For those not in the umbral path, who is planning a little trip to see the solar eclipse in 12 weeks? I will be traveling to my hometown of Alliance, NE to see the solar eclipse. My dad's house is only 3.7 miles from the center of the umbra so the view will be great. He is 95 and never seen a total eclipse so it will be fun to share the experience. Since he is so close to the center, the total eclipse will last 2 min. 29.7 sec. I was a party chief in Alliance back in 1979 for the last eclipse. It wasn't a total eclipse in Alliance, but the birds got quiet.
Thankfully, my dad has a spare bedroom, but I might have to drive up Saturday to avoid the traffic jam on US 385. My dad says that all the motels were booked up last summer and many folks in town are renting out rooms at "bargain" rates. I need to dust off my old wild instruments, diagonal eyepieces/prisms and solar filters. I might even do some looking with my Roelofs solar prism just to see what four overlapping coronas will look like (most likely the interference pattern will be unspectacular). 😉
Alliance is also home to the tourist oddity "Carhenge", which is a collection of old, whitewashed cars that are arranged to resemble Stonehenge. They are holding an eclipse party for the cash.
http://carhengesolareclipse2017.com/
I'm hoping that the late August weather will be the usual hot and clear (at least that's my boyhood memory of sitting on a tractor all day in the hay field).
Here's a good web site with info and maps.
Who was Carly Simon? 😉
paden, hold that vain thought until April 8, 2024.
That is when the next total eclipse in NA goes through SE Oklahoma and the northern tip of Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia! 🙂
We are right in the path, I work with Auxiliary Communications/SAR locally, the local authorities are ramping up to treat this as a full on emergency with an ICS staffed by about 40 round the clock, all local law/sheriff/fire departments have had ALL PTO canceled and will be running 12 hour shifts from the 18th-23rd.
Estimates are for a million extra people in Oregon with the population in our local area to triple for the event. One enterprising person has hired a professional firm to run a solar eclipse festival and sold out his permitted 30,000 tickets, it is shaping up to be a made made disaster party atmosphere here locally.
SHG
paden cash, post: 430261, member: 20 wrote: Who was Carly Simon? 😉
Cripes Paden everybody knows she was a stripper that married somebody named Jimmie who made clothes for a living.
So, it looks like my hometown is being touted as the premier destination for the total eclipse. Here is a feature story from today's Denver Post.
Of course, the story deals mainly with the tourist trap, Carhenge. However. there is a photo of Floyd the barber mixed in with the dry wit of a few local ranchers.
ALLIANCE, Neb. ?? The total eclipse of the sun that will cast an obsidian shadow across America on Aug. 21 is bringing company to Carhenge, an oilman??s replica of prehistoric Stonehenge rendered in vintage Detroit vehicles.
Townspeople here in western Nebraska??s sandhills have been toiling for three years to get ready ?? right down to the logistics of diesel backup power and baking cookies for foreigners.
They??re bracing for a potentially chaotic rush of people converging on the eclipse??s 67 mile-wide ??path of totality,? which runs from Oregon beaches to South Carolina, spanning Wyoming and Nebraska. This ranks among the most accessible total eclipses ever, with an estimated 47 million Americans living within an hour of the shadow. Suddenly humans, whose ancestors feared eclipses as harbingers of disruption, are flocking like crazy to be in them.
Planted north of Alliance, around 1987, Carhenge ?? a roadside attraction inhabited by pigeons, snakes and an owl ?? has risen up rankings as perhaps the prime viewing spot for this American eclipse. Its encircled gray-painted hulks sit about four hours northeast of Denver, in a place at the edge of the Great Plains where clear skies are almost certain when the moon slips in front of the sun on that Monday. The sun will stay blocked for 2 minutes and 30 seconds, about as long as anywhere along the eclipse path.
Scientists from Antarctica, an unnamed billionaire and politicos led by Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts are among the estimated 25,000 coming to Carhenge. Wealthy fliers slated to land on the town runway have exceeded a cap so no more aircraft can fit. Two buses will bring eclipse chasers from Belgium, and another will bring travelers from France. The five motels in Alliance, population 8,500, have been booked full for months, prompting 30 or so homeowners to offer rooms on Airbnb. A NASA-backed white balloon hovering 100,000 feet above Carhenge will shoot video and photos of the shadow.
