Actual I saw the eclipse thread

was in totality and pretty close to dead center in missouri. up until the 2 mins of total blackout it wasn't anything terribly special

the totality was nuts though! could see a handful of stars and was just surreal how fast it got dark. was able to look straight at it without glasses. such a crazy eerie thing to see sitting in the middle of the sky

Got 2:30 of totality in MO near St. Louis.

As has been said - All partial eclipses are roughly the same. Perhaps after about 75% occlusion you could feel the heat of the sun as considerably less intense. It was very hot where we were, so being able to stand in the sun and have it not feel warm was noticeable. It was fun to watch the moon slide across, even a little ominous, but it's not changing much on Earth.

After maybe 90-95% occlusion, you can convince yourself that it is getting dimmer. However, it is nothing remarkable. Shadows are still very strong and the sky looks maybe a shade darker blue.

100% was completely different. Nothing like anything I have ever experienced, even after I had bought into the hype and was 'ready' for it. In about 5 seconds all the light just dies as the moon pops over the last piece of the sun. Surreal. Looks like someone took a hole punch to the sky.

The sun's corona is also remarkable. Those gas plumes are gigantic. Impossible to see at any other time.

The darkness is comparable to maybe 30-1hr after sunset. You can see bright stars and planets. In future eclipses with wider bands I assume it will be even darker. The main source of light seemed to be scattering from 30+ miles away where the sun was not blocked.

Temperature dropped maybe 5-8deg F total. Much appreciated on a warm and muggy day. Definitely worth braving a plane flight and some traffic to see.

Seek totality if you get the chance, one of those weird experiences we are lucky to have on Earth. History is littered with accounts people awed by it -- you will understand why when you're there.

Only had 96% eclipse in my area and it got a 'little bit' dark. No big deal and very disappointed.

I can't believe I gave away all of my earthly possessions and killed my family for this.

Won't do that again.

Was at 99% and learned:

1. 100% is really the only wow factor. It was still fairly light at 99%. But....

2. What was really ...er....cool was the rapid drop in temperature and the weird double shadows with crescent shapes especially tree branches etc.

salvatorestitchmo wrote:

it doesn't matter what percent you have unless it's 100.

^ this. You either see it or you don't.

remember this in 2024 and go see it.

Should have moved the short distance to totality. Entirely different experience.

Totality outside of Salem, OR - awe inspiring! The sudden temperature drop, the corona, stars appearing at 10:18AM, and 360 degrees of "sunset" were nothing short of amazing.

i chose D2 wrote:

salvatorestitchmo wrote:

And btw it doesn't matter what percent you have unless it's 100. God bless Oregon

It is amazing how few people seemed to understand this. You get basically the same experience at 90% as you do at 10%. It was about 92% where I live, and I think the most notable thing was how much it cooled during the eclipse - temps dropped to 77 shortly after the peak, and were back up to 90 about an hour later . . .

a number of people have said this and they are correct. A partial is like being out at twilight. Seeing a total is truly a unique event.

How different. ..

Kissing Grandmother hello versus sharing an orgasm with a woman you love.

wineturtle wrote:

Kissing Grandmother hello

Around this board Grandma kissing ranks pretty high on many sexual experience lists ;)

I saw the partial eclipse with eclipse sun glasses, it was nothing special, the light went down a bit, and it started to get cold with the wind picking up for a brief moment.

Drove 20 hours from Canada to Tennessee to see totality for 2 minutes, 30 seconds, and it was "totally" worth the drive. Just awe-inspiring.

Stopped in Parkersburg, WV on the way down and ran the News and Sentinal Half Marathon two days before the eclipse. Missed winning enough money to pay for the entire trip by 10 seconds. No matter, it was still a great race and an even better experience seeing a total eclipse for the first time.

Drove from Denver to Jay Em, Wyoming. Coolest thing ever. A couple hundred people showed up-as opposed to the 100,000 who reportedly were at Glendo 50 miles to the west. The city fathers of Jay Em (essentially a ghost town, but few people live in the neighborhood) solicited donations to help maintain the old buildings. I paid 50 bucks to camp.

