Smoky Mountains Tennessee Eclipse Vacation

 
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Lightning
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Post by Lightning » Tue. Aug. 22, 2017 11:52 am

I posted this on Facebook, thought I'd share it with you all here :D

So, this IS the coolest thing I've ever seen. My daughter and I fought traffic all the way down to Madisonville Tennessee, the center line of the shadow path of the total solar eclipse. At this particular location we got 2 minutes and 38 seconds of totality in the moon's shadow. It was at a big park where they were holding an eclipse festival, there was easily a couple thousand people there. I set my phone to video us watching the eclipse, the video starts at about one minute before plunging into darkness. It was an incredible experience, the cheer of the crowd and the crescents filtering thru the leaves of the trees. About 10 minutes before totality, you couldn't feel any radiant heat from the sun anymore, everything looked strange because of the lighting of a nearly completely covered sun. It was just awesome. During totality what I saw in the Sky was absolutely breathtaking. The moon with the sun's outer atmosphere glowing around it's edges and the two diamond rings, one before and one after. We spotted Venus and Mercury and the glow of sunset across the entire horizon. Credit for the sun shots goes to my step daughter's boyfriend, Christian.

We are staying here in a cabin till Friday morning. It's beautiful here.

https://youtu.be/Zx42ri4Ciwc

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freetown fred
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Post by freetown fred » Tue. Aug. 22, 2017 12:13 pm

Outstanding Lee, thanx for the pix. :D

 
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warminmn
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Post by warminmn » Tue. Aug. 22, 2017 3:17 pm

I'd been waiting for your report! Did you notice or see the "snakes" on the ground that Ive seen mentioned right at the moment of totality and at the end of it? I am sensing that if a person is not at a 100% covered spot, that it isnt/wasnt that good.

 
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Post by davidmcbeth3 » Tue. Aug. 22, 2017 3:46 pm

I have a couple of Meade telescopes (LX200 & LX90) .. no solar filters though.

When Mars was close I got some awesome pics.

I'm not that into astronomy anymore but when something catches my eye .... nice to have the equipment.

Plus its useful to see things on Earth's surface too.


Did you have a solar telescope available? I think that these are more useful when the sun is actually visible. Maybe I'll convert one of mine to a solar.

 
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Post by tsb » Tue. Aug. 22, 2017 4:10 pm

Great report. Unforgettable experience.

 
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Post by KLook » Tue. Aug. 22, 2017 5:23 pm

Nice! I am not far away, actually playing bball in Cleveland TN tonight, real close to ya. The traffic coming south from the total area was nuts late in the afternoon even....

Kevin

 
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Lightning
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Post by Lightning » Tue. Aug. 22, 2017 7:04 pm

warminmn wrote:I'd been waiting for your report! Did you notice or see the "snakes" on the ground that Ive seen mentioned right at the moment of totality and at the end of it? I am sensing that if a person is not at a 100% covered spot, that it isnt/wasnt that good.
The snakes you are referring to I believe are called shadow bands. I didn't see the shadow bands but, I wasn't looking for them either. They are difficult to discern unless you are on a smooth bright surface like a snow covered field for example. You DO need to be inside the shadow path to get the full effect of the eclipse. Anyone with less than 90% coverage of the sun wouldn't have noticed much happening at all. Our cabin was only two miles outside the shadow path. At 10:30 I hit the panic button and announced I was leaving with my daughter to get to the center of the path. Everyone in my group thought the view from the cabin would be "good enough". Later on, I convinced them to at least go about 15 miles where they got a little over a minute of totality. I'm so glad they did. Daisy and I had 2 minutes 38 seconds but fought miserable traffic in and out of our location at the center of the shadow path. For me, it was well worth it. I got to share an unforgettable once in a lifetime experience with my daughter, she was so into it lol.


 
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Lightning
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Post by Lightning » Tue. Aug. 22, 2017 7:11 pm

davidmcbeth3 wrote:Did you have a solar telescope available? I think that these are more useful when the sun is actually visible. Maybe I'll convert one of mine to a solar.
I didn't have a solar telescope, but did have the eclipse glasses for the partial phases before and after totality. At the festival several people had telescopes, even one with an image reflected onto a white plate to view it indirectly, live while it was happening. I took binoculars to look around with during totality, even had them strapped around my neck, I didn't even lift them to look, I was too immersed in the moment. Even with naked eyes the sun appeared huge with the moon covering it.

 
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Lightning
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Post by Lightning » Tue. Aug. 22, 2017 7:14 pm

tsb wrote:Great report. Unforgettable experience.
It absolutely was! In the pic of me and my daughter with the totally eclipsed sun above our heads, you can see a point of light at about the 3:30 position from the sun, that was Venus.

 
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Lightning
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Post by Lightning » Tue. Aug. 22, 2017 7:16 pm

KLook wrote:Nice! I am not far away, actually playing bball in Cleveland TN tonight, real close to ya. The traffic coming south from the total area was nuts late in the afternoon even....

Kevin
It was a long ride back to the cabin, a line of traffic on route 411 as far as you could see. We ended up taking alternate routes which was nice, thru the Smoky Mountains.

 
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Post by Lightning » Tue. Aug. 22, 2017 9:27 pm

Christian gave me couple more photos of the partial taken with his good camera and telephoto lens. He strapped an eclipse glasses viewer over the end of his camera for these.

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Post by davidmcbeth3 » Wed. Aug. 23, 2017 4:15 pm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxAI90-SN3Y

Vid of chickens' behavior during eclipse.

 
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Lightning
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Post by Lightning » Wed. Aug. 23, 2017 5:31 pm

So we went on a little tour today. I was unloading the car after we got back to the cabin, this happened. He got our loaf of bread lol.

https://youtu.be/movAKaMwt28

 
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Post by warminmn » Wed. Aug. 23, 2017 5:47 pm

Lightning wrote:So we went on a little tour today. I was unloading the car after we got back to the cabin, this happened. He got our loaf of bread lol.

https://youtu.be/movAKaMwt28
You seem to have recurring bear issues :lol: Great video!

 
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Post by Lightning » Wed. Aug. 23, 2017 5:54 pm

Thanks lol. He grabbed that bread and stood around on his hind legs for a few seconds like he was all proud and stuff hahaha


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