For anyone who does not already know, on Monday August 21 2017 the United States will witness a total eclipse of the sun. This will be the first time in 99 years that totality will traverse through a large portion of the continental United States, stretching from the northwest tip of Oregon arching through to the middle of south carolina. Total solar eclipses are not all that rare considering one takes place somewhere around the earth about once every 18 months, however to have one visible to the whole of the united states has not happened since 1776 - that in itself makes this event a literal and extremely rare once in a lifetime event.
There are several types of eclipses - Lunar, Annular, Partial Solar, and Total Solar to name the most common. Lunar eclipses happen at night and I would bet most people have seen one at some time considering they are visible to half of the planet when they occur. Annular and partial solar eclipses are much rarer but for the most part, people hardly know when one is occurring - unless of course you are a total nerd like me and make sure you know when and where every one takes place. Total solar eclipses are the rarest of them all and a majority of areas on earth will have many hundreds of years pass before seeing another total solar eclipse.
Unfortunately, I am not one of the lucky few people who live inside the 70 mile wide band where I could just walk outside and have that life changing experience the whole inter web is buzzing about - nope, Im gonna have to work for it. My girlfriend and I are going to hop in the car Sunday night and do a 10 hour all night drive to South Carolina to see it. I have genuinely been looking forward to seeing this since I was in high school so a category 5 hurricane couldn't keep me away.
I invite any and all steemians interested (especially Florida residents who are not able to see the eclipse) to follow my posts...
...Starting Monday at 12:00 PM I will be posting 140 second video clips and as many still shots as my modem can handle of the eclipse every 15 to 30 minutes +/- . I hope to record and post each phase of the eclipse as close to real time as possible.
• Diamond ring: The brief flash of light on the edge of the sun and moon.
• Prominences: A large, bright loop of plasma extending out from the sun’s surface.
• Totality: At this point it’s safe to take my glasses off and look up.
• Corona: During the total eclipse, the corona of the sun will be visible.
• Planets: In order of brightness, Venus, Jupiter, Mars and Mercury will be visible.
• The horizon: Look at the 360 degree horizon during the eclipse.
• Shadow bands: Immediately before and after the total eclipse
• Baily’s beads: As totality approaches, I will be watching for Baily’s beads around the rim.
I have lived in south florida for over 30 years and let me just place a caveat here and say " There's is no way I would live anywhere else ". That being said, on this particular occasion, I really wish I was in North or South Carolina right now. Im not 100 % sure where we will end up but right now somewhere around Columbia looks and sounds good - I know the area fairly well and its just about at the 10 hour drive time I am shooting for.
Usually its me saying this in a slightly different context - so I really hope its true ...
...this is gonna be the best 2 1/2 minutes of your life....
I look forward to your comments and please upvote ....
Thanks for reading...
MDG...
8-16-17
** Special Thanks to Google Images