# USA TSE, total solar eclipse: April 2024 (was "three years away for USA" when started) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 27, 2021, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-tse-total-solar-eclipse-april-2024-was-three-years-away-for-usa-when-started/938873 "2021-03-27T21:36:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 56
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2024, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-tse-total-solar-eclipse-april-2024-was-three-years-away-for-usa-when-started/938873/1101 "2024-04-12T12:20:00Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > We’re far enough post-(heart of)-pandemic that I don’t feel it really factors into any decisions to travel now. That’s kind of my point. We can now travel to large gatherings, so we did. We also remember the recent past when we couldn’t. That combination of factors may have led to more people travelling, and more media attention, than usual. If we can describe anything about an eclipse as “usual”. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2024, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-tse-total-solar-eclipse-april-2024-was-three-years-away-for-usa-when-started/938873/1102 "2024-04-12T12:25:02Z")
I do see estimates that a heck of a lot more people traveled back in 2017 to see the eclipse, but that’s balanced by there being almost 20 million more people under the full totality zone than last time. So perhaps that contributes to why traffic seemed so relatively normal to me versus last time. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2024, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-tse-total-solar-eclipse-april-2024-was-three-years-away-for-usa-when-started/938873/1103 "2024-04-12T13:35:13Z")
I think the amount of hype depends on how many people are physically close to areas where one might experience totality. This time around, Southern Ontario was near the action and so the hype here was considerable. 2017? Not so much. The ones from 2026-2028? Likely less. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2024, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-tse-total-solar-eclipse-april-2024-was-three-years-away-for-usa-when-started/938873/1104 "2024-04-12T15:13:15Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > So perhaps that contributes to why traffic seemed so relatively normal to me versus last time. Traffic was brutal this time for people who watched the eclipse in northern Vermont and New Hampshire, but I suspect that geography played a strong role in that. There aren’t a lot of major roads in those areas to begin with. Plus, it was near the Canadian border, so almost everyone headed south after the event. Where the path of totality is in the middle of the country, half the people leave in one direction, and half in the other. I assume there were some Canadians who crossed the border to see totality. I haven’t heard if they had the same struggles getting home that a lot of us did. Maybe the 2017 eclipse really did have more hype. As I said, this one was closer to me, and I was more alert to it. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2024, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-tse-total-solar-eclipse-april-2024-was-three-years-away-for-usa-when-started/938873/1105 "2024-04-12T15:23:30Z")
> [@Bullitt](#): > > I actually think this one was hyped a lot more than 2017. > [@wolfpup](#): > > Most importantly, it covered the area where I, Wolfpup, descendant of traditional howlers at the moon, reside. > [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > I think the amount of hype depends on how many people are physically close to areas where one might experience totality. I suspect that the amount of hype depended on where you were. I saw a whole lot of local hype for this one, because I live close to totality. 2017, not so much. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2024, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-tse-total-solar-eclipse-april-2024-was-three-years-away-for-usa-when-started/938873/1106 "2024-04-12T15:57:03Z")
“Tokyo” is a two-syllable word for me, no question. To stretch it out to three syllables seems unnecessary. I actually don’t remember the 2017 eclipse being hyped at all. I was much more aware of this eclipse beforehand. We could see totality (which was totally _awesome_) from our NE Ohio backyard without any trouble at all; sorry so many people elsewhere had traffic problems. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2024, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-tse-total-solar-eclipse-april-2024-was-three-years-away-for-usa-when-started/938873/1107 "2024-04-12T16:05:51Z")
I pronounce Tokyo as “toe kyo”, two syllables. Both with pretty much the same vowel sound. (But “toe” is a word, and “kyoe” looks weird and invites a stray syllable.) ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2024, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-tse-total-solar-eclipse-april-2024-was-three-years-away-for-usa-when-started/938873/1108 "2024-04-12T17:31:43Z")
Oops, posted in the wrong thread. I wondered where it’d gone! Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2024, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-tse-total-solar-eclipse-april-2024-was-three-years-away-for-usa-when-started/938873/1109 "2024-04-12T18:42:01Z")
And I wondered why we were suddenly talking about Tokyo! (Which, for the record, I pronounce with three syllables.) Ignorance\* fought. \*which I also pronounce with three syllables ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2024, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-tse-total-solar-eclipse-april-2024-was-three-years-away-for-usa-when-started/938873/1110 "2024-04-12T19:26:29Z")
A quick composite image I banged out: [![Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/tvSIgRt.jpeg "imgur.com") ](https://imgur.com/tvSIgRt) ---
**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:** [April 12, 2024, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-tse-total-solar-eclipse-april-2024-was-three-years-away-for-usa-when-started/938873/1111 "2024-04-12T19:40:57Z")
Very impressive job, and thanks for posting it! I gather that the time sequence is meant to be read from left to right. Watching the actual eclipse in this area, the moon was moving across the sun from the bottom-right direction (making the first “bite” at around the 4:00 o’clock position) and finally departing at around the 10:00 o’clock position. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2024, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-tse-total-solar-eclipse-april-2024-was-three-years-away-for-usa-when-started/938873/1112 "2024-04-12T19:43:43Z")