My wife and I won't be visiting Carhenge to rub elbows with the Guv although I am curious if the unnamed billionaire is currently vacationing at a New Jersey golf club. And yes, among the photos in the above article is one that shows the main street in Alliance is paved with bricks. Crap, I might have to drive up next Friday instead of Saturday afternoon to avoid the rush!
I'm partial to this view of Carhenge with the old Jeep pickup (looks like a 1959; and no, I'm not sure how many splines in the axle). I used to ride around the family ranch with my dad in one of those, only it was painted Lincoln green. My dad told me that the Carhenge folks had to put the Jeep on top. Otherwise, it would have been crushed if it was on the bottom.
I will be bringing my Wild T-2 and T-1A with solar filters for the viewing. The T-1A is specially fit with a solar reticle, so I'll get to do a wee bit of science to see how the moon fits within the solar reticle.
P.S. In case any of you ever wondered about my being a simple country boy, this snippet from the Denver Post article about my hometown radio station's call letters should dispel them.
To let people know what is happening, KCOW 1400 AM radio??s representative promised to broadcast anything important on the air, despite a corporate push to drive listeners to a website.
Locals pronounce it Kay Cow.
It would be fun except too many people.
Will be right here in Sacramento where it will be partial.
I can't think of anything I'd rather do less than drive up to Oregon with 20 trillion other people.
I will be holed up at home, just outside totality. No need to deal with all the fruitloops.
Dave Karoly, post: 441541, member: 94 wrote: It would be fun except too many people.
Will be right here in Sacramento where it will be partial.
I can't think of anything I'd rather do less than drive up to Oregon with 20 trillion other people.
The big plus for me is to visit my dad. Being a retired rancher, he doesn't understand what all the fuss is about. He's going to get his car and truck gassed up and stock up on groceries this next week so he doesn't have to venture out. The city park is only a block away and they're holding a "party", so I can see my dad yelling, "GET OFF MY GRASS" a few times.
It will be about 85% here. It's 8 hours to Salem plus there will be nowhere to stay not to mention epic traffic jams.
I'm just north of alliance bout 2 hours. Thought about the trek but I can't take time off.....now I know how packed it will be, I'm happy to stay home
The news is warning us that Oregon will be stampeded by millions of gawkers starting about next Thursday. As in the locals better fill their tanks and lay in groceries by Wednesday and hunker down for about a week. Should be over 90% occlusion right here in Portland.
I made plans with a friend in 1991 viewing a solar eclipse approx. 60 miles south of Mazatlan, Mexico to meet him south of Carbondale. IL to view this one and the one in 2024, where their paths cross. He changed his plans about a month ago so I will not be there...
Jon Collins, post: 441551, member: 11135 wrote: I'm just north of alliance bout 2 hours. Thought about the trek but I can't take time off.....now I know how packed it will be, I'm happy to stay home
Jon, Just tune into the NASA live feed and watch the shadow zoom across the NE prairie. They're going to tether a balloon at 100,000 ft. with a video camera.
Here's an earlier story on NASA's Nebraska High Altitude Ballooning Program
And here's the latest from NASA regarding their TV coverage.
NASA Announces Television Coverage for Aug. 21 Solar Eclipse
94% on my front porch, slightly more down at the saloon!
I ain't going anywhere.
Loyal
An estimate of 200,000 people converging to,,,,,,,,,,,,Glendo?
Landowners are setting up security and gates to charge for parking.
Back in 1979 I spent a night in Glendo while doing some survey work on the BNSF line. I was the only patron in the bar that night. I don't recall the name, but a look at Wiki has a sign for the Whiskey Gulch Saloon.
My cabin in the mountains of Yancey county NC will be at about 98%. I'll be there with my nephew and his family from Pa.
Looking at the map, it doesn't look like Texas is "in the path."
Shouldn't Austin have a 120% (or is it 200%) eclipse? After all, everything is bigger, better, and more complex in Texas!
Loyal
[USER=94]@Dave Karoly[/USER]
Here's a way for grandpa to impress his grandson. Grab grandma's colander or steamer and look at the pinhole patterns.
Check out today's story on www.spaceweather.com (about halfway down the page) on how to use kitchen tools to view the eclipse.
From the article
