Eclipse first, the rest nowhere

[sovay]

The cloud cover comes and goes and we may not be able to see any of the broken rings of leaf-light that I remember so fondly from the annular eclipse of 1994, but through the (carefully purchased from the NASA-recommended manufacturer) glasses I can see that a shadow has already bitten the sun. I am off to see how much more it devours before we drive it away into the swinging dance of planetary bodies again. I am wearing my Miskatonic University T-shirt. It seems appropriate to this brush with the cosmos.

[edit] No leaf-rings, but I saw the crescent sun: through eclipse glasses it looked like a hunter's moon. I didn't expect much effect on the afternoon so far out of the path of totality, but it was strange light to walk around in, slightly thickened, slightly smoked, the wrong angle and the wrong color for plain overcast or sunset. spatch said it was like someone had dropped a filter over the sun and of course someone had: the moon. We walked to the library and back and intermittently looked up at the sky until the crescent began to widen again and then the real overcast thoughtfully rolled in.

Comments

[asakiyume]

We were hunkering down under the trees and wanting to shout at each passing car, "Stop!! You're missing a cosmic event!"

[sovay]

We were hunkering down under the trees and wanting to shout at each passing car, "Stop!! You're missing a cosmic event!"

We saw people everywhere with glasses and pinhole cameras, including children who had obviously been taken on field trips and adults who had set up deck chairs as if watching fireworks. Some people were doing complicated things with their phones. Some people had actual cameras and I hope professional filters. Even with the glasses, I was not comfortable looking at the sun for more than quick snatches of time, but I saw it change. It is the kind of thing that makes me happy in the world.

[asakiyume]

It is the kind of thing that makes me happy in the world.


Me too--emphatically

[phi]

We didn't get any of the projections through leaves either where I am.

[sovay]

We didn't get any of the projections through leaves either where I am.

We got the important part, which was the sun itself.

OT

[yhlee]

You've probably seen this already, but Dorothy Heydt's Cynthia stories are available as an ebook (The Witch of Syracuse; for Kindle, in epub, and in PDF). There's one new one apparently.

Re: OT

[sovay]

You've probably seen this already, but Dorothy Heydt's Cynthia stories are available as an ebook (The Witch of Syracuse; for Kindle, in epub, and in PDF).

I knew it was supposed to happen, but I didn't know it had! Thank you! I have not read the last few of these.

[aurumcalendula]

I got to see a bit of the partial eclipse earlier this afternoon since one of the departments in the library I'm at had a pair of glasses.

[sovay]

I got to see a bit of the partial eclipse earlier this afternoon since one of the departments in the library I'm at had a pair of glasses.

Nice!

I liked that more than one person we met as we walked asked if we had glasses, obviously willing to offer us their own for a look if we didn't.

[landofnowhere]

My department had an informal eclipse party on the Science Center balcony and it was great. There were enough eclipse glasses to go around, a colander that made pinhole projections, a DIY projector from a pair of binoculars and a sheet of cardboard, and someone had ordered eclipse-themed cookies! I could see a bunch of people watching down on the plaza, and also some people on the higher terraces of the Science Center; I randomly waved at them and got a couple waves back.

[sovay]

There were enough eclipse glasses to go around, a colander that made pinhole projections, a DIY projector from a pair of binoculars and a sheet of cardboard, and someone had ordered eclipse-themed cookies!

That sounds excellent! What were the cookies?

I could see a bunch of people watching down on the plaza, and also some people on the higher terraces of the Science Center; I randomly waved at them and got a couple waves back.

People were friendly as we were walking around, too. It was the most casual cameraderie I think I have seen outside of protests in the last year.

[landofnowhere]

Cupcakes, actually -- I misspoke. They had little candy wafers on top with images, variously, of an eclipse, the solar system, and a pair of glasses.

[sovay]

They had little candy wafers on top with images, variously, of an eclipse, the solar system, and a pair of glasses.

That's even better than I was picturing.

[yhlee]

I think this may be the very first time I've caught an allusion in one of your post titles! Yay for a misspent childhood reading every single book on Thoroughbred racing I could yank out of the library system. XD

[sovay]

Yay for a misspent childhood reading every single book on Thoroughbred racing I could yank out of the library system.

A childhood of Marguerite Henry is not misspent!

[ethelmay]

I think we only had a couple of Marguerite Henrys, but I remember Gaudenzia: Pride of the Palio very fondly. (It's still all I can do to pronounce Palio correctly. My inner nine-year-old still wants to say Pride of the Paleo.)

[thanate]

We had tree-shadow-crescents at our library program just south of Baltimore, which is something I missed last time as we were standing about in the parking lot at my high school for it. A little bit as if the tree was smiling at us; lovely. Also scudding clouds visible as shadows through the eclipse glasses, which were fascinating to watch.

[sovay]

We had tree-shadow-crescents at our library program just south of Baltimore, which is something I missed last time as we were standing about in the parking lot at my high school for it.

Oh, nice. I think we were either at the wrong latitude or just slightly too cloudy for the necessary direct sunlight.

A little bit as if the tree was smiling at us; lovely.

Yes! They look like a multiplicity of cats' eyes, closed to crescents with content. I am thinking now of L'Engle's cherubim.

Also scudding clouds visible as shadows through the eclipse glasses, which were fascinating to watch.

I hadn't realized how much the clouds would be a factor in the viewing of the eclipse. At one point we lost the sun in the overcast and were saying things like, "Well, if it went out, we'll find out in about eight minutes when we freeze . . ."

[zdenka]

I didn't see any leaf-crescents either, but I stopped by the Somerville West library's eclipse party to use their viewing glasses when the eclipse was winding down. It was really neat to see. One woman had brought a shaggy dog that was totally chill about the whole eclipse thing and just wanted head-scritches.

I couldn't see much difference when I was just walking around outside; if I hadn't known I would have thought it was just normal overcast.

[sovay]

I didn't see any leaf-crescents either, but I stopped by the Somerville West library's eclipse party to use their viewing glasses when the eclipse was winding down.

I'm sorry we missed you! I had two books to pick up, so we were there right around the closest we got to totality. I hadn't realized it was a formal viewing party; that would explain why people offered us glasses.

I couldn't see much difference when I was just walking around outside; if I hadn't known I would have thought it was just normal overcast.

The best I can describe is that it was the wrong quality and the wrong angle for its color. I agree it was a slight difference, but it was like a later afternoon light earlier in the day. It would have been interesting to see if it was more or less perceptible on a clearer day.

[zdenka]

Yeah, they were having some kind of event, though it was populated mostly by small children when I wandered through. Sorry to have missed you.

I did notice a dimming! Just not a lot. I guess I was hoping for something more dramatic. But the eclipse itself as seen through glasses was as dramatic as I could ask for.

[sovay]

But the eclipse itself as seen through glasses was as dramatic as I could ask for.

I watched the last eclipse through a pinhole camera and scattered crescents of sunlight under the trees. I had never looked safely at the face of the sun before. It just made me smile.

[ethelmay]

The best I can describe is that it was the wrong quality and the wrong angle for its color. I agree it was a slight difference, but it was like a later afternoon light earlier in the day.

It felt to me in Seattle (which was sunny and had something like 92%) like a morning in the mountains: chilly light from an unusual angle. The drop in temperature was almost more noticeable than the drop in light -- that is, it seemed more like a change in the quality of the light than the quantity.