# Where are you going to be for the eclipse **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 5, 2017, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-you-going-to-be-for-the-eclipse/783798 "2017-04-05T05:23:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![drewder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/57b2e6/32.png) [@drewder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewder)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2017, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-you-going-to-be-for-the-eclipse/783798/61 "2017-04-09T21:22:13Z")
I’m not sure where I got it but I have a Google Earth Overlay that has information on the eclipse so you can click anywhere in the world, I assume it works anywhere I’ve only used it in the US, and it will tell you exactly how long the eclipse will be, if it doesn’t reach totality in that place it says how complete the eclipse is, and the important times. ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2017, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-you-going-to-be-for-the-eclipse/783798/62 "2017-04-09T22:52:25Z")
> [@BetsQ](#): > > Somewhere in Missouri. We’ll go visit my family in the St. Louis area and drive a bit southwest that day for the eclipse. Hah!! I’ll be meeting a cousin for the first time and we’ll be watching the eclipse from her deck, which is about an hour south of St. Louis. ---
**Author:** ![Dereknocue67](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6de8d8/32.png) [@Dereknocue67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dereknocue67)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2017, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-you-going-to-be-for-the-eclipse/783798/63 "2017-04-10T09:00:45Z")
I’ll be indoors shaking and cowering as The Great Trump God demonstrates his awesome ability to block the sun. Well, at least that’s what he’ll claim. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2017, 10:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-you-going-to-be-for-the-eclipse/783798/64 "2017-04-10T10:13:04Z")
> [@Dereknocue67](#): > > I’ll be indoors shaking and cowering as The Great Trump God demonstrates his awesome ability to block the sun. > > Well, at least that’s what he’ll claim. When I saw the 1998 eclipse from the island of Guadeloupe, many of the schoolchildren were told that they had to stay inside with the blinds drawn, for the entire day of the eclipse… or they’d go blind. Many of the kids missed seeing the eclipse because of that. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2017, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-you-going-to-be-for-the-eclipse/783798/65 "2017-04-10T16:35:56Z")
I could sit in my front yard and see it at 99.98% totality (according to some graph I saw somewhere), but apparently the difference between 99.98% totality and 100% totality is big enough that you should go for 100% if you can. Which I can accomplish very easily with a 40-minute drive either north or east. I will be in St. Genevieve, Missouri, a 300-year-old Mississippi River town that is a tourist attraction these days. Mrs. Homie and I figure we’ll get a nice lunch and take in the sights the day of the eclipse. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2017, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-you-going-to-be-for-the-eclipse/783798/66 "2017-04-10T16:49:14Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > When I saw the 1998 eclipse from the island of Guadeloupe, many of the schoolchildren were told that they had to stay inside with the blinds drawn, for the entire day of the eclipse… or they’d go blind. Many of the kids missed seeing the eclipse because of that. You should have told them that if they gave you lots of food you would [make it go away](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_1504_lunar_eclipse). ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2017, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-you-going-to-be-for-the-eclipse/783798/67 "2017-04-10T18:12:08Z")
We’re in SC right in the path; we’re going to the local minor league baseball game. Should be fun. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2017, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-you-going-to-be-for-the-eclipse/783798/68 "2017-04-10T18:51:51Z")
> [@johnsonlnl](#): > > Regarding the whole “light pollution” angle - is there a potential issue if you are in an urban area and when the eclipse starts the street lights and other forms of light pollution start turning on automatically due to the darkness? > > We’re planning on viewing somewhere in Wyoming, playing for the best weather odds. Although it didn’t seem darker, the street lights came on during the 60% eclipse I witnessed in 1994. ---
**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 13, 2017, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-you-going-to-be-for-the-eclipse/783798/69 "2017-04-13T21:29:15Z")
I don’t know why I wasn’t aware of earlier eclipses. Life happens, I guess. I’ll have to look those up. This time: road trip! Wife & I are driving 13 hours north up to around Smiths Ferry ID. The exact spot will depend on the weather. ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-you-going-to-be-for-the-eclipse/783798/70 "2017-04-13T22:01:20Z")
> [@Disheavel](#): > > I had been thinking that I’d drive down the morning of the eclipse, but I’m not going to risk traffic on that day as I can imagine that it could be a parking lot from Portland onward. I had the same thought. It would be about a four hour drive (one way) for me at freeway speeds, and I wouldn’t mind that, but I’d guess that freeway speeds will be a fantasy once you get within 100 miles of the eclipse belt. As much as I would like to see it, I think I’ll skip it, because I have a lot of experience with I-5 in northern Oregon, and there are long slowdowns even at the best of times. It will probably be a nightmare at the center of the path of totality. ---
