Eclipse Day

 In our neck of the woods, all we got was a partial solar eclipse -- 76.5% to be exact.  That didn't seem like much to get excited about, but I'm a stickler for doing things the right way, even if the results can only be a C+ average.

The dogs and I went to the hillside across the pond from the house.  I set up shop on a log surrounded by vole burrows, rabbit droppings and lots and lots of dry grass.  I unpacked my iPad, phone, solar binoculars, and eclipse glasses while Chance and Murphy went off to swim in the pond.






I will admit that sitting there on that log, waiting for 76.5% was rather like watching paint dry...until I picked up the binoculars and trained them to the sun.  The moon had begun to slide down in front of the sun.  Right then and there I realized that sometimes 76.5% is not a C+ and definitely not average. These little baby blue binoculars cost $30 and my opinion had been that we had gone overboard in ordering them.  That was before I saw the crisp black outline of the moon take a bite out of the sun.  WowWowWow!

At 76.5%, the sky did not become dark.  There were no stars and no confused crickets chirped.  The dogs played in the water, oblivious to anything celestial going on overhead.  But every time I raised those binoculars to my eyes, I could see the spectacular sight of the pip-squeak of a moon doing its damned best to blot out that Goliath of a sun.  Even at 76.5%, it was doing a very good job of it -- as long as I watched through the binoculars.  Without them, I don't think I ever would have noticed that there was an eclipse.  Yes, the sky was dimmer and had the yellowy tinge of late afternoon, but nowadays with all the summer fires, we're used to that overlay.

I was all by my lonesome, but felt as connected to the universe as I've ever been.  Not bad for 76.5%.

Chance and Murphy ignoring celestial history

I snapped this picture of the sun without looking.  This was near the maximum amount of coverage by the moon.  The sun is so bright that there's no evidence of the moon at all.

The light was...different, though.  The algae on the pond was such a virulent green that it seemed to be marching up the hillside.



After our little bit of the eclipse was over, I went back inside and watched some of the coverage on the NASA TV network.  I'll admit that I really, really wish I could have seen the total 100% eclipse.  But 76.5% will do nicely.