0-5 .gallery-caption { margin-left: 0; } /* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes/media.php */

Missouri: Briarcliff Elementary School students.

Missouri: Waiting patiently for the start.

Missouri: Briarcliff students getting ready

Wyoming: Drove out with my sister to Grand Island, NE from Wisconsin. I was concerned about cloud cover in Nebraska, so we got up at 4am on the morning 21st to drive for clear skies further west. Ended up in Fort Laramie, WY with beautiful weather. I know that my pictures aren’t nearly as neat or crisp as others, but this was my experience with this rare event. Took the eclipse image through the lens of my solar scope, along with another shot with my sister. On a side note, sure, the eclipse was pretty neat, but what affected me more was knowing that nearly everyone on the road during those couple days were there for the eclipse. It was this thought that made wading through traffic on the way back much easier for me. Being out it Wyoming, on the long windy and rolling hills, cars like ants crawling through the distance, I couldn’t help but think of myself as part of a convoy, similar to the Oregon Trail. Yet, instead of wagons, it was SUVs coming all the way from New York to Manitoba. I know I’m sounding a little poetic here, but this impacted me more than the eclipse itself.

Wyoming:

Wyoming: I drove 6,000 miles in total, from CT to Wyoming to see the eclipse in Jackson Hole with another teacher friend who flew from CT (I also went to a number of parks and monuments… a wonderful trip in total). But the highlight was totality. My friend brought two solar telescopes with her and we were able to see the details of the entire eclipse, complete with sun spots. As it neared totality, the birds all started calling and flying madly, then settled down and became silent as though it were night. A cat came walking out in the street, clearly unnerved — its tail was all puffed up and it kept looking around as if very confused and worried. And it got quite chilly. Jackson is at about 8,000′ and I had to go get a jacket — I’d say the temperature dropped at least 25 degrees. Altogether, stunning. So glad I made the trip.

Texas: South Texas only had a 50% version of the eclipse. We took a couple of Sunspotters out in front of our main office along with a handful of the glasses and some punched tag board. Our sky cleared up only a few minutes before the maximum coverage–it rained briefly at the beginning of the eclipse event and you can see the clouds in one of the views attached. While I really enjoyed seeing the eclipse through various viewers, what was really cool was our finance and other non-science staff who stopped by as they came back from lunch and looked at the image on the Sunspotters and took selfies or got us to take pictures of them with the images. Observing the staff go from nonchalant to kids again was great!

Texas:

Texas:

Texas:

Texas: Much better images than mine, but we only had 61% where I am. I did especially enjoy the tree shadows.

Texas:

South Carolina: We were on a boat in the middle of Charleston Harbor, anchored off of a small island that is a bird sanctuary. As soon as totality hit, all of the birds took off at once. It was very cloudy so it didn’t get as dark as we expected…reflection? We could see the “sunset” all around. I’m already making plans for 2024!

South Carolina: Thanks for starting this topic and for all the great images from people’s experiences! I drove to SC from NH to explore data collection in light intensity and temperature readings on land cover with small sensors that the teachers have been using on classroom phenomenon. We set up a cross the totality path with people willing to carry along the same sensors set at the same timing. Weather was especially helpful, adding tension by sending in one fat cloud that the sun escaped just at the last minute before the total event! I use an old digital camera that posts the date and time on the image and the picture below verified how close we came to missing the “main event”. Total started at 2:41. While these photos are not classic, thinking about evidence and alignment with data their importance to alignment with the data capture was essential. I felt connected to those watching but also to those who carried along the data loggers and shared the further project. Will take me some time to explore them and share with the teachers and sites in partial locations also using the same loggers.

South Carolina:

Oregon: I was lucky to have a sister in Oregon who arranged for us to stay with friends in Sisters, Oregon, just at the edge of being able to see the totality. My spouse and adult daughter came with me, happily. Surprisingly the traffic was very light, and thanks to firefighters there was very little smoke in the air. Plans were in place with glasses, colander, and champagne. Using the glasses (thank you NASA) we saw the totality, less than 1 minute, noted the change in light, birds quieting and temperature dropping. Knowing that the “cosmic coincidence” of Sun and Moon sizes and distance from the Earth makes our planet the only one in our solar system that experiences a total solar eclipse and seeing it in a community of science-interested people made it even more special. (We also saw new-to-me birds: White-headed woodpeckers, Mountain chickadee, Pygmy nuthatch.) On the NSTA Early Years blog, a preschool teacher posted about the preparation her class went through, their experience, and the follow-up questions they are investigating. http://nstacommunities.org/blog/2017/08/30/eclipse-report-from-preschool/

Oregon:

Oregon:

Oregon: Jordan Makower

Oregon:

New Jersey: We took the first picture the night before the eclipse over the Barnegat Bay in NJ. The second pic is from the beach with an iPhone in Lavallette, NJ

New Jersey:

Nebraska: This was my first eclipse as well. We had about 2 1/2 minutes in the heart of Nebraska’s beautiful Sand Hills just north of where I live. I did not attempt to photograph it…I left that to professionals. I couldn’t, however, resist taking this panoramic image during totality and managed to catch my daughter’s silhouette. It was partly cloudy that day as you can tell in the photo, but our view of the eclipse was completely clear during totality. It was an amazing experience. Absolutely breathtaking and beautiful!

Missouri: My viewing location was with 350 elementary school kiddos, staff, and parents. We had 80 seconds of totality but clouds covered the sky during totality with a few breaks giving everyone a chance to cheer but not for long. Rain started a few minutes later so from where I was we saw the first half only. My 4th total eclipse and still blown away.

