# I just learned about the annular solar eclipse of October 14, 2023, which will be passing right over my house **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 17, 2022, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-learned-about-the-annular-solar-eclipse-of-october-14-2023-which-will-be-passing-right-over-my-house/962945 "2022-04-17T06:50:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2023, 9:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-learned-about-the-annular-solar-eclipse-of-october-14-2023-which-will-be-passing-right-over-my-house/962945/141 "2023-10-15T09:42:21Z")
Some nice pictures here so far. I like the cloudy ones. Here is what we got in Monument Valley AZ. We were fortunate in that we only had to step outside of our hotel to see it. It was spectacular! [![](https://i.imgur.com/WsbCtJ0.jpeg) ](https://i.imgur.com/WsbCtJ0.jpeg) [![](https://i.imgur.com/tGSf67T.jpeg) ](https://i.imgur.com/tGSf67T.jpeg) [![](https://i.imgur.com/FaCvdMI.jpg) ](https://i.imgur.com/FaCvdMI.jpg) [![](https://i.imgur.com/kanwZ9Y.jpeg) ](https://i.imgur.com/kanwZ9Y.jpeg) [![](https://i.imgur.com/KVUiLyz.jpeg) ](https://i.imgur.com/KVUiLyz.jpeg) [![](https://i.imgur.com/WeU5O6n.jpeg) ](https://i.imgur.com/WeU5O6n.jpeg) [![](https://i.imgur.com/TAxCBaA.jpeg) ](https://i.imgur.com/TAxCBaA.jpeg) [![](https://i.imgur.com/WZVzDwG.jpeg) ](https://i.imgur.com/WZVzDwG.jpeg) [![](https://i.imgur.com/c66n4do.jpeg) ](https://i.imgur.com/c66n4do.jpeg) [![](https://i.imgur.com/J4LtAZH.jpeg) ](https://i.imgur.com/J4LtAZH.jpeg) [![](https://i.imgur.com/wDjij60.jpeg) ](https://i.imgur.com/wDjij60.jpeg) [![](https://i.imgur.com/t2o8qmd.jpeg) ](https://i.imgur.com/t2o8qmd.jpeg) [![](https://i.imgur.com/vQSwg4o.jpeg) ](https://i.imgur.com/vQSwg4o.jpeg) [![](https://i.imgur.com/bX1nqqa.jpeg) ](https://i.imgur.com/bX1nqqa.jpeg) [![](https://i.imgur.com/V3FPrlc.jpeg) ](https://i.imgur.com/V3FPrlc.jpeg) [![](https://i.imgur.com/Y4gIW9Y.jpeg) ](https://i.imgur.com/Y4gIW9Y.jpeg) [![](https://i.imgur.com/VNI11tQ.jpeg) ](https://i.imgur.com/VNI11tQ.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2023, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-learned-about-the-annular-solar-eclipse-of-october-14-2023-which-will-be-passing-right-over-my-house/962945/142 "2023-10-15T10:44:25Z")
Much more betterer ! Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2023, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-learned-about-the-annular-solar-eclipse-of-october-14-2023-which-will-be-passing-right-over-my-house/962945/143 "2023-10-15T10:48:13Z")
Yours was ok ! I was replying to twoflower (who has now sorted it). Cheers ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2023, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-learned-about-the-annular-solar-eclipse-of-october-14-2023-which-will-be-passing-right-over-my-house/962945/144 "2023-10-15T14:54:12Z")
> [@China\_Guy](#): > > 4 horsemen of the apocolypse shimmer on the horizon (ok, I made that part up), No Horsemen, but there is a weird shimmering effect at around 99%, due to slight refraction of light from patches of different temperatures in the atmosphere. Actually, it happens all the time, but with a light source half a degree across, all the shimmers are blurred away to nothing. But when the Sun is reduced to a thin sliver, you get a one-dimensional pinhole effect, and you can see the shimmers. For this one, I didn’t think annular was enough to justify travel, but I figured I’d at least step outside a little after noon to see the C-is-for-Cookie Sun. Except that the weather on Saturday was being particularly Cleveland, full overcast, wet, and miserable. ---
**Author:** ![Section\_Maker\_Jupe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/section_maker_jupe/32/1424_2.png) [@Section\_Maker\_Jupe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Section_Maker_Jupe)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2023, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-learned-about-the-annular-solar-eclipse-of-october-14-2023-which-will-be-passing-right-over-my-house/962945/145 "2023-10-15T15:27:24Z")
Great pictures everyone!! Here at central cal coast the morning downslope breeze pushed the fog back so good viewing. I usually just enjoy “natures pinhole cams” but tried some eclipse glasses. What really amazed me, is after taking away all the blinding rays that you usually face when dealing/ glancing/existing with the sun, its really quite a small little ball…at least visually! ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2023, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-learned-about-the-annular-solar-eclipse-of-october-14-2023-which-will-be-passing-right-over-my-house/962945/146 "2023-10-15T16:15:23Z")
