Yes, you can.
Does anybody know of a map that shows the area of totality over the actual names of the towns, etc? I keep getting these globe-level maps, but nothing that shows me the cities.
I was sure if I typed “Eclipse 2017” into google maps I’d get what I needed, but no. I need a shadow map that allows me to zoom in to find out where to look for a room.
Anybody know of one?
Did you guys meet at an eclipse by any chance?
My husband and I saw our first total eclipse 10 years to the day before our son was born. Within a few days of his 8th birthday, we saw our second one. It was quite the formative experience for him, further igniting his passion for science (he talked about it a lot in his college essays).
This past spring - this time within a few days of my son’s 18th birthday - we saw total eclipse #3. Since we knew he was going off to college soon, there was a nice feeling of completeness to the experience.
We already have our reservations to see the August 17th eclipse. That one falls on my husband’s birthday. 
How about this NASA map which uses a Google map that you can zoom in on.
That’s a good one but Xavier Jubier’s map is also good. It also uses Google Maps, is zoomable, and was indirectly provided in the OP: http://xjubier.free.fr/en/site_pages/solar_eclipses/TSE_2017_GoogleMapFull.html
My eclipse glasses just arrived. We plan to drive up to a friend’s place in McCall ID, then drive south the 100-some miles for the eclipse.
Should be great!
ETA: future eclipses can be found here, When is the next eclipse? — Great American Eclipse
Now that this post has been reanimated, can anyone provide me with a link about how to photograph an eclipse with a digital camera? Am I going to burn out my trusty Canon if I point it at the sun and take time lapse shots? Will my iPhone properly capture the magic?
You need to be careful about taking photos with the sun in the frame.
It’s unlikely to cause any problems if you are hand-holding, but keeping the sun focused on one spot can cause issues (less with a DSLR, since the light is reflected up and out the eyepiece.) You can destroy the shutter on a mirrorless camera by burning a hole in it.
And, you aren’t going to be able too image the sun’s disc and see the surrounding terrain anyway - the dynamic range is too high. If you want take photos of the stages of the eclipse, get a Bader filter, which will cut the incoming light by a factor of 100,000. Once the sun is fully eclipsed, you can remove the filter, and start taking a wide range of exposures, in order to capture all the detail in the Photosphere.
The iPhone has the same issue. Keeping the sun focused on the sensor is not such a great idea, but it (probably) won’t wreck it.
Go over to dpreview.com and look in the Astrophotography forum - there’s an ongoing thread.
ETA: I am helping Xavier Jubier debug an OS X application that automates eclipse exposures. It’s extremely sophisticated:
http://xjubier.free.fr/en/site_pages/solar_eclipses/Solar_Eclipse_Maestro_Photography_Software.html
Yes, except during the eclipse itself. You want a solar filter. Or just place the camera behind a welder’s mask
I just realized that I need to get some eye protection for this eclipse. Anyone got any recommendations? I wear glasses, so need something that will work with those.
Can you make these work?
Shade 14 welding lenses are also OK, but I would not recommend trying to take photos through them - they are optically very poor.
I wear glasses also and that’s what I ordered. Note that there is a new safety standard and these inexpensive glasses (about $3) meet the standard: ISO specification (ISO 12312-2:2015, “Filters for direct observation of the Sun”).
I plan to just hold them in front of my eyeglasses. I may fashion a rubber band holder, or a binder clip. The eclipse is only a few minutes long.
Remember - you do not need to wear any eye protection during totality!
The only time that eye protection is necessary is before and after the sun is completely eclipsed. During the eclipse itself, it is safe to look at the sun with the naked (heh) eye.
We plan to view the eclipse from the exact location of maxiumum totality in western Kentucky. With the ubiquity of GPS, I’m sure that spot will be overcrowded.
We plan to be in rural Idaho. I imagine that if you plan ahead a little and avoid cities, big towns, interstates and US highways, that’ll help keep the crowds down.
Lots of good options on the map (again, here).
Very cool. You will be in the ideal spot! You will get 2:40 of [del]darkness[/del] total eclipse there. In W Idaho I’ll get only 2:00.
Being off-axis gives you a better chance of seeing “Baily’s beads.”
Cool, thanks for that. (images)
Several here have seen eclipses in the past. This will be my 1st (wife’s, too). We will be road-tripping it 725 miles north to Idaho and we’re really looking forward to it. A friend lives 1 hour from the center line (℄) so we’ll be staying with him and then heading out to be in position very early. Our plan is to be in a hopefully remote place (e.g., Jeep trail, miles from paved roads) hours before C1, first contact. We will tailgate with grill, tables and chairs for breakfast, then hang out and chill while listening to music before C1, and during C1-C3 and a little after.
That is a great story and that is one special teacher. It’s great that s/he pulled that off with the administration!
Nice!
If you have seen one before, what were your prior experiences? Will you be positioning yourself to see the edge effects? Or are you going for center line? Did you see any edge effects in the past? Can you share your prior experiences? Have you seen the diamond ring effect (image)? How about Baily’s beads (image)?
I plan to be right on the center line (℄) for this one. Out in BFE, western Idaho. I hope the Jeep trails aren’t too muddy or I’ll go with a plan B. If I’m able to catch any future eclipses I may try for off the ℄ for edge effects. But for this one, I’m planning for ℄.
My first eclipse was the 1991 Hawaiian. I couldn’t get a room on the Big Island, so I had to get a room on Maui and fly to the Kona airport just for the eclipse. It was a cloudy/rainy day, but there was a brief break in the clouds during the latter part of totality. I did manage to see the diamond ring.
My second eclipse, from a beautiful beach on the island of Guadeloupe in 1998, was the most spectacular. I photographed the entire eclipse, from first contact to last contact, and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. My best memory was seeing Jupiter and Mercury very close to the sun. Some people saw Saturn as well.
The third was north west of Paris in 1999. There were some on-and-off thin clouds that partially obscured the sun. The crowds were enormous. Everyone was passing around paper cups of champagne.
You have to have substantial magnification - and great timing - to catch Bailey’s Beads. There’s no way you can see them with a simple camera.
I also photographed the Transit of Venus from Vienna in 2004. This required me to be out in the sun for over 6 hours, with no sun block. It was worth it, to get this composite photo. I had to time each shot, to the second.
Very nice. For Hawaii 1991, how fortunate you were. Hopefully you also got to see C3, end of totality, and at least some of the C3-C4 partial eclipse after totality. For Guadeloupe 1998, that does sound spectacular. I’m trying to talk my Mom who lives in L.A. and is 78 to join my wife and me on the road trip to Idaho. She and I did a month long road trip to Texas last year then she said that’s it for her and road trips. She enjoyed it (me too, it was just us two in the car) but thinks those days are behind her. She has never seen totality so I’m trying to talk her into it.
Do you have pictures to share of Guadeloupe 1998? BTW, Guadeloupe – my geography-fu failed me and I had to look that up. Lesser Antilles, in the Caribbean, sounds very nice. Hopefully you enjoyed a good vacation there too. All three, actually. And for Paris 1999, booze usually helps! I’ll bring some for August 2017.
BTW, I just checked and the cost of the eclipse glasses has crept up a tiny bit since I bought mine at the end of February. As a point of curiosity I wonder, as August approaches will the price increase be linear or greater than that? I’m guessing the latter. Just curious.
Two cost data points so far (Contact eclipse2024.org - the Great North American Eclipse of April 8, 2024 | eclipse2024.org):
Cost for 5, with free shipping
2017-02-28: $14.60
2017-04-17: $15.10