**Author:** ![standingwave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@standingwave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/standingwave)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-you-going-to-be-for-the-eclipse/783798/71 "2017-04-13T23:24:52Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Slight hijack: as a teenager I read an Asimov story (from his Black Widower Society series, I think), in which a photographer chartered a plane and flew in the high atmosphere filming the moon’s shadow as it raced across the earth, or something like that. It was a lovely idea, but is it feasible? Has it ever been done? Looking at [this map](https://static1.squarespace.com/static/53c358b6e4b01b8adb4d5870/t/53ee9b23e4b086379f963f1c/1408146282068/Eclipse2017_USA), it takes only around an **hour and a half** for the eclipse to move across the continental US, a distance of about **2400 miles**. So, definitely a fast mover. But yeah, it has been done and it would be awesome… > [@](#): > > The longest totality ever observed by an experimental aircraft was **74 minutes** , captured by a supersonic **Concorde** aircraft in 1973. > [Longest Eclipse Ever: Airplane Chases the Moon's Shadow | WIRED](https://www.wired.com/2010/07/eclipse-chasers/) ---
**Author:** ![Some\_Call\_Me.Tim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Some\_Call\_Me.Tim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Some_Call_Me.Tim)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2017, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-you-going-to-be-for-the-eclipse/783798/72 "2017-04-14T00:33:09Z")
I was in school the last time there was a solar eclipse in the US in 1979, but school happened to be in the area of totality. 🙂 They didn’t let us out of the classroom but we saw it out of the windows. ---
**Author:** ![standingwave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@standingwave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/standingwave)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2017, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-you-going-to-be-for-the-eclipse/783798/73 "2017-04-14T23:33:19Z")
> [@Some\_Call\_Me.Tim](#): > > I was in school the last time there was a solar eclipse in the US in 1979, but school happened to be in the area of totality. 🙂 They didn’t let us out of the classroom but we saw it out of the windows. That’s criminal. :mad: Sent from my LGLS990 using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2017, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-you-going-to-be-for-the-eclipse/783798/74 "2017-04-15T00:23:21Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > I couldn’t tell you where I’ll be in the next 48 hours, let alone that far out! I like that cool map, though! > > If I wanted to see the total, I guess north of Burns, Ore. would be the place for me. Hey, I got a camper! > [@garygnu](#): > > Oregon desert. One or two towns or there are converting county fairgrounds into temporary campgrounds. > My biggest hurdle will be that I’ll have a four month old baby in tow. I’ll be Huntington, Oregon right near where I-84 and the Snake River part company … look for the long haired man in the Streamliner or Grady’s the night before … > [@TonySinclair](#): > > I had the same thought. It would be about a four hour drive (one way) for me at freeway speeds, and I wouldn’t mind that, but I’d guess that freeway speeds will be a fantasy once you get within 100 miles of the eclipse belt. As much as I would like to see it, I think I’ll skip it, because I have a lot of experience with I-5 in northern Oregon, and there are long slowdowns even at the best of times. It will probably be a nightmare at the center of the path of totality. The Willamette Valley is going to be NUTS … every other Californian will be there around Salem … > [@Some\_Call\_Me.Tim](#): > > I was in school the last time there was a solar eclipse in the US in 1979, but school happened to be in the area of totality. 🙂 They didn’t let us out of the classroom but we saw it out of the windows. I was just off the Columbia River near the road to Goldendale … **Get your eye protection EARLY … #14 welder’s glass is best … but #12 will serve …** All the partial phases are TOO bright to look at with unprotected eyes … although during totality the solar corona is no brighter than a full moon … at least make a _camera obscura_ (pin-hole camera) … the partial phases are cool to watch … ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2017, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-you-going-to-be-for-the-eclipse/783798/75 "2017-04-15T03:00:06Z")
> [@johnsonlnl](#): > > Regarding the whole “light pollution” angle - is there a potential issue if you are in an urban area and when the eclipse starts the street lights and other forms of light pollution start turning on automatically due to the darkness? Yes! My wife’s uncle, an astronomer who has seen many eclipses, said you have to look for a site away from street lights or other lighting that might go on automatically at sunset. They can seriously disrupt the effect of totality. Another key to successful eclipse viewing is to be ready to drive to some place with clearer skies if it starts to cloud up in your initial location. Traffic can make this more difficult in densely populated areas. Plan carefully for this. My wife’s brother and his family live in Kansas City. We will be going there, as will her mother, uncle and his family, possibly her son, and my mother. We plan to view the eclipse from somewhere around St. Joseph. The astronomer uncle will be our strategist and eclipse guide. It will be my first solar eclipse, and I’m really looking forward to it. ---
**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 15, 2017, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-you-going-to-be-for-the-eclipse/783798/76 "2017-04-15T15:27:38Z")
> [@watchwolf49](#): > > **Get your eye protection EARLY … #14 welder’s glass is best** The ISO safety standard for direct viewing of the sun is here. Make sure your eye protection meets this standard. (#14 welder’s glasses _might_ meet the standard, I did not look that up) [ISO 12312-2:2015, Eye and face protection – Sunglasses and related eyewear – Part 2: Filters for direct observation of the sun](https://www.iso.org/standard/59289.html). [URL=“[ISO 12312-2:2015 - Eye and face protection — Sunglasses and related eyewear — Part 2: Filters for direct observation of the sun](https://www.iso.org/standard/59289.html)”] ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2017, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-you-going-to-be-for-the-eclipse/783798/77 "2017-04-15T16:37:38Z")
> [@standingwave](#): > > That’s criminal. :mad: I agree. What a learning experience was lost! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-you-going-to-be-for-the-eclipse/783798.md?page=3)