SE Georgia, here: totally overcast, just like the one in 2017(?) when I lived on the other side of the St. Marys River. I swear, TPTB in Florida have gone the Mr. Burns route and figured out to block it out unless we pay to see it. 😉 BTW, **Bullitt** , really nice pix! 👍 ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2023, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-learned-about-the-annular-solar-eclipse-of-october-14-2023-which-will-be-passing-right-over-my-house/962945/147 "2023-10-15T16:36:30Z")
Good viewing in Roswell yesterday on a nice cool day. Not much other reason to visit if you’re not into alien kitsch. But I did get some cheap used books. Someone mentioned nature’s pinholes and I saw a terrific photo of leaf shadows posted. You can also make a pinhole with crisscrossed fingers. We were casting shadows in each other’s chest just to try it out. ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2023, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-learned-about-the-annular-solar-eclipse-of-october-14-2023-which-will-be-passing-right-over-my-house/962945/148 "2023-10-15T17:45:10Z")
The SIGO and I took a short drive to the [Valles Caldera](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valles_Caldera) yesterday, and watched the first part of the eclispe. Clear skies, cool weather, just a perfect day for it. I was surprised at just how bright daytime still was, but how the temperature seemed to drop by 10 degrees. Tripler . . . then again, I _was_ outside for an hour in shorts. ---
**Author:** ![ASL\_v2.0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asl_v2.0/32/3525_2.png) [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2023, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-learned-about-the-annular-solar-eclipse-of-october-14-2023-which-will-be-passing-right-over-my-house/962945/149 "2023-10-15T18:02:54Z")
> [@Ruken](#): > > Good viewing in Roswell yesterday on a nice cool day. Glad to hear it. I was originally planning to go to Roswell or Corona, NM myself, but then the forecast had some clouds, so I decided not to take the chance (and, as I previously noted, Odessa, TX was perfectly clear). I am out of El Paso, for reference. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2023, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-learned-about-the-annular-solar-eclipse-of-october-14-2023-which-will-be-passing-right-over-my-house/962945/150 "2023-10-15T19:35:03Z")
> [@Tripler](#): > > The SIGO and I took a short drive to the [Valles Caldera](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valles_Caldera) yesterday Somehow in this context _Valles Caldera_ sounds like a place on the Moon. Kinda tough to get to, and you’d be a little too close to the eclipse to get good pix of it. But maybe you could get some pix of Earth with a big shadow on it. 😁 Seriously, the pix you posted are fantastic. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2023, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-learned-about-the-annular-solar-eclipse-of-october-14-2023-which-will-be-passing-right-over-my-house/962945/151 "2023-10-15T22:30:01Z")
> [@Section\_Maker\_Jupe](#): > > after taking away all the blinding rays that you usually face when dealing/ glancing/existing with the sun, its really quite a small little ball…at least visually! Coincidentally, about the same apparent size as the moon! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![SunUp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SunUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SunUp)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2023, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-learned-about-the-annular-solar-eclipse-of-october-14-2023-which-will-be-passing-right-over-my-house/962945/152 "2023-10-15T22:44:42Z")
SunWife and I were in Hobbs, NM for the event. It was our first time trying an equatorial mount with our older solar scope, which worked OK except that our camera adapter couldn’t quite get the focus right when we set it up. Pictures went well - the scope even picked up a couple of prominences - and we got a good (if irregularly-timed) time-lapse of the entire event, save for some of the end when the camera battery ran out of energy and we had to do a quick recharge to get a little more of the tail end. Weather in Hobbs turned out well - there were a few high, wispy clouds to the northwest but nothing near the eclipse. Max occultation was over four and half minutes long, long enough that we experienced the temperature drop that some others mentioned. I also noted that despite there being something like only 5% of the visible light of the sun reaching us, our eyes adjusted fairly well and we didn’t really notice that things were exceptionally darker than usual - probably thanks to the long duration of dimming. All in all, well worth the trip and we picked up some ideas to make the April total eclipse even better for observing. