People are driving hundreds of miles hoping to see daytime blue sky deepen to black. As the moon obliterates the sun, their reward will be Baily’s Beads dancing around the edge of the moon, followed by 100 seconds of thrilling totality as one remaining Bead forms the diamond ring and then the solar corona becomes visible. What will you see? Today, tell us your plans for viewing the ring of fire — the Great American Eclipse. Will you travel far? Have you considered the traffic chaos from all the people moving towards a narrow band across the continent? Will you join a citizen science project?
I know one DK member is driving from near Las Vegas to a $1000 camping site in a northeast Oregon orchard. Another person is flying with her family to a Tennessee vacation cottage rented a year ago. A member who owns a B&B in the midwest has a three-day special for eclipse viewers that includes science and history presentations. A Bucketeer plans to be among the first to see the eclipse from his backyard Frog Mitigation Area in western Oregon.
On Monday August 21st, the Daily Bucket will discuss what biologists already know about wildlife reactions to eclipses. Throughout the day as the eclipse moves across the US, we hope you’ll share your experiences in the comments. Did the sun’s corona flare out in a burst? What colors appeared? How did local wildlife and house/farm animals respond?
Whether you arranged totality travel plans or are staying home to enjoy whatever percent is visible, there’s more to do in preparation than buying safe viewing glasses. First, determine the time, duration, and percent of totality visible in your location at this website (you can also watch an animated video of how the eclipse will play out). Here’s the info for my home in the northern Sierra foothills.
Begins: Mon, Aug 21, 2017 at 9:02 am
Maximum: Mon, Aug 21, 2017 at 10:17 am
Ends: Mon, Aug 21, 2017 at 11:39 am
Duration: 2 hours, 37 minutes
Magnitude: 0.86
If you haven’t bought the safety lenses (I forgot to do this) you can still view the eclipse indirectly using simple homemade devices. Visit The Planetary Society’s page for instructions on what specific spots are best for viewing, how to make and use a pinhole projector, and links to downloadable guides in English, Spanish, and French. You can use binoculars to make a indirect viewing projector that gives a larger image than a pinhole. Remember it isn’t safe to look into the sun directly without a special lens except the few seconds of total eclipse! Bailey’s Beads are not safe to look at without lenses. Only during those seconds when the moon has fully covered the sun is it safe to look without protection.
If you plan to travel, don’t underestimate eclipse tourist traffic. It won’t clog just the main highways, even back roads are likely to be jammed. John Day Fossil Beds National Monument in the remote high desert of northeast Oregon sees about 200,000 visitors a year. No major cities are nearby and eastern Oregon can be forbiddingly hot in summer. Because skies are usually clear, it’s a prime eclipse viewing site. The National Park Service estimates John Day will have a crowd of 50,000 people.
The 50 mile drive on a decent highway from Bend OR to Madras, an eclipse hotspot, might take six to eight hours due to traffic. The town of John Day near the park (112 miles from Bend) has only 1,700 residents. They’ve been preparing for eclipse tourism during the past year. The town built an RV campground, added a ton of portable toilets, and are anticipating the most action since the Gold Rush.
“The roads are very small and windy,” said Shelly Hall, Fossil Beds’ superintendent. “I suspect a lot of people will see the eclipse from a traffic jam.”
It’s not just rural northeast Oregon. The Colorado State Patrol (CSP) warns of a massive traffic increase on the day of the eclipse as people drive to the path of totality. Wyoming, where the path crosses north of Denver, estimates 600,000 people will be on the roads, mostly coming from Colorado. The eclipse begins about 10:24 am in eastern Wyoming with totality at 11:45. The eclipse ends at 1:12 pm and people will then drive home, again causing traffic congestion. The CSP expects a record high volume of traffic.
The Daily Bucket is a nature refuge. We amicably discuss animals, weather, climate, soil, plants, waters and note life’s patterns spinning around us.
We invite you to note what you are seeing around you in your own part of the world, and to share your observations in the comments below.
|
If you want to do more, citizen science projects seek participants to help with photo-documentation of the actual eclipse, to note observations of plant and wildlife responses, and several additional studies. Here are a few projects with others listed at the previous link.
