# total solar eclipse or sometimes I hate my job **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 15, 2009, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/total-solar-eclipse-or-sometimes-i-hate-my-job/503102 "2009-07-15T12:53:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/total-solar-eclipse-or-sometimes-i-hate-my-job/503102/1 "2009-07-15T12:53:46Z")
I have lived in China or greater China for 20+ years. I have also wanted to see a total solar eclipse (one of those 100 things to experience before you croak). Guess what is happening next Wednesday? Nearly 6 minutes of a total solar eclipse. Shanghai is almost the best spot to be, with the best spot being about a couple hour drive in the bamboo covered foothills that we’ve been to at least a dozen times. Guess who has an completely un fucking avoidable business trip to Hotlanta next week? :smack: Some days I hate my job. Instead of having the once in 300 year chance to experience the solar eclipse in the garden, I get to spend 24 hours in economy class flying to and from what has to be one of the crappiest cities in America in the summer (no offense but I think Atlanta would be crappy 365 but I’ve only been there in the summer). Fuck. The world’s longest total eclipse of the sun in 2,000 years will take place from 8:23am to 11:01am Beijing time, from start to finish - more than two hours of heaven. China will be the best place on Earth to view the spectacular show. In Shanghai, the maximum duration of the total eclipse will be 5 minutes and 57 seconds, from 9:37:32 to 9:43:29, at the Yangshan Deep-Water Port in Pudong. You will have to wait another 300 years for the next total eclipse. Scientists agree that the perfect spot in China, where the eclipse will be longest, is Anji known for the famous bamboo forest in Zhejiang Province, three hours’ ride from Shanghai. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/total-solar-eclipse-or-sometimes-i-hate-my-job/503102/2 "2009-07-15T13:14:59Z")
You’re gonna have to find a way to ditch that biznass trip. You’re talking about a once in a lifetime experience. It’s a crime to miss it. Myself, I have to wait until [August 21, 2017](http://www.hermit.org/eclipse/2017-08-21/) to finally see one (which, ironically passes very close to Atlanta). I’ll be 44 years old. I hope I’m not in China then. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/total-solar-eclipse-or-sometimes-i-hate-my-job/503102/3 "2009-07-15T13:33:03Z")
**Guy** , try aiming to be in northern Australia on 13 November 2012. ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/total-solar-eclipse-or-sometimes-i-hate-my-job/503102/4 "2009-07-15T13:44:30Z")
Get yourself a nice case of the flu. StG ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/total-solar-eclipse-or-sometimes-i-hate-my-job/503102/5 "2009-07-15T13:57:49Z")
Yes, I feel you coming down with something. Life is for living, not business trips. ETA: Atlanta is not bad in the spring or fall, but I agree it can suck in the summer. ---
**Author:** ![dwc1970](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a183cd/32.png) [@dwc1970](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwc1970)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/total-solar-eclipse-or-sometimes-i-hate-my-job/503102/6 "2009-07-15T14:00:07Z")
Where can I check to see when future solar eclipses will occur? The only time a total eclipse (well, 98% totality) was in my area (Boise, Idaho) was February 25, 1979. Since that date is my birthday I remember the date (I turned 9 that day). We were in school and we watched it on TV. We obviously weren’t going to go outside and look at it ourselves because of the possible retinal danger, but even if we did we wouldn’t have been able to see it since it was raining that day. It was weird to see it get dark after the sun had only been up for a couple hours, as it occurred in the morning. ---
**Author:** ![dwc1970](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a183cd/32.png) [@dwc1970](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwc1970)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/total-solar-eclipse-or-sometimes-i-hate-my-job/503102/7 "2009-07-15T14:37:26Z")
Never mind, [found one](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_solar_eclipses): ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/total-solar-eclipse-or-sometimes-i-hate-my-job/503102/8 "2009-07-15T14:59:15Z")
It’s no use for me, for any time there is anything at all interesting visible in the sky, it will be cloudy. Guaranteed. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/total-solar-eclipse-or-sometimes-i-hate-my-job/503102/9 "2009-07-15T15:01:50Z")
> [@dwc1970](#): > > Never mind, [found one](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_solar_eclipses): [You’re in luck for 2017, then.](http://www.hermit.org/eclipse/2017-08-21/) It’s practically cutting through your back yard. I have to drive a few hundred miles down to Kentucky (or Illinois). ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/total-solar-eclipse-or-sometimes-i-hate-my-job/503102/10 "2009-07-15T15:50:29Z")
A few years ago I was playing with some software that would show what was happening in the sky from any vantage point up to a few hundred light years away, at any time up to a couple of thousand years in the past or future. I had only had the software for a few days, and I was checking out what was happening from my own backyard that very night. Very cool – the Moon was going to occult Saturn at exactly 9:43:27pm. I then checked to see how often that happened. I went something like 100 years into the future, and it wasn’t going to occur again. It was that night or never. And everyone on the eastern seaboard could see it. I was excited. I called my niece, who had just gotten a telescope. I called my parents. I posted to several message boards. The entire eastern seaboard had heavy cloud cover that night. ---
