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Merged Solar Eclipse 2017!

alfaniner said:
Just had a funny exchange with my sister. I told her we are going to the event at the airport to watch the eclipse. She asked "Won't all the landing and airport lights spoil your view?"
Me:"Ummm.... no. A solar eclipse takes place during the day."
I admit I had to catch myself on this a couple times early on.
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I suspect they might turn those lights on as it gets dark during the eclipse.

Regarding glasses and Amazon, a recall doesn't necessarily mean they don't meet specs, just that Amazon couldn't adequately verify it. That may mean the manufacturer didn't respond, or respond adequately, to their inquiry. Or they could make you blind. Worth doing your own investigation and contacting the manufacturer.
 
Trebuchet said:
I suspect they might turn those lights on as it gets dark during the eclipse.
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I did not think of that. I wonder if they will allow planes to take off and land during the entire event, or most of it (sans the totality minutes), and if the lights are automatic. It might make for a pretty cool Close-Encounters type picture.
 
Apparently what happened was that people bought fake glasses on Amazon. People said wearing them indoors they could see the lights in the house. So Amazon cracked down and demanded that all suppliers provide the manufacturer’s testing results. Even though Tried-And-True is a valid retailer of Daylight Sky and they are approved by ASA (and even one of the 11 companies recommended by NASA) they had to provide the test results like everybody else. When they provided the test results, Amazon said they would not accept the results from the testing company they used. So they had to scramble to get the glasses retested from a company on Amazon’s list. They got the new test results to Amazon on August 11, but it was just a little too late to get off the recall list. So it looks like the glasses are fine, just either the company got hosed by Amazon or they didn’t properly take care of their paperwork.

I just gave them a try, starting with just a couple seconds. They worked fine. And dandy.
 
Having lived my life in northish Georgia, I'm familiar with the term "leaf peepers."

This refers to to city folks such as myself who venture into the mountains to witness the truly not to belabor the word 'awesome' changing of the leaves in autumn.

That said it can get kinda trafficay at times and this plays out over at least a week.

This plays out over what 4 minutes?

Nope thanks I'm staying home with a 97% partial.

I value my status as the weird neighborhood science guy (kites, balloons, strange astronomical events, hell even bees !

I do hope the death toll is not too great.
 
Dumb All Over said:
Four days out and already there are reports of heavy traffic coming from central Oregon.

Oregon traffic
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The problem was local, there was an entrance to a festival site and it left a backup of cars on the highway trying to turn in. But the backup went some tens of miles.

I've been keeping an eye on Tripcheck's OR traffic site.. There have been a number of slow downs on the highways leading to the centerline in eastern OR. It's to be expected given there are a limited number of mostly 2-lane highways getting there.
 
Regarding people getting damage from using uncertified glasses, problem seems overblown. If you can look at the Sun without discomfort, chances are the glasses are fine. (With some caveats for non-visible light rays getting through.)

I got a couple welders' mask lenses from a science surplus store years ago and played around with them, doubling them up to make them dark enough I could easily look at the Sun. I hold them over my small binocs. I've been using them for years to look at sunspots and I used them to watch the transit of Venus.

After looking at the Sun I have no residual blind spots, not even temporary ones.

My point is, from experience I can say that if you can comfortably look at the full Sun with your eclipse glasses without blind spots afterward, then those glasses are probably going to be fine with the partial eclipse.

In the meantime, I went through my filters and found a whole box of lenses marked MM5 welders lenses. Jackpot!

I looked into combining lenses and found a site saying it wasn't safe but with no explanation (not enough for me). So I kept looking for an explanation and found this: Astronomy StackExchange
Against (Perkins Observatory): http://perkins.owu.edu/solar_viewing_safety.htm

Be careful that you use the right kind of glass! Welder's glass is numbered from 1 to 14 with 14 being the darkest. It is only number 14 glass that is dark enough for solar viewing! And NO STACKING! A pair of number 7's or a 10 and a 4 together DO NOT have the same protection as a single piece of number 14 (see unsafe methods for more details).

Favorable (Royal Astronomical Society of Canada): https://www.rasc.ca/tov/safety

If SN14 filter is not available, it is possible to combine lower shade numbers to get roughly the same level of eye protection from solar radiation, e.g. combining SN 6 and SN 8 filters. However the image quality may be considerably poorer than that seen through the single SN14 filter

I could not find a table or something explaining which kind of protection gives each number; according to the Canadian website, the only concern is about how much infrared light goes through, ultraviolet does not seem to be a problem in almost any case (I was surprised to read that).

Note: It's not my intention to open here the discussion on what could be other safe methods to watch the eclipse, this is well explained everywhere around. I read too late about the eclipse to order specific glasses.

Edit: One of the answers here report the following formula: (more insight at this link)

13 or darker is safe enough. Also, you CAN add up welding glass, using the formula S(sum) = S1 + S2 -1. S(sum) should be greater than or equal to 13

Stacking is fine. Just don't expect the numbers to be simply additive, that's all. E.g., indeed a 10 and a 4 together are not the same as a single 14. What you really need is bring the brightness down to the level of a TV screen showing a white image, that's all. Don't stack too many glasses - if it doesn't work with two of them, don't stack more than that. – Florin Andrei Mar 19 '15 at 20:10
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I'm going with safe if you stack them properly given I've been using stacked welders glass for years.
 
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NoahFence said:
I ordered 10 extras. Figured I'd just hand out the extras, they were so inexpensive.
Sometimes I wish I was a jerk.
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I have extras too, got them from ToysRUs. But I may pass them on to neighbors. People around here are looking for glasses and the stores are sold out. I expect people going to center line will have glasses.
 
A few extra cardboard framed glasses came with the plastic framed. I plan on using the lenses from a pair of the cardboard glasses to make a filter for my camera phone. I'll probably pass the others out to anyone who needs them.
 
The coolest thing to use? Pegboard projected onto a white board.

I see that Bonnie Tyler is planning on singing Total Eclipse (of the Heart) during totality somewhere.

I am slightly amused at those people who may be renting the movie Total Eclipse starring a pre-Titanic Leonardo DiCaprio. He appears full-frontal (and backal) naked and the storyline has him buggering David Thewlis. Neither of those factors affected my view that it was one of the worst movies I've ever seen.
 
alfaniner said:
The coolest thing to use? Pegboard projected onto a white board.

I see that Bonnie Tyler is planning on singing Total Eclipse (of the Heart) during totality somewhere.

I am slightly amused at those people who may be renting the movie Total Eclipse starring a pre-Titanic Leonardo DiCaprio. He appears full-frontal (and backal) naked and the storyline has him buggering David Thewlis. Neither of those factors affected my view that it was one of the worst movies I've ever seen.
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There's a show in Southern Illinois, directly in the path, that will feature Ozzy Osborn, where he'll, "Bark at the Moon". I'll be home enjoying it from the comfort of my own back yard. I believe the local rock station is planning on playing the last track from Dark Side of the Moon at that moment, and if they don't, I will.

All that you touch
All that you see
All that you taste
All you feel
All that you love
All that you hate
All you distrust
All you save
All that you give
All that you deal
All that you buy
Beg, borrow or steal
All you create
All you destroy
All that you do
All that you say
All that you eat
And everyone you meet
All that you slight
And everyone you fight
All that is now
All that is gone
All that's to come
And everything under the sun is in tune
But the sun is eclipsed by the moon

 
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We're gearing up!

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