The Great American Eclipse Meets the Total Solar Eclipse

Look familiar?  This is the path a solar eclipse takes from start to finish.  It was the same path the Great American Eclipse followed in 2017 and the Total Solar Eclipse did today (April 8, 2024). Now I'm putting them together in one new post.

                This is the link to the original post: http://www.rindabeach.com/blog/august-26th-2017

                                                                            Part 1 - The Path to Totality​
The sun starts on the left side of this diagram.  In the next 5 pictures, the moon moves across the sun until it reaches totality, or full eclipse, in the 7th picture.  In the last 6 pictures, the sun and moon move back into their regular orbits.

If you could view an eclipse from space, and could connect the dots, this is what it would look like. Find the white lines that touch the earth.  If you were standing anywhere between them, you’d get to see part of the eclipse. 

But, if you were standing at the end of the black cone, you’d see the whole entire eclipse from start to finish, the entire totality.  Lucky you!

​This is the Great American Eclipse’s map of totality.  You can follow the 3 lines from Oregon to South Carolina.  I was close in Lafollette, Tennessee, but we drove 90 minutes southwest to Sweetwater.  It was our sweet spot, and totally worth the drive.

This is the 2024 map of totality. Follow it from Mexico all the way to Canada. This time – no driving. I just walked out my backdoor to check how the eclipse was progressing in Wapak. I walked back inside to watch it cross North America, live on TV.    
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                                                          Photo: NASA SVS | The 2024 Total Solar Eclipse

This is part of the path, from Illinois to Ohio. If you find Lima in Northwest Ohio, scan down to Celina. The dot for Wapak should be beside the ‘a’ in Celina. Me too!
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                                                                  Photo: NASA SVS | 2024 Path of Totality

​Want to know what time the eclipse starts?  Google it!  I found a chart that takes you from Oregon to South Carolina, but it didn’t have Sweetwater, so I googled again.  In Sweetwater the eclipse started at 1:04.  Totality at 2:32. We saw 2 minutes and 33 seconds of totality. Their site said so!

If you want to know what time the 2024 eclipse started, take a look at this screenshot from astronomy.com.  Of course, Wapak isn’t on the table. We didn’t even get a dot on the map of Ohio ☹

But don’t worry! Thanks to the local town fathers and mothers, I found the starting time, 1:54, and I was outside. Ready to go 😊

Totality was SO much longer this time. I got to stare at the sun without glasses, for almost 4 WHOLE minutes. I didn’t look away – I may not have another chance. At my age, who knows if I’ll be around in 2044 for the next big eclipse.

                                                                                Source: Home | Wapak Solar Eclipse
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                                                                                 ​Part 2 – To Totality and Back Again

The first picture is totality.  Did you know that one minute before totality, the sun starts giving you signs that  it’s almost time?  I didn’t.  The second picture shows that first sign, shadow bands.  The earth’s atmosphere refracts the last rays of the sun.  Refracting bends the light, like with a rainbow.  If you want to see shadow bands, look at something white or light colored.  We watched a white truck in the parking lot.  My husband spotted them first, of course! 
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This time, I had no need for shadow bands. I wouldn’t have seen them in the grass anyway. Instead I enjoyed totality for 3 minutes and 56 seconds. That’s like 4 WHOLE minutes.

​​Do you think the first picture looks like a diamond ring?  Scientists did!  It’s the 2nd sign, and it happens about 10-15 seconds before totality.  The ring is the sun’s corona.  The diamond is the last burst of sunlight.  I think it looks like the 6th picture, right before totality. 

I don’t think I saw the first diamond ring in 2017. I tend to pull my glasses on and off and on again – so it’s easy to miss.  It’s only up for  10 seconds. This time I KNOW I didn’t see it. ☹
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When the diamond fades, the corona’s left.  It’s the sun’s outer layer of atmosphere.  The sun’s surface is 1.8 million degrees Fahrenheit, but the corona is 200-300 degrees hotter.  Water boils and becomes steam at 180 degrees.  Can you imagine how hot the sun is?  YIKES!!!

I didn’t write about the corona last time, so I probably didn’t see it. This time I was more interested in totality and my 4 precious minutes without glasses.

Do you see the tiny beads of light in the 1st picture?  The diagram calls them Baily’s Beads.  They show up 5 seconds before totality.  I missed them, but my husband saw them, of course.  Baily’s Beads aren’t real beads.  During an eclipse, the sunlight travels through the moon’s mountains and valleys.  From earth the light looks like beads.

