Now 3 Weeks from Today

[Tony Crocker]

You can zoom and get details here: http://xjubier.free.fr/en/site_pages/so ... pFull.html

Admin's recent report from the San Rafael Swell reminded me of the annular eclipse across much of the Southwest on Sunday May 20, 2012. Annular eclipses are not nearly the spectacle of totals, but there are some interesting effects. While 87% of the sun's surface area will be blocked by the moon, the impact upon lighting will only be modest and safety viewers will be mandatory for viewing the sun directly.

As noted in admin's report, this is an ideal time of year in terms of weather for most of the natural attractions along the path in the map above. If you live within a day's drive it will be well worth your while to visit some of these attractions that weekend. The annular phase is about an hour before sunset at 12 degrees above the west horizon in southern Utah, earlier and higher near Tahoe, later and lower in New Mexico. The eclipse sunsets in west Texas.

Unlike totals it's not that important to be near the centerline of an annular eclipse; many of the astronomy junkies prefer the edges. So best to choose a location based upon a natural site that interests you. The list is long, includes the Grand Canyon and most of the national parks/monuments in southern Utah and northern New Mexico.

 

[Tony Crocker]

If you're skiing Mammoth or Snowbird that day, no problem making the drive afterward to the southern or northern limit line due to the very late afternoon timing of the eclipse.

 

[Tony Crocker]

A bump in this topic, as the annular eclipse is one year from today.

After my last 2010 ski day June 19 I drove out NE of Mono Lake to the Nevada border on Hwy 359 at exactly 6:30PM eclipse time. The view was not encouraging. Clouds over the Sierra blocked the sun most of the time.

There was not a trace of cloud in the morning while skiing but there were scattered clouds building when I was hiking around Tioga Pass mid-afternoon.

I believe the clear morning/late afternoon cloud phenomenon over the High Sierra is a typical late spring/summer weather pattern. Therefore I suggest those in Mammoth for the weekend planning to view the eclipse allow enough time to drive deeper into Nevada to get away from having high mountains on the western horizon near sunset. The same goes for people in Reno and Lake Tahoe, which are in the eclipse path but likely subject to the same weather issue. From the Bay Area the Central Valley north of Sacramento is probably a decent bet for clear skies.

I'm now inclined to view the eclipse from one of the Utah or Arizona national parks. I was in Bryce Canyon and Escalante at the end of 2 days earlier this month with clearer skies. Bryce has an 3x a week stargazing program and they are already planning a program for next year's eclipse.

Other parks/monuments within the eclipse path include Zion, Capitol Reef, the Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, Mesa Verde and Chaco Canyon.

 

[jamesdeluxe]

Not trying to be a smartass, but why are you so fascinated by eclipses? To me, it's like standing next to a tree or building and waiting for the shadow.

If you've explained this before, please post a link.

 

[Admin]

+1

 

[Tony Crocker]

There are several links in my first FTO eclipse post from Egypt in 2006: viewtopic.php?f=5&t=2009

It is often difficult to get people to see their first total eclipse. By observation of numerous "eclipse virgins" on the 2008 and 2010 trips, nearly all of them are quite eager to repeat the experience. It's the ultimate in what psychologists call intermittent reinforcement. There's lot going on in a very short period of time, always leaves you wanting more and it's always 1 to 2 1/2 years until the next one. Sort of like being a powder addict but only being allowed to ski the Catskills or Laurentians. :stir:

Due to cost/convenience I'm not pushing any of you here to travel to one until August 21, 2017. Since that one crosses the entire continental U.S. from Oregon to South Carolina, it should be accessible to nearly everyone with only modest effort. After then I'll be interested in your reactions.

Annular eclipses are much less interesting and I will certainly not oversell the experience. It's worth investing a few hours of your time if you're conveniently located, as Mammoth, Tahoe and perhaps Snowbird skiers will be next year. I'll also mention that admin has been touting the virtues of Utah summer attractions ever since he moved there in 2005, and this spring I've had my first shot at several of these places: Arches and Canyonlands after the Colorado trip and Bryce and Zion after Alta closing weekend. The latter trip also included an amazing all day slot canyon hike (Egypt3 in Escalante) and I know that is admin's kind of adventure. I suspect he will be easily persuaded to visit some interesting place in southern Utah regardless of the eclipse.

