Aug 21, 2017

The 2017 "Great American" Solar Eclipse
The sticky

What is the solar eclipse? On August 21, in just a few days, the continental United States will experience its first total eclipse of the sun since 1979, and the first to cross from west to east coast since 1919. Please keep all discussion of this event to this thread, and share with us where you'll be viewing this amazing and rare spectacle of nature and what you'll be doing to commemorate this time. The next total eclipse to hit the U.S.A. will not be until 2024.

Totality: To view the full eclipse, you must be in the path of totality. This is the narrow, 70-mile wide path where the umbra (the darkest shadow of the moon) passes through. If you are not within the path of totality, you will miss the amazing spectacle that everyone the world over is coming to see. Do not be fooled by people who say 80% or 90% or even 99.99% partial eclipse is good enough. It's not. Even 99% obscuration is not enough to fully cover the sun in the same way that 100% can, and you will walk away feeling let down. See the resources below for maps of totality.

Traffic: Expect nightmare-ish traffic conditions as you get closer to and especially within the path of totality. Even in the middle of nowhere like Wyoming, traffic could be gridlocked for hours or even days on end. The state of Oregon is equating the situation to a natural disaster, with many rural as well as city roads at a total standstill. Gas stations may run out of fuel. If you are trying to get to the largest cities such as Salem, Nashville, or Columbia, you should depart wherever you're coming from by Sunday morning at the latest.

Lodging: Sold out everywhere. If you hadn't booked 6 months ago, you're out of luck.

Major cities within the path:

Salem, OR
Idaho Falls, ID
Jackson, WY
Lincoln, NE
Kansas City, KS
Columbia, MO
Carbondale, IL
Nashville, TN
Charleston, SC

Resources:

Live stream (Aug. 21)
Overall useful info site
Eclipse 101 by NASA
High quality solar viewing glasses — possibly sold out or too late to order, but many shops and events within the path of totality will be handing out glasses for free
Comprehensive list of viewing events
Google map showing the full path of totality and relevant details
Informative article
Informative write-up debunking various myths and misconceptions about a total eclipse

Watch this video:

And this one, which gives you an idea of just how spectacular the total eclipse can be:

Other urls found in this thread:

earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/august-21-2017-solar-eclipse-4-planets-bright-stars
nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2017/chasing-the-total-solar-eclipse-from-nasa-s-wb-57f-jets
twitter.com/NSFWRedditVideo

Since the dawn of time man has yearned to destroy the sun.

>They took away the Vox video

Shit man now that is what I call a bold move. Good on you man. But when the (((other guy))) founds out you deleted his thread you will probably get your modding privileges revoked. But let it be known that you are a cool guy.

...

i will be boofing moxy, possibly i will make the 4 hour drive to the edge of mark twain.
but i will probably just walk up in the hills with 90% totality and see observe what the critters do.
think ill go to one of my squats and observe for a couple of days before
not sure what putting a psychedelic triptamine up my asshole will do to my field biology skills, thats part of the fun.

why would you sticky this of all things?

Will welder's goggles be sufficient?

Yes, with shade # 12 or higher. Shade 13 is ideal but difficult to find.

It's times like this where I wish I was located in the US.

Because otherwise we'd be hip deep in eclipse threads by Monday.

Google "projecting eclipse with binoculars" or "pinhole camera eclipse" for another way to view before totality. hen total, you can look at the coronal display directly.