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2023, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-learned-about-the-annular-solar-eclipse-of-october-14-2023-which-will-be-passing-right-over-my-house/962945/153 "2023-10-15T22:49:36Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > Coincidentally, about the same apparent size as the moon! But it _is_ a striking coincidence, right? The sun is 400 times larger and 400 times further away. I’m not aware of any hypothesis that even an approximately similar apparent size might be correlated with the presence of life, for example. Although if this universe is inside an alien teenager’s game console they might have selected “perfect solar eclipse” as one of the simulation parameters. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2023, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-learned-about-the-annular-solar-eclipse-of-october-14-2023-which-will-be-passing-right-over-my-house/962945/154 "2023-10-15T22:59:35Z")
Perfect plus or minus a few percent. And depending on the epoch. But it _is_ a cool coincidence. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2023, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-learned-about-the-annular-solar-eclipse-of-october-14-2023-which-will-be-passing-right-over-my-house/962945/155 "2023-10-16T00:05:23Z")
But the moon is moving farther away, at the rate of nearly 4 cm per year. Eventually\* its apparent size will be too small to cause a total eclipse. Meanwhile it’s robbing the earth of rotational energy, making our days longer. The whole thing pisses me off! 😁 \* For certain values of “eventually” 😉 ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2023, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-learned-about-the-annular-solar-eclipse-of-october-14-2023-which-will-be-passing-right-over-my-house/962945/156 "2023-10-16T01:49:43Z")
Hence my comment about the epoch. Got a good million years yet until they’re all annular eclipses at best. But it _is_ coming whether you or I prefer that or not. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2023, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-learned-about-the-annular-solar-eclipse-of-october-14-2023-which-will-be-passing-right-over-my-house/962945/157 "2023-10-16T18:49:43Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Somehow in this context _Valles Caldera_ sounds like a place on the Moon. Or even more, Mars. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2023, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-learned-about-the-annular-solar-eclipse-of-october-14-2023-which-will-be-passing-right-over-my-house/962945/158 "2023-10-17T13:33:11Z")
Of course from the Moon or from Mars you could get a pic like this one. You’d just need a really, really, good telephoto lens. 😁 > **[Darkened by the Moon’s Shadow](https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/151954/darkened-by-the-moons-shadow)** > > As the Moon crossed between the Sun and Earth during the 2023 annular eclipse, its shadow darkened skies across the United States. ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2023, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-learned-about-the-annular-solar-eclipse-of-october-14-2023-which-will-be-passing-right-over-my-house/962945/159 "2023-10-22T20:08:24Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Somehow in this context _Valles Caldera_ sounds like a place on the Moon. > > Kinda tough to get to, and you’d be a little too close to the eclipse to get good pix of it. But maybe you could get some pix of Earth with a big shadow on it. 😁 Next time I’m at Starbase 1, I’ll get some pictures of Earth, and’ll try to get it over San Francisco. 🤓 > [@LSLGuy](#): > > Seriously, the pix you posted are fantastic. Seconded, @Bullitt ! Tripler _"I am just another redshirt, on Starbase Zero-One . . . "_ ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2023, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-learned-about-the-annular-solar-eclipse-of-october-14-2023-which-will-be-passing-right-over-my-house/962945/160 "2023-10-25T02:51:58Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Got a good million years yet until they’re all annular eclipses at best. Unless the rate increases, the moon will be 40 kilometers further away a million years from now, so we’ll still have total eclipses long after that. Not that it matters to me of course. If I’m around the observing site it’ll be cloudy or rainy, obviously. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-learned-about-the-annular-solar-eclipse-of-october-14-2023-which-will-be-passing-right-over-my-house/962945.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-learned-about-the-annular-solar-eclipse-of-october-14-2023-which-will-be-passing-right-over-my-house/962945.md?page=9)