Author Topic: 5-20-12 Eclipse  (Read 775 times)

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Offline Libertas

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5-20-12 Eclipse
« on: May 20, 2012, 01:15:28 PM »
Anybody in a good viewing area for this?

http://www.astronomy.com/en/News-Observing/News/2012/05/A%20solar%20eclipse%20darkens%20American%20skies.aspx

http://www.astronomy.com/sitefiles/utilities/image.aspx?item={DEDBC9F7-DAB5-4EEC-A485-6AD292E16B5E}&mw=900&mh=650

UT chart -

http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/OH/OHtables/OH2012-Tab03.pdf

Should be close to sunset here for a "partial" viewing...but it has been rainy/cloudy past 24 hours...and showers are expected to continue, especially from 7-9 pm before clearing...so once again this fine Minnesota weather screws up another viewing opportunity...

 ::)

Hope y'all have better luck!

Oh, and check this out...shows time by state and what you should see (if you have no clouds that is!) -

http://shadowandsubstance.com/
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Offline trapeze

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Re: 5-20-12 Eclipse
« Reply #1 on: May 20, 2012, 01:55:54 PM »
Thanks for the heads up. We are within the northern limit of the eclipse and should be able to experience it fully at around 7:30pm local time.
In a doomsday scenario, hippies will be among the first casualties. So not everything about doomsday will be bad.

Offline trapeze

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Re: 5-20-12 Eclipse
« Reply #2 on: May 20, 2012, 09:39:55 PM »
We drove to Shiprock, NM and experienced it about as well as possible.

The battery in my auto darkening welding helmet was dead, though, so we had to make do with a shadow box to view it.

It was pretty cool watching things get progressively dimmer.
In a doomsday scenario, hippies will be among the first casualties. So not everything about doomsday will be bad.

Offline LadyVirginia

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Re: 5-20-12 Eclipse
« Reply #3 on: May 20, 2012, 10:30:18 PM »
Rain/clouds so it was a no go.

I do remember years ago my elderly neighbor running over with his shadow box so my young children could see an eclipse.  Very cool.
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Offline trapeze

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Re: 5-20-12 Eclipse
« Reply #4 on: May 21, 2012, 12:11:25 AM »
We had absolutely clear skies. If I had had more time to prepare we could have had a welder's helmet. I checked the Lowes and the Home Depot in Farmington, NM and both of them were sold out...even the expensive self darkening helmets were gone. If I had had a really dark filter for my digital camera I could have gotten some good pictures of the sun but I didn't. I will post the images from the shadow box in a little while (after I get them uploaded to imageshack). I had one shadow box with a small hole that I was able to project onto a sheet of paper from about 2 feet away. That was with a 1/8" hole. I made up a 1" hole at the last minute and got it focused from about twelve feet away. It cast an image about as big as a saucer. Not as nice as a direct observation but it was really cool watching the image move. It was almost fast enough to see it move.
In a doomsday scenario, hippies will be among the first casualties. So not everything about doomsday will be bad.

Offline Libertas

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Re: 5-20-12 Eclipse
« Reply #5 on: May 21, 2012, 08:13:14 AM »
Cool, glad some people got to see it.  It's fun to see if people have sun filters on binoc's or telescopes, even welders glass...but I've done the shadow box before too.

 ::thumbsup::
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Offline Libertas

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Re: 5-20-12 Eclipse
« Reply #6 on: May 21, 2012, 11:32:29 AM »
We are now where The Founders were when they faced despotism.