{"id":1335,"date":"2017-08-31T18:42:23","date_gmt":"2017-08-31T22:42:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/beemandave.com\/beemanblog\/?p=1335"},"modified":"2017-09-01T17:42:27","modified_gmt":"2017-09-01T21:42:27","slug":"total-eclipse-2017-part-1-the-science","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/beemandave.com\/beemanblog\/blog\/2017\/08\/31\/total-eclipse-2017-part-1-the-science\/","title":{"rendered":"Total Eclipse, 2017 – Part 1 – The Science"},"content":{"rendered":"
Greetings and Salutations!<\/div>\n
\u00a0.<\/div>\n
On August 21, 2017, \u00a0I, \u00a0along with millions of Americans, \u00a0made an effort to be in the path of Totality \u00a0of the Solar Eclipse. \u00a0 I have been \u00a0witness to a number of partial eclipses, \u00a0but, \u00a0this was my first, \u00a0Total Eclipse. \u00a0 It was a surprisingly profound and moving experience for me, \u00a0and, \u00a0I am still mulling over what I witnessed over that 3 minute period covering the last moments of the Sun’s disk being covered, \u00a0the time of Totality itself, \u00a0and the return of the Light. \u00a0In this post, \u00a0I am goi\"\"ng to focus more on the Science, \u00a0and discuss the non-squishy things that I observed during this event! \u00a0 As it turned out, \u00a0I was lucky enough to be in Springfield, TN, for the Eclipse (visiting inlaws). \u00a0Springfield was located about 15 miles SOUTH of the Center of the path of Totality, \u00a0so, \u00a0we were treated to almost 2 minutes of the Umbra. \u00a0This was great, \u00a0as it allowed me time to observe around me, \u00a0and still have time to look up at the Sun, \u00a0to admire the Corona, and see the Diamond Ring when the Moon started to uncover the Sun’s disk.<\/div>\n
\u00a0.<\/div>\n
I had contemplated on the weeks leading up to the day, \u00a0that I would make use of my wife’s good DSLR, and lenses, \u00a0to image the Eclipse itself. \u00a0 However, \u00a0I decided \u00a0that, \u00a0since there were going to be a FLOOD of cameras pointed at the Eclipsed Sun, \u00a0that I would concentrate on the events around me, here on Earth. \u00a0 Subsequently, \u00a0I still have no regrets about this decision. \u00a0 There were many interesting things happening over that short period that I would have missed, \u00a0had I been staring up at the Sun and Moon.<\/div>\n
\u00a0.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\n

Of course, \u00a0as I had seen before, \u00a0as the Moon started to cover the<\/p>\n

\"\"
Umbra as photographed from the ISS<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Sun’s surface, \u00a0the light around us gradually dimmed. \u00a0As it got darker and darker, \u00a0it seemed as if a blanket of silence was being laid across the world. \u00a0 The Cicadas, \u00a0which had been buzzing along with enthusiasm through the morning hours, \u00a0fell silent. \u00a0 We had heard and seen birds flying around the skies and chirping from the trees. \u00a0 The birds gradually ceased making noise. \u00a0 While Springfield is a rather smallish bedroom community for Nashville, \u00a0it is large enough that as the morning passed, \u00a0I could easily hear the sounds of traffic, \u00a0and music from a small Fair that was set up a ways from the house. \u00a0 Even those sounds faded out with the last gleams of Sunlight, \u00a0and the darkness of Totality \u00a0covering the world.<\/p>\n

