APOD: Eclipse Across America: Path Video... (2017 Jun 19)

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APOD: Eclipse Across America: Path Video... (2017 Jun 19)

Post by APOD Robot » Mon Jun 19, 2017 4:06 am

Image Eclipse Across America: Path Prediction Video

Explanation: Where will you be during the Eclipse across America? On August 21, the shadow of the Moon will cross the continental USA for the first time since 1979. The predicted path -- a certainty given modern astronomical knowledge -- is shown in the featured NASA video. Most people in the USA will be within a day's drive to the path of the total solar eclipse, while the rest of North America will see a partial solar eclipse. In the path of totality, given clear-enough skies, the Moon will block out the Sun making it eerily dark for as long as 2 minutes and 40 seconds. If interested in attending an eclipse party, please contact your local amateur astronomical society, science center, park, or university to see if one is already being planning. Some eclipse chasers have traveled to the end of the world to see a total eclipse of the Sun, and along the way have recorded many entertaining adventure stories.

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bystander
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Re: APOD: Eclipse Across America: Path Video... (2017 Jun 19)

Post by bystander » Mon Jun 19, 2017 4:37 am

To see a simulation of what the eclipse may look like from your location,
visit the UC Berkeley Eclipse Megamovie Project's eclipse simulator.

UCB Eclipse Simulator

And here is an interactive Google Map of the eclipse path from NASA.

NASA/Google Interactive Eclipse Map
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Re: APOD: Eclipse Across America: Path Video... (2017 Jun 19)

Post by Boomer12k » Mon Jun 19, 2017 7:53 am

If you come be prepared for HIGH PRICES... some are paying 60,000 for a CAMPING SITE... OUCH....
I live in Salem, Oregon...

If you do come, give me a PM, would be happy to chat. Unfortunately I don't have any room. But you could use a bedroll on the Deck if you like... :shock:

I hope the weather is good, it usually is around that time... but not always.... Welcome to OREGON WEATHER.... :lol2:

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Re: APOD: Eclipse Across America: Path Video... (2017 Jun 19)

Post by starsurfer » Mon Jun 19, 2017 8:45 am

I predict tomorrow's APOD will be Omega Centauri.

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Re: APOD: Eclipse Across America: Path Video... (2017 Jun 19)

Post by rstevenson » Mon Jun 19, 2017 12:04 pm

Boomer12k wrote:If you come be prepared for HIGH PRICES... some are paying 60,000 for a CAMPING SITE... OUCH....
There are always people willing to pay for luxury. But I just checked online and there are RV spaces for $400 to $500 and tent spaces for just over half that. I presume that those who are going booked long ago, but if you haven't you may think you'll have to pay a premium price. But one site I looked at had a discount on their RV spaces, probably because they had overestimated the interest in the first place.

Rob

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Re: APOD: Eclipse Across America: Path Video... (2017 Jun 19)

Post by E Fish » Mon Jun 19, 2017 1:12 pm

I'm going to be in my backyard for the eclipse. It goes right over my house, but every campground has been sold out for more than a year and all the hotels are sold out (even with astronomically (ha!) high prices and a requirement of at least three nights' stay).

We usually have clear skies in August in Idaho, but like Oregon, you never know. My dad enjoys saying that it'll be cloudy.

Jim Armstrong

Re: APOD: Eclipse Across America: Path Video... (2017 Jun 19)

Post by Jim Armstrong » Mon Jun 19, 2017 4:32 pm

I'll turn 76 before the eclipse and have wanted to experience one for most of that time.
This will also be the closest one in all that time.
As special as these events certainly are, I am really in doubt that 10 or more hours on the road (each way) and no pace to stay are worth 2 minutes of morning darkness, perhaps in the rain.
Upshot is that I have decided to forego my one chance. I hope everybody else is rewarded.

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Re: APOD: Eclipse Across America: Path Video... (2017 Jun 19)

Post by MarkBour » Mon Jun 19, 2017 6:25 pm

Both the Sun and the Moon always appear to travel from East to West in the sky over the U.S. This is caused, in actuality, by the daily rotation of the Earth in the opposite direction. If you look at the APOD video, you can see that the eclipse travels in the opposite direction of the advancing Sun and Moon, travelling from West to East. Why is that, you may ask? Because the Moon is orbiting the Earth in the same direction as the Earth rotates (much more slowly, in terms of degrees covered per day). As a result, the Moon appears to track overhead a little slower than the other celestial objects, losing almost an hour a day compared to them. In the coming solar eclipse, when they align, then, the Sun will appear to overtake the Moon in our sky and pass it, in the race from East to West. Since the Moon is going to be between us and the Sun, then, the shadow it casts on Earth's surface will move in the opposite direction of the speeding Sun. That's one way of looking at it, anyway.

Another viewpoint is to consider that, as I said, the Moon is orbiting us moving West to East. Hence, its shadow will move that direction as well. Its shadow will move faster than the Earth is rotating, so it will progress over the surface of the Earth.
Mark Goldfain

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Re: APOD: Eclipse Across America: Path Video... (2017 Jun 19)

Post by Reward54 » Tue Jun 20, 2017 4:12 pm

MarkBour wrote:"...the eclipse travels ... from West to East..."
Thanks for the explanation. I was wondering about this exact thing, so your explanation was very welcome.

I plan to be in Dubois, WY, at my daughter's house for this phenomenon. I doubt I will ever have a better opportunity to witness a total eclipse, so I can't pass this up.

???

Re: APOD: Eclipse Across America: Path Video... (2017 Jun 19)

Post by ??? » Sun Jun 25, 2017 1:22 pm

Why does the solar eclipse travel from west to east ? . . .

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Re: APOD: Eclipse Across America: Path Video... (2017 Jun 19)

Post by geckzilla » Mon Jun 26, 2017 12:31 am

??? wrote:Why does the solar eclipse travel from west to east ? . . .
If you look at the sky with your left side facing east and your right side facing west, the Moon will appear to begin crossing the Sun from the right, casting its shadow first to the west and then toward the east as it crosses. It's much easier if you have a globe and some other props to help picture it.
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