Totally incredible.
"The heavens declare the glory of God" - Psalm 19:1
On April 8, 2024, a total solar eclipse occurred in the late morning through late afternoon throughout the United States. Given the distance of the moon from the Earth, the longest period of totality was in Mexico, where totality lasted 4 minutes and 39 seconds. For this event, based on satellite imagery loops showing high clouds advancing into the Midwest, I chose a park just north of Vincennes, Indiana, next to Fort Knox II, to avoid the massive crowds...and to be able to leave quickly...and to be able to head further northeast or southwest if it was still cloudy there. Totality here was 4 minutes and 8 seconds. The good thing was that we were right on the totality path center line.
The band of totality was 120 miles wide, or 50 miles wider than the 2017 eclipse; everyone else outside that band saw a partial eclipse.
At 3:04 PM ET, the moon completely eclipsed the sun at my location. Here, you can see two of the three parts of the sun's atmosphere. The chromosphere can be seen as little protuberances of red jutting out; this is superheated hydrogen burning off. These are called "Bailey's Beads", and are about 6,000 degrees Celsius.
Of course, the most prominent outer part, the corona, is clearly seen with white-colored streamers and protuberances (the red fire spewing out in multiple locations). The temperature of these is around 3.5 million degrees Fahrenheit (2 million degrees Celsius, or slightly hotter than a McDonald's cup of coffee). When this ionized gas cools, it becomes the solar wind, which usually blows past Earth at around 300 km/s, unless a flare or coronal hole occurs; then, it can be up to 3 times faster.
The event was a surreal experience. For over 4 minutes, robins headed for their nests and stopped chirping; a cardinal sang it's dusk/dawn song. Nocturnal bugs came out. A utility house for the park had it's security lights come on, as did every streetlight. Meanwhile, on all horizons, sunshine was visible on clouds, even as stars shown overhead. However, the sky was darker for this one as the band of totality was nearly twice as wide as the one in 2017. The temperature dropped over 10 degrees. A loud, audible gasp and cheers were heard from those in the park as totality started, followed by silence, followed by cheers and yells as the "diamond ring" appeared, signaling the end of the totality phase.
Finally, notice my camera settings. That's right: ISO 1600. That's how dark it was...and I had taken off the solar filter on my camera to accomplish this shot.
This may be the last total solar eclipse I see before I pass away...as the next one in 2045 is a long ways away, as is the next one around Illinois and Indiana, which will be in 2099.
Totally incredible.
"The heavens declare the glory of God" - Psalm 19:1
On April 8, 2024, a total solar eclipse occurred in the late morning through late afternoon throughout the United States. Given the distance of the moon from the Earth, the longest period of totality was in Mexico, where totality lasted 4 minutes and 39 seconds. For this event, based on satellite imagery loops showing high clouds advancing into the Midwest, I chose a park just north of Vincennes, Indiana, next to Fort Knox II, to avoid the massive crowds...and to be able to leave quickly...and to be able to head further northeast or southwest if it was still cloudy there. Totality here was 4 minutes and 8 seconds. The good thing was that we were right on the totality path center line.
The band of totality was 120 miles wide, or 50 miles wider than the 2017 eclipse; everyone else outside that band saw a partial eclipse.
At 3:04 PM ET, the moon completely eclipsed the sun at my location. Here, you can see two of the three parts of the sun's atmosphere. The chromosphere can be seen as little protuberances of red jutting out; this is superheated hydrogen burning off. These are called "Bailey's Beads", and are about 6,000 degrees Celsius.
Of course, the most prominent outer part, the corona, is clearly seen with white-colored streamers and protuberances (the red fire spewing out in multiple locations). The temperature of these is around 3.5 million degrees Fahrenheit (2 million degrees Celsius, or slightly hotter than a McDonald's cup of coffee). When this ionized gas cools, it becomes the solar wind, which usually blows past Earth at around 300 km/s, unless a flare or coronal hole occurs; then, it can be up to 3 times faster.
The event was a surreal experience. For over 4 minutes, robins headed for their nests and stopped chirping; a cardinal sang it's dusk/dawn song. Nocturnal bugs came out. A utility house for the park had it's security lights come on, as did every streetlight. Meanwhile, on all horizons, sunshine was visible on clouds, even as stars shown overhead. However, the sky was darker for this one as the band of totality was nearly twice as wide as the one in 2017. The temperature dropped over 10 degrees. A loud, audible gasp and cheers were heard from those in the park as totality started, followed by silence, followed by cheers and yells as the "diamond ring" appeared, signaling the end of the totality phase.
Finally, notice my camera settings. That's right: ISO 1600. That's how dark it was...and I had taken off the solar filter on my camera to accomplish this shot.
This may be the last total solar eclipse I see before I pass away...as the next one in 2045 is a long ways away, as is the next one around Illinois and Indiana, which will be in 2099.