Life Responds (California Academy of Sciences)
This project uses the iNaturalist app to connect citizen scientist observations of nature’s response to the eclipse. Does the eclipse drive wildlife wilder? How do flowers that close their petals at night respond to sudden darkness during the daytime? Will your dog be confused? Will my parrots go to sleep? (Nope, bet they’ll either yell vigorously or be blasé and ignore the whole shot. I’ll let you know on Monday.)
GLOBE Observer
What happens in the atmosphere and on Earth’s surface when the Sun’s light is blocked, even temporarily? By collecting data during the eclipse, you can help us explore how the eclipse changes atmospheric conditions. You will also be contributing to a database used by students and scientists to study the effects of the eclipse on the atmosphere. Even if you are not on the path of totality, you can provide useful comparison data.
Eclipse Soundscape
The eclipse isn’t just for viewing. Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics designed a project for non-visual participants. Eclipse Soundscape includes an app you can download that will provide an audio description and a vibration-rendering of the eclipse on your smartphone as the eclipse occurs. The project also will record sounds during the eclipse and have them available afterwards. You can record sounds too using your smart phone. Calling birds, chirping insects, howling dogs, and gasping humans are part of the eclipse soundscape you might record. Go here for information on how to take and submit your recordings. If you’re stuck in a traffic jam and people are honking their car horns in frustration, even that can be part of the historic record.
… soundscapes change dramatically as the Moon passes between the Earth and Sun. Due to the change in light, nocturnal animals stir into action, while diurnal animals settle. As the Sun’s light re-emerges, it often triggers a “false dawn chorus.”
Eclipse Soundscapes is working with organizations . . . to record these auditory fluctuations. Many of these recordings will use microphone arrays that simulate human hearing, creating a sensation of 3D sound for listeners.
…the Eclipse Soundscapes app . . . will include a narration of the eclipse’s progression in real time using specialized imagery description techniques . . . [the] app will geolocate the user and start the narration to align with the planetary movements as they occur.
iSeeChange
Coastal dwellers can help document how the eclipse, climate change, and high tides combine. Because super high and low tides occur when the sun, moon and earth are in alignment (as on the full and new moon phases each month), the eclipse can result in dramatic tides. This project, in collaboration with Yale, asks citizen scientists to help document signs of climate change and rising seas. (H/T to purple cones for suggesting this project.)
Take pictures of high tides and flooding on August 21. Where do you see flooding? How does flooding affect your routine?
Google and UC Berkeley want people to take photos for their Eclipse Megamovie project.
This eclipse, like others in history, is spawning rumors and myths. We know that a giant frog isn’t devouring the sun. Neither is the Hindu deity Rahu being decapitated and swallowing the sun as his head flies off into the sky. For two millennia scientists have used eclipses to make discoveries. A New York Times article, The Illuminating Power of Eclipses, describes some of these discoveries. For example, 2,000 years ago Hipparchus calculated the distance between Earth and moon to within about 20 percent of the correct number. In 1868, a French scientist used an eclipse and a spectroscope to identify the elements of solar light and discovered helium.
Our contemporary myths aren’t necessarily technologically advanced. People wonder if the sheer weight of humans in the path of totality will cause earthquakes in the Pacific Northwest. Rumors say Oregon cities are handing out bags of cannabis and Cheetos. People worry that cities will run out of water and the sewers overflow. None of these is true (BYO pot and Cheetos). But freeways and back roads will be crowded. Gas and snacks might be limited along the most popular routes. Travelers are advised to not stop along roadsides unless it is an emergency (use the rest area toilets). Cell services might be overwhelmed, and in some areas are always limited or non-existent.
So fill up your gas tank and leave earlier than you think necessary. Bring water, food, and a book to read when you are stuck in traffic snarls and there’s no cell phone service. If you are still en route to your destination and the eclipse begins, just enjoy the show.
And for everyone who doesn’t want to drive all day to camp amidst a forest of Porta Potties, NASA has several ways to watch livestreams of the eclipse without leaving home. Don’t forget to come back to the Daily Bucket on Ring of Fire Monday and share your story.
SPOTLIGHT ON GREEN NEWS & VIEWS POSTS EVERY SATURDAY AND WEDNESDAY AFTERNOONS (PACIFIC TIME) ON THE DAILY KOS FRONT PAGE. BE SURE TO LOOK FOR THE STORIES YOU MISSED. RECOMMEND AND COMMENT TO THANK METEOR BLADES FOR HIS DEDICATED CURATION.
|
Edited to add this at 11:36 am PT from Bend OR