I didn’t see Bailey’s Beads this time either. They’re only visible for  5 seconds before totality. So me missing them, totally makes sense. My husband didn’t say, but he’s an engineer, so he probably did see them.

See the red ring again?  It’s called the chromosphere, and it’s the middle layer of the sun’s atmosphere.  You see it just a few seconds before totality.  Then the other 2 layers of the sun’s atmosphere make it disappear once more.

A few seconds – there’s no way I saw this. I would remember a red ring circling the dark of the moom. I’m glad there are pictures, so I can see what I missed 😊

After 90 minutes the moon made the sun disappear.  It also made Sweetwater colder and darker.  At 2:30 in the afternoon a few stars came out.  Finally!  Totality!  It was incredible!  The whole town cheered, including hundreds of visitors.  Google Sweetwater, and you can see and hear us. 

We also took off the special eclipse glasses.  Totality is the only time you can look at an eclipse without them.  Before, and after totality, we wore them.

Outside the totality zone, you didn’t see stars in the middle of the day, and you couldn’t take off the glasses, at all.  I’m glad we made the drive.  Totally!

TOTALITY again! Four Whole Minutes of IT! The moon covered the sun that whole time. It’s something I’ll never forget.

Totality started at 3:09PM, but I didn’t check my watch. I spent my four precious minutes looking up at the sun and the moon.  The sky was dark, like the sun was about to set, and it was a lot darker than 2017. I counted three stars. That’s it. And the temperature, it slowly got colder all afternoon, from 1:54 on. It was exactly the way I imagined a total eclipse would be.

When Totality started, there was no big cheer, but we live just outside town. Instead, fireworks popped every minute or two until it ended. I was surprised anyone bothered – Totality only lasts a few minutes.
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I didn’t notice the animals in 2017. This time the birds were out in the yard, flying and landing, chirping and cawing like they usually do. But they grew quiet as we approached Totality. Then, they disappeared. 

​With totality over, the stars disappeared, and the signs reappeared, but in reverse order.  First Bailey’s Beads, then the Diamond Ring, the Corona, and finally the Shadow Bands. 

This is the return from Totality to the partial eclipse, except the order’s reversed. This time I saw the first 3 signs, but not the Shadow Bands. In 2017, I saw all 4. 😊

When the 1st Diamond Ring appeared, we were on the 6th picture of the diagram.  Within 4-5 minutes of time, we were on the 2nd Diamond Ring and the 7th picture.

My family stayed to watch for a few more minutes as the moon kept moving away from the sun.  Then we left.  I’m glad we did!  The roads back to the Lafollette were packed, even when we got off interstate and onto back roads.  When totality was over, it seemed like everyone in Tennessee was leaving Sweetwater. 

Looking back at the Great American Eclipse, just 10 days ago, I am so glad we drove to totality, and that I can share it with you.  If you weren’t in the zone this time, you’ll have another chance, in only 7 years.  Mark your calendar!  The next one is coming to a state near you on April 8, 2024.  Be there or be square!

The best part – no driving this time! When Totality finished, I walked back inside the house and over to the TV. Would you believe the sun and moon were over Maine and New York? It’s amazing how fast they traveled, and how much of the country they could shine down on.

Totality ended at 3:13PM in Ohio, but I went in and out of the house so I could watch. Outside the sun and moon slid apart! The moon disappeared into the darkness, and the sun kept on shining. The time – 4:25 in the afternoon. The great eclipse was over 😊 ☹

As for the temperature, it slowly warmed up, but it never got warm, like it was at the beginning. Still, it was the right temperature for an April afternoon at 4:25PM.

The Total Solar Eclipse was a week ago. If you missed it, I’m so sorry. The next one is in 20 years – August 23, 2044. I hope we’re both around. I”ll be 85. WHOAH!

BUT, if you’re willing to brave the crowds and pay for airfare, you only have to wait 2 years. The date – August 12, 2026. Your destination – Greenland, Iceland, or Spain. I want to go. Now, to convince my husband 😊
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Source:  https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/total-solar-eclipse.html
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My biggest source for this post is this link.  My husband found it and printed out a packet.  Without this source, we would have missed things like shadow bands.  Thanks to the folks at timeanddate.com for teaching the teacher, and the engineer!

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