
Everything under the sun is in tune
but the sun is eclipsed by the moon...
Cloudflare has measured the state of the internet during the solar eclipse that was visible on Monday across a swathe of North America, and found a measurable decrease in traffic. The eclipse's path of totality – the area in which the Moon completely blocks the view of the Sun, was first visible on land in Mexico and passed …
Of course they did. I was in Luxembourg City last time there was an eclipse there. I saw daylight turn into darkness, went outside and experience the sudden drop in temperature and the silence. Even the birds were hushed.
It was an awesome experience and I readily understand that Humanity was terrified by it.
I was living in Brussels or what must have been the very same one in the late 90s. Took the day off work and drove the Winnebago out to the path of totality.
Was pretty awesome, albeit a bit cloudy.
Afterwards sat and had some lunch in the back and watched thousands of cars stuck in the biggest traffic jam and trying to rush back home.
We had about 98% totality in Devon in 1999, I was working for a place in a rural area industrial unit it was cloudy but the "shadow" could be seen without glasses, I'd forgotten the temperature drop but do remember the very eerie silence & strange near dark at the peak & just after it the sudden perception of light returning the birds started singing almost as a chorus.
There wasn't much to see here in Alberta. A friend in Kentucky had about 90 seconds of totality as they were right on the edge of the path.
My family and I experienced the 99 eclipse from an Autoroute aire (similar to a rest area) near Nancy in France. We had timed our journey from Rugby to the Black Forest to coincide with the event.
About a quarter of an hour before First Contact, the french authorities shut down the Autoroute and all private cars had to be in an aire before totality, with the trucks lined up on the hard shoulder.
Unfortunately it was raining, so we thought that we were going to be disappointed, but just before Totality, a small hole appeared in the clouds, and we were treated to a stunning view of the corona.
Soon afterwards, we were allowed back onto the Autoroute to continue our journey, along with several hundred other vehicles.
Then look at a weather sat - geostationary and with a good view:
e.g. https://dmn-dallas-news-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/V6JEJGVAORHKFG5X5OMYFEK6JQ.gif
(Article at https://www.dallasnews.com/news/weather/2024/04/08/after-the-total-solar-eclipse-these-satellite-images-from-space-show-path-of-totality/)
> it only lasted about a minute, but it was still very interesting.
The 1968 total eclipse had, at its longest, a Totality duration of 40s - and the Chinese expedition spent 3 days on a train then 7 days by car to get to an observing site!
Travel is a lot easier now and many people would happily travel across the globe for a minute of Totality![1]
Just stepping outside and only having a few wispy clouds - what great fortune.
[1] of course, having travelled so far, they'd try for a location with the maximum Totality possible, conditions permitting, but still, a minute of Totality is nothing to be sneezed at.
What?
You mean it *didn't* get totally flooded out with livestreams from absolutely everybody standing with their back to the event so that they can get the right selfie viewpoint their audience craves?
Only interrupted by all the flash photography at Totality, of course*
Respect to the all the Yanks who just watched (hopefully in awe and cheering along with the people nearby).
* in Libya for an eclipse and not only did we get the inevitable flashes but a bunch of idiots were driving their cars back and forth, flashing the headlights and hitting the horn during Totality!**
** still annoyed and bitter about that? Me? No, no, totality over it, never give it a thought anymore - seriously, what was the point in keeping one eye shut to keep it dark adapted when that is going to happen? You go to the middle of a desert (not the natural habitat of an Englishman, despite what the song implies) and expect awe and wonderment, nope, may as well have been in the local Showcase car park! Going for a lie down now.