Going anywhere for the 2017 total solar eclipse?

[SSSdave]

Up in Salem now Saturday, where the eclipse will be total. Huge numbers of people expected to be coming in today. Planning on tenting in a city park and viewing the eclipse at the Capitol in a huge crowd. Oregon coast on the way up was impressive.

[Tom_H]

For those who will be in the zone of totality, a little bit of history and science here. You will get to see something that proved Einstein's General Theory of Relativity. Einstein's theory predicted that gravity warps space, altering the trajectory of both mass as well as energy waves passing through it.

From an angle measurement, and due to the sun being almost 400 times farther from Earth than the sun, the moon has a slightly wider angular measurement in the sky than does the sun. This means, according to Newtonian physics, the sun should be totally obscured by the moon, with absolutely no light from the sun visible.

According to Einstein's theory, however, light which passes by the sides of the moon is traveling through space which has been slightly bent back toward the moon by the moon's gravity. Einstein theorized that enough of this light would be pulled back toward the moon to create a halo (aka corona) effect of light glimmering around the moon's periphery.

After positing the theory, other physicists rushed to view the next total eclipse in order to test the theory. Einstein was so sure of his math that he didn't even bother going to watch. And of course he was proven right. When you see that corona, you are seeing proof of Einstein's General Theory of Relativity. Note: he also posited the Special Theory of Relativity.

One other note: Other planets have more than one moon, thus they must have individual names. Also, other stars have names. Most people call our star the sun and our moon the moon. Many do not know that our sun and moon actually have proper names: Sol and Luna. Adjectives which come from these: solar and lunar.

[Wandering Daisy]

I just got off a trip, so am going to watch the 80% eclipse in my driveway!

My brother, who lives in Delta Utah, has an airplane, and is going to fly 2 hours to some dinky airport in Idaho, land, watch the eclips on the runway and then fly back. Good way to avoid the traffic. He said there are signs on all the highways in Utah that warn people of traffic jams.

Also know of someone in Wyoming, who is renting their house (3 days) for $4000

[Tom_H]

I don't have special glasses, so I made one of these:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/video/na ... f098bd5abb

[rlown]

any tally yet on how many have burned their retinas? Here in Petaluma, we were fogged in. Didn't bug me as I know the eclipse will be covered massively by the news media.

[maverick]

Going anywhere for the 2017 total solar eclipse?

Yep, went to the gym.

[Jimr]

Went to work.

[Vaca Russ]

Went to work.

Yes, at work but we have welding face shields.

[Wandering Daisy]

Eclipse was a total bust in Sacramento. There is a lot of haze and smoke in the air so the difference was very small.

[neil d]

Wow, surprised to hear that, WD! We had a very good viewing in Rocklin. But I agree, the air quality has been terrible lately.