Missouri: Sunspots!

Missouri: That’s the star Regulus in Leo the Lion to the left.

Louisiana: Taken in New Iberia, Louisiana by one of my students. We had a 73% eclipse. 🙂

Kentucky: It is also great for making projections on t-shirts. Family tradition since 1994.

Kentucky: I was in Hopkinsville, KY with the 2 minutes 40 seconds. This is my second total eclipse. I also have 2 annual too. I projected the image from my old astroscan on a piece of foam core board. Great little telescope. The crowd got to see the sunspots.

Kentucky: I was in Dawson Springs, KY where totality was 2 minutes 32 seconds. This was my first total eclipse, and it was an amazing experience. Here are the photos. My two pictures of totality were not the best because I did not want to take the time to change the settings on my camera. One question: at the start and end of totality, I heard a sound similar to thunder or fireworks. Any idea what that was?

Kentucky:

Kentucky:

Kentucky: Great pictures from Hopkinsville, Kentukcy. The traffic was a nightmare from Hopkinsville to Cincinnati. Enjoy!

Kentucky:

Missouri: I was about 30 miles east and few miles south of you. The clouds cleared just in time. It was beautiful. One thing that really surprised me was how much light there was when the sun was almost totally eclipsed. Before totality, when there was just a small sliver of the sun visible, it was still pretty light. It was not until totality that is got “dark”. I assumed it was going to gradually get darker and darker leading up to totality. It did not work that way. Those of us that saw totality are likely making plans for the next one in the U.S. in 2024. Those that did not see totality really need to try to see it once. It is amazing and indescribable.

Illinois: We had teacher’s institute on Monday (students didn’t start til Wednesday). I convinced our principal to do an activity in the afternoon and we went outside as a staff. We are 180 miles north of Carbondale and experienced 90% coverage. I had eclipse glasses and pinhole viewers available, along with a telescope with solar filter. I also equiped our staff with UV bead braclets to observe changes in UV exposure. We were also able to experience the eclipse shadows caused by the light filtering through the trees. We had a blast and even got coverage in the local paper. The neatest part was seeing our staff really get into it. I’ll attach photos, but if you can’t get them they can also be viewed via our twitter account GRS_Science My brother was in Nashville and got to experience totality. He sent me photos a co-worker of his took and I was able to share those with my classes on Wednesday. I also had a few students that were able experience it first hand. My 3rd partial solar eclipse…never gets old!

Illinois:

Illinois:

Illinois:

Illinois:

Idaho: My daughter got a nice panorama of the 360° sunset. Photo by Kiana Duggan-Haas.

Idaho: I watched from a ridgetop just outside of Victor, Idaho with the Tetons in the background, at the Pine Creek Campground. Here’s a Google Street View Panorama of us and our site, taken before totality. I was with my two daughters (13 & 16) a couple of high school friends and their families, my cousin and her family, and another family who is friends with one of my high school buds and a few friends and family of these folks. Also on our ridgetop were another 15 or so people, including three planetary scientists from the USGS, a cinematographer and some others. Below are a few pics from our group. Our temperature change was substantial, though we didn’t have thermometers. I’d guess there was a swing of 20° F. We were at something like 8,000 feet in elevation. Totality was chilly, but brief. One thing that didn’t photograph well and I’ve not seen mentioned above are the shadow bands. They look something like the bands on the bottom of a pool on a sunny day and are caused by diffraction of the sun’s light when it’s just a sliver – immediately before and after totality. We’d laid down a white sheet to see them, and they were definitely there, I think wavering more quickly than the bands on the bottom of a pool. They were also pretty faint. I’ll note that the difference between totality and 98% of totality is quite impressive. I heard someone compare the difference to the difference between going 98% of the way to Disneyland vs. actually going to Disneyland. I’m not a Disney guy, so my analogy is that it’s like comparing getting 98% of the way to a climax to actually getting to a climax (you know, of your favorite book or whatever). The plans for this trip had been in the works since my first total solar eclipse viewed from the southern tip of Mexico’s Baja Peninsula in 1991. More about that trip here (it’s my contribution to the My Earth Educator Story Project). One of the friends I saw that with was one of the high school friends who was with us this time – in fact, he was the lead organizer. I anxiously await my third eclipse when totality passes over my house on April 8, 2024. (Though April in Buffalo offers nothing like a guarantee of clear skies).

Idaho: I was at the base of Borah Pk, tallest mountain in Idaho near MacKay. We had an incredible total eclipse with clear skies. The temperature dropped 10 degrees, the birds were quiet and not flying. I was with a few friends but there was reported about 1000 people who started climbing Borah Peak around midnight! Attached are a few of my husband’s pictures.

Idaho:

Idaho: This is what it looked like, more or less, to my naked eye. Photo by Andy Frank.

Idaho: My first eclipse. We had a total of 2 minutes 2 seconds in Garden Valley Schools, Garden Valley, Idaho, Couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful day. We also had Dr. Joe Llama from the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff talking us through what we were about to see. This is the one and only picture I took. It was amazing.

Georgia: Here is the temperature data recorded at a high school about 20 minutes north of Athens, GA We were at 99.7% totality.

            Click here to go to the Qué tal in the Current Skies web site for monthly observing information, or here to return to bobs-spaces.

Teacher Eclipse Pictures Here is a collection of pictures and comments from Science Teacher members of the NSTA (National Science Teachers Association)