Yes. You can see the skies clear as the sun gets progressively more eclipsed. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2024, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-tse-total-solar-eclipse-april-2024-was-three-years-away-for-usa-when-started/938873/1113 "2024-04-12T20:40:35Z")
Tech questions - how many stops was your filter & what were your settings (since I didn’t even bother to pull my 20-stop out of the case). How often was your intervolometer firing? What did you use to stack - Sequator or something else? ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2024, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-tse-total-solar-eclipse-april-2024-was-three-years-away-for-usa-when-started/938873/1114 "2024-04-12T20:54:25Z")
Very cool pic - thanks! ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2024, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-tse-total-solar-eclipse-april-2024-was-three-years-away-for-usa-when-started/938873/1115 "2024-04-12T21:09:37Z")
It’s really unclear how many stops the filter is. It’s a “Spectrum Solar Filter” - like this; [https://www.amazon.com/Spectrum-Telescope-ST950G1-GLASS-Filter/dp/B01EIV9ADO/](https://www.amazon.com/Spectrum-Telescope-ST950G1-GLASS-Filter/dp/B01EIV9ADO/) Some poking around on the web implies that it is a ND 5, or 16.6 stop filter. My exposure was 1/800 at f/8, ISO 100 My camera was being controlled by the amazing “Solar Eclipse Maestro” software by Xavier Jubier. > **[Solar Eclipse Maestro - Solar Eclipse Photography, Prediction, and Simulation...](http://xjubier.free.fr/en/site_pages/solar_eclipses/Solar_Eclipse_Maestro_Photography_Software.html)** > > Automated solar eclipse photography, prediction and simulation software for MacOS X by Xavier Jubier I just asked it to take pre- and post- totality filtered exposures ate 25 / 50 75% I then had it bang out lots of images are various exposures - trying to get the “Diamond Ring,” and a wide series of Corona images. I composited this image manually in Affinity Photo (because I refuse to pony up the money for a new Photoshop license). Affinity actually has a cool “Astrophotography” filter that removes the background and makes it pure black. I aligned the images by eye, which is why the spacing is a bit wonky. I need to go back and fix that. ---
**Author:** ![gkster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gkster/32/14107_2.png) [@gkster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gkster)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2024, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-tse-total-solar-eclipse-april-2024-was-three-years-away-for-usa-when-started/938873/1116 "2024-04-13T01:28:19Z")
@beowulff, wow, great picture! On Monday. driving up. we got a couple of warnings on our phones telling us to drive carefully and not to pull over or park on the side of the highways. And this is the first eclipse-related road fatality I’ve heard of: [NY doctor dies after falling out of moving trailer while headed to see the eclipse | AP News](https://apnews.com/article/eclipse-trailer-new-york-doctor-death-227ddaed935cedcfedb7647b21c9d71e?utm_source=RecoReel&utm_medium=articlePage&utm_id=Taboola) ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2024, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-tse-total-solar-eclipse-april-2024-was-three-years-away-for-usa-when-started/938873/1117 "2024-04-13T14:42:23Z")
> [@gkster](#): > > And this is the first eclipse-related road fatality I’ve heard of: > [NY doctor dies after falling out of moving trailer while headed to see the eclipse | AP News](https://apnews.com/article/eclipse-trailer-new-york-doctor-death-227ddaed935cedcfedb7647b21c9d71e?utm_source=RecoReel&utm_medium=articlePage&utm_id=Taboola) They bought a small Airstream a few months ago & were driving it up to their preferred eclipse viewing spot. 20 mins or miles (I forget which from the article I read) from their destination they stopped for ice cream & mom & adult daughter decided to ride the rest of the way in the back. It is both against the Airstream operating manual instrux & NY state law to pull a towed trailer with people in it, yet in what sounds like a setup for a wrongful death suit the daughter was blaming it on a poor design. ---
**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:** [April 14, 2024, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-tse-total-solar-eclipse-april-2024-was-three-years-away-for-usa-when-started/938873/1118 "2024-04-14T04:37:58Z")
@beowulff — nice!! ---
**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:** [April 14, 2024, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-tse-total-solar-eclipse-april-2024-was-three-years-away-for-usa-when-started/938873/1119 "2024-04-14T06:55:09Z")
Interesting pic of the April 8 eclipse taken from the ISS. We’ve all spent so much time looking at maps of the eclipse path that it’s easy to get the impression that it’s a very narrow, well-defined shadow. It isn’t. The width of the umbra (the path of totality) was only about 185 km (about 115 miles) but fades for hundreds of miles in all directions. The elliptical shape also makes it clear why totality is shorter when you’re farther from the center line. [![](https://i.imgur.com/jsZpwDE.jpeg) ](https://i.imgur.com/jsZpwDE.jpeg) ---
**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:** [April 14, 2024, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-tse-total-solar-eclipse-april-2024-was-three-years-away-for-usa-when-started/938873/1120 "2024-04-14T14:16:51Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > The elliptical shape also makes it clear why totality is shorter when you’re farther from the center line. Actually the elliptical shape has nothing to do with that. Whether the shadow is a perfect circle, a near-circular ellipse, a football-shaped ellipse or something even more elongated, the whole point of the differing totality duration based on your cross-track distance is due to you traversing through the fat part in the middle versus just skimming into the periphery briefly. Yes, the orientation of the ellipse is a factor. But its a factor that directly affects the maximum totality duration on the track centerline. The effect at cross-track distance is then a “discount” from the on-center baseline duration. But that discount is again about going through the fat center part or just dipping into the periphery briefly. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-tse-total-solar-eclipse-april-2024-was-three-years-away-for-usa-when-started/938873.md?page=55) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-tse-total-solar-eclipse-april-2024-was-three-years-away-for-usa-when-started/938873.md?page=57)