**Author:** ![whiterabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/cab0a1/32.png) [@whiterabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whiterabbit)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/total-solar-eclipse-or-sometimes-i-hate-my-job/503102/11 "2009-07-15T15:51:29Z")
Whoa, if I’m still here for that 2017 one it’ll go practically right over me. Sweet. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/total-solar-eclipse-or-sometimes-i-hate-my-job/503102/12 "2009-07-15T16:17:51Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > A few years ago I was playing with some software that would show what was happening in the sky from any vantage point up to a few hundred light years away, at any time up to a couple of thousand years in the past or future. I had only had the software for a few days, and I was checking out what was happening from my own backyard that very night. Very cool – the Moon was going to occult Saturn at exactly 9:43:27pm. I then checked to see how often that happened. I went something like 100 years into the future, and it wasn’t going to occur again. It was that night or never. > > And everyone on the eastern seaboard could see it. > > I was excited. I called my niece, who had just gotten a telescope. I called my parents. I posted to several message boards. > > The entire eastern seaboard had heavy cloud cover that night. [muted trombone] **Bwaaa-waaa-waaAaaAaaAaaaaaa** [/muted trombone] ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/total-solar-eclipse-or-sometimes-i-hate-my-job/503102/13 "2009-07-15T16:19:26Z")
> [@whiterabbit](#): > > Whoa, if I’m still here for that 2017 one it’ll go practically right over me. Sweet. Where are you? I’ll bring the beer. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![whiterabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/cab0a1/32.png) [@whiterabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whiterabbit)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/total-solar-eclipse-or-sometimes-i-hate-my-job/503102/14 "2009-07-15T16:50:23Z")
South-central Idaho. From that map, not far at all from the eclipse path. I might have to go an hour or two north, I think. Whether I will still be here in 2017 is the question. Though I have an odd feeling I will. I really like it here. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/total-solar-eclipse-or-sometimes-i-hate-my-job/503102/15 "2009-07-15T18:02:27Z")
> [@cmyk](#): > > [muted trombone] > **Bwaaa-waaa-waaAaaAaaAaaaaaa** > [/muted trombone] [Try this](http://www.sadtrombone.com/) ---
**Author:** ![Darryl\_Lict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@Darryl\_Lict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darryl_Lict)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/total-solar-eclipse-or-sometimes-i-hate-my-job/503102/16 "2009-07-15T18:43:40Z")
> [@China\_Guy](#): > > The world’s longest total eclipse of the sun in 2,000 years will take place from 8:23am to 11:01am Beijing time, from start to finish - more than two hours of heaven. China will be the best place on Earth to view the spectacular show. That sucks, a total eclipse of the sun is the most spectacular natural phenomena that I’ve experienced. However, as far as I can tell, the maximum totality (which is all that counts, really) of the [China eclipse](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_eclipse_of_July_22,_2009) is 6 minutes and 39 seconds, where as the one I saw in [Baja](http://www.astropix.com/HTML/L_STORY/BAJA91.HTM) on July 11, 1991 was 6 minutes and 52 seconds so neener, neener, neener. Oh, yeah, and the people I was with bought some land right under the path the one in 2017. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/total-solar-eclipse-or-sometimes-i-hate-my-job/503102/17 "2009-07-15T18:56:32Z")
I have to say I was not really too impressed with the total eclipses I’ve “seen.” I use quotation marks because you can’t really look straight at it. And all of the secondary devices used to view these things I’ve always found inadequate. Best to watch it on TV, and you can do that from anywhere in the world. I will say there is a different “dark” feeling when you’re there in person, completely unlike the sun setting for real. Kind of neat, but not all that much to write home about. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/total-solar-eclipse-or-sometimes-i-hate-my-job/503102/18 "2009-07-15T19:07:45Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > I have to say I was not really too impressed with the total eclipses I’ve “seen.” I use quotation marks because you can’t really look straight at it. And all of the secondary devices used to view these things I’ve always found inadequate. Best to watch it on TV, and you can do that from anywhere in the world. Those must have been partial eclipses, at least from your location. Or possibly annular eclipses. A **total** eclipse of the sun is dark enough to look at directly. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/total-solar-eclipse-or-sometimes-i-hate-my-job/503102/19 "2009-07-15T19:08:35Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > I have to say I was not really too impressed with the total eclipses I’ve “seen.” I use quotation marks because you can’t really look straight at it. And all of the secondary devices used to view these things I’ve always found inadequate. The last time I saw one (it was very partial) I used a sextant to look at it. The filters were designed for looking directly at the Sun. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/total-solar-eclipse-or-sometimes-i-hate-my-job/503102/20 "2009-07-15T19:16:15Z")
I’ve seen partial and total, but I always thought even the total ones were not safe to look at directly. (My eyes are already bad enough that I’m not about to take any chances.) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/total-solar-eclipse-or-sometimes-i-hate-my-job/503102.md?page=2)