.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\"\"
Umbra crossing America, Photographed by Lunar Orbiter<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The quality of light during an Eclipse is quite interesting and weird too. \u00a0Normally, \u00a0when the world goes dark,\u00a0 it is because of Sunset. \u00a0 The quality of light changes to a warmer, \u00a0more orange or reddish tone as it is filtered through more of the atmosphere by the Sun “Setting”. \u00a0Not during an eclipse. \u00a0While the intensity of light fades, \u00a0the quality of the light remains \u00a0a silvery-blue that is the normal spectrum of full Sunlight. \u00a0 Also,\u00a0 when Totality passes across one’s location\u00a0 the light level drops, \u00a0 it is so sudden as to be shocking. \u00a0It is as if a giant light switch had been clicked off. \u00a0It became VERY dark. \u00a0It was not pitch black by any means, and still, the quality of light remained that silvery-blue that I mentioned before. \u00a0 However, it was dark enough that people some 50 feet away from me were little more than moving shadows. \u00a0 I had looked in the direction of the approaching Umbra, \u00a0and while I did not get a good or lengthy look at it, \u00a0 I did see it in the distance, roaring across the landscape towards us. \u00a0The shadow on the Earth, and the column of darkness reaching into the Sky had an almost physical presence. \u00a0 Since the Umbra moves at about 1500 MPH, \u00a0it was but a heartbeat after I saw it that the darkness of Totality engulfed us. \u00a0 I took a moment to look around at the horizon right after Totality started. \u00a0 Again, \u00a0it was a very weird moment. \u00a0 I could, \u00a0off in the distance, \u00a0see the oranges and yellows of a Sunset…however, \u00a0unlike a “normal” Sunset, \u00a0that color was a circle that surrounded us entirely, and looked the same in ALL directions.<\/div>\n
\u00a0.<\/div>\n
\u00a0.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Another aspect of the Eclipse was the change in temperature. \u00a0While I did not have a recording thermometer, \u00a0there was a distinct ramping down of air temperature as the Sun’s disk was covered by the Moon. \u00a0 The area where I was at was a stone patio, \u00a0by a swimming pool. \u00a0When the Sun was blasting down with full strength, \u00a0there was a distinct feeling of heat from the light reflected back from the flagstones. \u00a0 That decreased slowly as the Solar Disk was covered by the Moon. \u00a0 When Totality hit, \u00a0the temperature dropped a few more degrees…very suddenly. \u00a0The temperature when the Eclipse started \u00a0had been up above 90F. \u00a0 At Totality, \u00a0it was almost chilly, \u00a0as if we had lost about 20F. \u00a0 It was not uncomfortable, \u00a0by any means, \u00a0but it was quite noticeable. \u00a0 After Totality Passed, \u00a0and the disk started to re-appear, \u00a0the temperatures warmed right back up to that 90F level. \u00a0For a 3 minute period, \u00a0it was quite a roller coaster, though.<\/div>\n
\u00a0.<\/div>\n
I did hold off putting my protective glasses back on until just after seeing the Diamond Ring as the Moon moved past the edge of the Sun’s Disk. \u00a0However, \u00a0even the tiny sliver of the Sun that was revealed a few seconds later was painful to look at, \u00a0so, it was very good to have the glasses.<\/div>\n
\u00a0.<\/div>\n
\u00a0.<\/div>\n
\"\"<\/div>\n
I had learned, \u00a0quite some time ago, \u00a0that the spaces in the leaves of plants that allowed dots of Sunlight through would act as a pinhole camera, \u00a0and produce many, small images of the crescent of the Sun’s disk \u00a0in those couple of minutes before and after the maximum Eclipse happened. \u00a0Luckily right next to where I was observing from, \u00a0there was a rose bush that provided a number of these small apertures, \u00a0so I was able to get a picture of the Crescent Sun on the concrete of the wall. \u00a0Again, \u00a0something interesting and different to look for during the Eclipse.<\/div>\n
\u00a0.<\/div>\n
\u00a0.<\/div>\n
\u00a0.<\/div>\n
\u00a0.<\/div>\n
\"\"To touch on light effects again…we all know that when we look at a shallow swimming pool, \u00a0the bottom of the pool will be covered with a grid of light, looking rather like a net. \u00a0That comes from the tiny wave peaks in the top surface of the water, \u00a0focusing the Sunlight on the bottom, \u00a0like a long lens. \u00a0 Well, \u00a0as the Sun was being covered by the Moon, \u00a0and became closer and closer to a point source of light, \u00a0instead of a large disk, that grid disappeared. \u00a0All that was left were some expanding rings where spray from a circulation pump was hitting the surface of the water. \u00a0 These rings were small enough that they were almost completely wiped out by the grid, \u00a0and the width of the disk of the Sun. \u00a0 They were normally just kind of fuzzy shadows on the floor of the pool. \u00a0 This was likely because the point source of the Sun in its last moments before it was completely covered \u00a0allowed these tiny variations in the surface of the water to focus a sharp image on the floor of the pool.<\/div>\n
\u00a0.<\/div>\n
\u00a0.<\/div>\n
One other positive thing about this Eclipse was that I was able to point out some of these phenomena to other folks with me, \u00a0and, \u00a0I think that their experience viewing the Eclipse \u00a0was enhanced a bit. \u00a0I did not pester them a lot, \u00a0but, for things like the small, projected Crescent Sun images, \u00a0had I not called their attention to them, \u00a0they would never have seen them.<\/div>\n
\u00a0.<\/div>\n
I was glad that I was able to observe almost everything I had on my mental checklist. \u00a0 For example, while I was looking at the Corona, \u00a0I also observed Venus (which was VERY easy to see.<\/div>\n
\u00a0.<\/div>\n
However, there were some things that I did NOT manage to observe (after all, \u00a01:55 \u00a0is NOT a lot of time!) \u00a0 \u00a0I looked for Mercury, \u00a0but, \u00a0in the short time I had, \u00a0I saw neither it, nor the couple of other planets that should have been visible. \u00a0 I also \u00a0 was not able to see any stars. \u00a0While they were theoretically visible, \u00a0the air around Springfield was a bit hazy, \u00a0and so, \u00a0there was enough sky-glow that it was even hard to see a lot of details in the Corona. \u00a0 \u00a0I did not see the “Shadow Bands” that often accompany the moment of Totality, and really did not even look for them. \u00a0 However, \u00a0those things do not detract from the experience at all.<\/div>\n
\u00a0.<\/div>\n
\u00a0.<\/div>\n
God Help Us All!<\/div>\n
\u00a0.<\/div>\n
Bee Man Dave<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

=-=-=-=-=
\nPowered by Blogilo<\/a><\/b><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Greetings and Salutations! \u00a0. On August 21, 2017, \u00a0I, \u00a0along with millions of Americans, \u00a0made an effort to be in… Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,4,386,9,11,16,18],"tags":[737,739,741,738,736,740],"class_list":["post-1335","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-astronomy-2","category-cosmology-astronomy-2","category-general-thoughts","category-humanity","category-observations","category-ruminations","category-something-good-this-way-comes","tag-737","tag-in-laws","tag-science","tag-springfield","tag-total-eclipse","tag-totality"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/beemandave.com\/beemanblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1335","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/beemandave.com\/beemanblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/beemandave.com\/beemanblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beemandave.com\/beemanblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beemandave.com\/beemanblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1335"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/beemandave.com\/beemanblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1335\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1346,"href":"https:\/\/beemandave.com\/beemanblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1335\/revisions\/1346"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/beemandave.com\/beemanblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1335"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beemandave.com\/beemanblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1335"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beemandave.com\/beemanblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1335"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}