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August 21, 2017 (was "2 Years From Today!")


rbowman
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So glad this panned out well for everyone. I went to Dayton with the family and spent the late morning and early afternoon at Monkey Town Brewing...those poor people had no idea what hit them....but they persevered and kept everyone's belly and mug full until showtime. I never knew the tree leaf shadow thing and got a pic of that but put the phone away for the spectacle. The cicadas were so loud I never heard crickets but we had the bats come out during totality....so cool. To me the end of the totality diamond ring was simply stunning. I would have to say that was the highlight....oh, and the dramatic cool down about 30 minutes before...I was surprised at how noticeable that was. Was a most excellent day! 

IMG_5088.JPG

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CORRECTION that is Regulus a bright massive star. 

On 8/21/2017 at 9:39 PM, nrgjeff said:

Very nice! We were in Decatur, Tenn. My pix don't compare (no real effort) but that is what I remember seeing, down the road from Watts Bar. More reflection tomorrow. Blows the doors off tornado chasing. Indeed that's Mercury!

Venus was visible this morning for the first time since Totality. Initial melancholy missing the eclipse, gives way to another burst of ecstatic memory. Adding to the song list. Personally I feel things strongly through music.

Indescribable - Chris Tomlin (From the highest of highs... Mentions coolness of night, shocker he's from Texas, but yeah you know that eclipse coolness.)

Your Love Awakens Me - Phil Wickham (I feel awake with inspiration and the song rocks!)

Lion and the Lamb - Big Daddy Weave (Riding on a cloud.. I'm not big into prophesy or apocalypse, but this song bursts with melody!)

Return to Innocence - Enigma (1993 follow-up to their bigger 1991 hit)

We Found Love - Rihanna (yellow diamonds, [sun/moon] standing side by side, as your shadow crosses mine..)

More [remix preferred] - Usher (He is from Chattanooga and we will travel for more in 2024.)

Through the Never - Metallica (Arguably it's the best most intense astronomy song I know.)

Lucky (in My Life) - Eiffel 65 (Blue was their bigger hit on a CD with space art, but Lucky is my eclipse song. Indeed it is a song of faith and gratitude.)

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Awesome! Saw that flare at 5 o'clock on the sun near the end of Totality but no photo (no attempt). Thought I remember a semi-loop thru binoculars, and it appears so. Thank you, I can confirm it is stored properly in long-term memory. As you saw in person it was really vivid hot pink/orange and even brighter than in the photo. We are all so lucky!

9 minutes ago, Knoxtron said:

Got a nice surprise looking at some of my images yesterday. Caught what appears to be CME (coronal mass ejections)! They appear to move in between photos... so cool!

CME.jpg

 

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It was an event witnessed that we shall never forget. It has been nice viewing all the wonderful images from not just our sub-forum, but from all over the American Weather community. I consider myself very lucky to have witnessed this glorious celestial event in complete totality. With the end of this eclipse we now look forward to 2024...see you there. ;)

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  • 1 month later...

Time to reflect on the eclipse again. It was only six weeks ago but feels like six years ago. If only so, thinking about 2024..

One friend went to the Ocoee River, for reasons I cannot quite fathom. While it may be a scenic play, I would never want to box in my horizon like that. Interestingly, an even bigger problem emerged from the cool water full of trout. Low clouds and fog developed overhead in the minutes before totality. I cannot imagine the sheer panic as air temps reached dewpoint, but I have heard other stories like it. Lake Baikal, Russia broke many hearts that way years ago. Water can help stabilize vs Cu, but avoid cold water!

So, I recommend warm or mild bodies of water. When in doubt, don't get cute. Obviously choose a place with a good cloud forecast. Even without water cooling will mitigate risks from small Cu. South America has a total eclipse coming up on the Atacama Desert. Sounds great, but watch that cold ocean at the beach! I have no SA plans attm.

April 2024 should be less complicated. Cloud forecasts should be driven more on the synoptic scale. Advantage of a USA eclipse is flexibility to move around if needed. Options have value!

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  • Mr Bob unpinned this topic
  • 9 months later...

Bump. Excerpts from my reflections a year ago..

Sitting in Chattanooga 7-10 days ago I was considering alternate locations due to the forecast. By Day 5 hope began to mount that it could work in East Tenn. Then 2-3 days out I was thrilled to see our forecast way better than climatology, Wyoming climo! Memphis storm chasing partner elected to come this way a day out. We laughed at the irony because it's usually me heading west.

Scattered Cu evaporate about 30 minutes before Totality. Heat and humidity give way to pleasant weather. Cicadas start up a couple minutes before totality. Shadow bands dance on a white blanket somebody brought. Northwest sky turns Royal blue before a Navy blue paintbrush colors it even darker. Few seconds later the Cu on the horizon (Plateau) flips from white to grey. Almost immediately the shadow envelops us. Totality!

Is this real? Am I one of those lucky people who travel to exotic destinations for a total solar eclipse? Well, yes, I'm right up the road with family and friends. 360 degree sunrise/set is incredible. High clouds outside the path are still white on the navy blue sky. Almost look like noctilucent clouds, but they are conventional cirrus. Quickly I remember solar flares are seen more easily through binoculars. Boom! Prominence is ejecting hot pink orange at 5 o'clock on the Sun. Not much totality left. Drop binoculars and observe the main show again. Navy blue button over the sun gives way to a bright ring around the moon and the more delicate corona cotton candy and whiskers. Oh my it is the sight of a lifetime!

Per the storm chasing tradition we get steak dinner in Chatty. We always talk about it but never do it. Get back late from storms. Rush out next day. Welp, Monday we had the steak dinner to celebrate the chase of all chases!

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Reading your write up Jeff gives me shivers! This moment is burned in my mind's eye until the day I die. I will see more of these! I feel as if the entire valley gasped at the beauty at fulll totality. We thought we were secluded in the country but could hear hoots, hollers, and people weeping (seriously) for miles haha

Had family in Chattanooga that insisted it was just as good south of Chatt (well outside the path of totality), tried explaining that it's like the lotto... unless you are 100% in and have the right numbers, you don't win!... They thought I was crazy when I told them the sun actually went dark and you could see stars

oh well :) 

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