 

[Tony Crocker]

I'm bumping this since we're now 3 weeks away. Liz will be out here and we will be viewing near Page, AZ with Xavier Jubier, who designed those eclipse maps I've posted. He also likes the Southwest canyon hikes and will be on an extended trip with family. We will be with him just the day of the eclipse and the day after. Xavier is also an accomplished mountaineer. He viewed the Feb. 7, 2008 annular eclipse from Mt. Vinson in Antarctica. http://xjubier.free.fr/en/site_pages/so ... _pg02.html

 

[EMSC]

Not trying to be a smartass, but why are you so fascinated by eclipses? To me, it's like standing next to a tree or building and waiting for the shadow.

If you've explained this before, please post a link.

This eclipse is too far away for me, but I have to say I'm intrigued now that I watched some science oriented show about eclipses on the plane back from Europe. Essentially there are quite a few very unusual visual effects that can disorient etc... on the ground. It's apparently not just looking at a shadow over the sun (though astronomer types very much look forward to that part too). Best I can describe it. The tv show did a much better job explaining the effects and showing as best it could (on a 5" screen) what the attraction is. Unfortunately I forget the name of the tv show.

Tony, is it the 2017 eclipse that covers much of Colorado? Isn't that the one you suggested maybe driving up Pikes Peak to watch or etc way back a few years ago?

 

[Evren]

One thing to watch out for during an annular eclipse is precisely the shadow of a tree. Under an average deciduous tree, you'll see hundreds of crescent suns. The spaces between the overlapping leaves each become camera obscuras.
Of course, this is also true any other time but the effect of the circular sun images are not particularly noticeable unless you're looking at it with that perspective. Most would assume that the light circles correspond to the openings between leaves yet obviously that is not the case -- overlapping leaves do not form circles of empty space in-between.
Think about it, next time you're under a tree. It has to be a certain combination of factors: canopy size, density (low), distance from ground; but many average trees are the right size for this.
If memory serves me correctly, this was in a book about Richard Feynman. In any case, it's very much a Feynman thing to notice.

 

[Tony Crocker]

The crescent shadows through tree leaves are usually visible when it gets up to 70% or so. I have a picture in my report from our first eclipse in 1999:

So these would likely be visible from areas not that far outside the path like SLC and central California. The catch is that the sun angle is quite low so late in the day. It will be 12 degrees above the horizon with sun 83% obscured in SLC, but only 7 degrees above the horizon in Boulder with sun 78% obscured. I suspect in Front Range Colorado there are places where the mountains to the west are more than 7 degrees above the horizon so the sun will set behind them before max eclipse. It will be 10 degrees above the horizon with sun 88% obscured for ~4 minutes of annularity where we will be around Page, AZ.

There will be few appropriate trees in the desert Southwest. Crescent shadows can be easily cast through a straw or mesh hat, as held by Adam here in Egypt's western desert in 2006:

One of the eclipse junkies on the Paul Gauguin in 2010 was more ambitious:

Tony, is it the 2017 eclipse that covers much of Colorado? Isn't that the one you suggested maybe driving up Pikes Peak to watch or etc way back a few years ago?

No that's August 12, 2045:
http://xjubier.free.fr/en/site_pages/so ... pFull.html

August 21, 2017:
http://xjubier.free.fr/en/site_pages/so ... pFull.html
You'll need to drive ~4 hours north on I-25 for this one. I-25 bends to follow an east-west path close to eclipse centerline for about 75 miles east of Casper, Wyoming. That's a good area to be with Interstate mobility to escape clouds, and I presume that's a quite sunny area on most summer mornings anyway.

I will emphasize again that the view on May 20 from SLC for example at 83% will not be that different from what we'll see in Page at 88% other than seeing a solar ring rather than a deep crescent through solar viewers for those 4 minutes. Not true in 2017; you must get into the narrow path of totality to see the more spectacular effects only visible when the sun is blocked completely. For someone like EMSC within daytrip distance, this is a no-brainer, though he'll need to get up early for a daytrip as the eclipse starts at 10:23 AM and is total at 11:43AM.