Beautiful. I charted the temp drop every 10 minutes or so using my dashboard thermometer--went from 88 to 74, and back up to 90. Totality was better than I expected--the white light of the corona dancing was cool. Crickets chirped, Bats flew. Stars showed up. It was very primal. I can only imagine what people thought a few hundred years ago when this happened-and they had no idea it was coming. Whoever figured it out must have been looked at as a witch.

Over too fast. Well worth the 4 hour drive up, and the 7 1/2 hour drive home.

Jay Em is a neat little place. Those old cowboys scratched a living out of a lumber mill, a stone quarry, and a store for decades--until reliable cars made the 35 mile trek to Torrington more economical. And even then, they hung on for 30 years. It's a trip and an event I'll remember fondly the rest of my life-traffic jam home and all.

I was in 91% area. It got fairly dim outside but not dark. The temperature noticeably dropped. The crescent was pretty but not all that exciting.

My dad drove down to see totality. He said it was so amazing. It looked like a hole in the sky and the sky was dark and yet very colorful. Stars and planets visible. He went to a location with no other people around. With out the noise of people he said he heard the farm animals going crazy and when the sun came back out there was a pop and energy noise. He also said none of the pictures or videos accurately show what he experienced.

Yes. I went to Oregon from Washington for this. I stayed at my cousin's who lived where it's 99%. Then drove 40 minutes further south to get the 100%. It was totally worth it. It's more brilliant than in pictures or videos. I feel like pictures or video really, really, really, can't capture how beautiful it is. I felt bad for my cousin, who thought 99% would be interesting enough. It's not. I probably burned my retina a bit. Because you're looking at it and then the edge starts to get brighter and you feel like you need to turn away. Worth it.

Kaleetan wrote:

I was in 91% area. It got fairly dim outside but not dark. The temperature noticeably dropped. The crescent was pretty but not all that exciting.

My dad drove down to see totality. He said it was so amazing. It looked like a hole in the sky and the sky was dark and yet very colorful. Stars and planets visible. He went to a location with no other people around. With out the noise of people he said he heard the farm animals going crazy and when the sun came back out there was a pop and energy noise. He also said none of the pictures or videos accurately show what he experienced.

Agreed. Lots of people asked for pictures. My crappy iPhone or even a 5k DSLR I doubt could capture it well enough.

Just go in 2024. You won't regret it.

We were at about 99%. It was meh. Don't know what god big deal was. Put your glasses on. Look at the sun. Take glasses off. Repeat.

Jimmy21 wrote:

Im not sure how to check the percentage but im in western portland oregon. We went out at work, sat on the curb with our glasses and watched it. There was a tiny sliver of sun still showing and we were all saying "here it comes, this is going to be awesome...... wtf? Its getting brighter!" It was cool, but we hyped it up too much, not knowing we wouldn't get 100%

You should have ignored the traffic predictions and drove south into the zone.

salvatorestitchmo wrote:

Sucks to be you guys. Boosted down into the band just outside of Salem and parked the camping chairs at 7am in perfect open field with not a cloud in the sky. At 10.15am the temperature dropped like 20 degrees, there was a weird darkness and got 90 seconds of the most epic natural phenomena I think I will ever see in my lifetime. Just f&$kig epic. And btw it doesn't matter what percent you have unless it's 100. God bless Oregon

^^^^ This. 100%. Good description. We ignored the carmegeddon hype. It was worth sitting in 3 hours of traffic. We had worse traffic when it snowed.

100 percent or nothing wrote:

Yes. I went to Oregon from Washington for this. I stayed at my cousin's who lived where it's 99%. Then drove 40 minutes further south to get the 100%. It was totally worth it. It's more brilliant than in pictures or videos. I feel like pictures or video really, really, really, can't capture how beautiful it is. I felt bad for my cousin, who thought 99% would be interesting enough. It's not. I probably burned my retina a bit. Because you're looking at it and then the edge starts to get brighter and you feel like you need to turn away. Worth it.

It's better than any picture or video. No professional video captures it. None I've seen.

I feel sorry for the people that just had to stage viral photographs (Smith Rock, Motorcycle Wheelie, etc..), during the eclipse. Whatever. It was way cooler than those viral photographs and they don't capture what it was really like.