Re: [BVARC] [tdxs-list] Watching the Eclipse in MO

[Ravi Patrick Ratnala via BVARC]

For my story, I've been an amateur astronomer all my life, and this particular event has been on my calendar for 40 years.  I remember reading about this eclipse in the books back then, thinking, "Wow, I'll be 48 years old when that happens.  I wonder if I'll still be alive?"  (Gotta love a child's perspective . . . .) I'm also keenly aware of the propensity of the media in its various forms today to turn such a rare and otherwise irreproachable celestial event into a pop-culture circus.  And unfortunately, that is indeed what happened before what has now become known as the "Great American Eclipse" (ugh).  But all the reasons that were commonly cited for why one should avoid it were man-made, not intrinsic to the event itself. This fact merely added crowd avoidance to my other travel considerations, not the least of which was obviously weather.  In the end, I got to do some great backpack camping, back-country bushwhacking, and mountaineering as well.  And oh yeah - I also took along comms, and operated multiple bands and modes during the trip, including making contacts from coast to coast on 40m, all from a remote mountaintop in Wyoming.  Win-win-win-win-win. Others have mentioned the "multiple senses" aspect of experiencing a total solar eclipse in person, and those are all certainly true.  But the most surprising thing to me was that the eclipse in person looked completely different from any photo or video I have ever seen - even the spectacular ones taken during the very eclipse I watched this week. When watching an exceptionally good 4K TV video, for example, it's not uncommon for me to comment, "That almost looks better than real life."  Not so with the total eclipse.  Ever since Monday I have struggled in trying to describe the image - scrounged around for adjectives - nothing.  The total eclipse viewed live has an ethereal, other-worldly sort of "life" of its own.  No photograph, no HDTV set, no video monitor in existence could reproduce it. To say I'll be there for the 2024 Texas totality is superfluous.  I'm currently looking into flights into southern Argentina for 2019. 73, KF5YHP On 8/23/2017 10:36 AM, K5IZO via BVARC wrote: Ditto to Nizar. Let's put it this way - I had been to done of totality 3 times before so this was my 4th.  I flew more then 2000 miles to Oregon and then drove 300 miles each way to the chosen site. A 99% eclipse vs a 100% totality is no contest. Like Nizar, with encroaching darkness, seeing the diamond ring effect, the wildlife chattering, the 15 degree drop in temperature in 15 minutes, and then totality with the solar corona encircling the moon, the prominences and the brilliant ruby red flare was worth the trip many times over.  FYI, BVARCers Kirk Kendrick (KK2Z), Pete Sauermilch (KD5QPX), Nizar Mullani (KNM), Scott Medbury (KD5FBA), John Chauvin (K5IZO) and probably others made similar journeys. Rest assured, I'll be at the 2024 eclipse for #5 John Sent from my iPhone On Aug 23, 2017, at 8:09 AM, NIzar Mullani via BVARC <bvarc@bvarc.org> wrote: Pat,   Why? A good question.   I have seen a lot of pictures of solar eclipses. But, experiencing the solar eclipse with more than one senses is an experience I will never forget. The light from the sun dimming, temperature dropping, seeing the star in midday and hearing the Rooster try to wake everyone up as sunlight came through again was awesome. Definitely recommend seeing it in person.   Nizar   From: BVARC [mailto:bvarc-boun...@bvarc.org] On Behalf Of Pat Cameron via BVARC Sent: Monday, August 21, 2017 1:26 PM To: BRAZOS VALLEY AMATEUR RADIO CLUB Cc: Pat Cameron Subject: Re: [BVARC] [tdxs-list] Watching the Eclipse in MO   Why? Best Regards, Pat Cameron (832)885-2899   On Mon, Aug 21, 2017 at 12:32 PM, K5IZO via BVARC <bvarc@bvarc.org> wrote: Totality from Madras, OR.  Perfect! Sent from my iPhone > On Aug 21, 2017, at 9:59 AM, Nizar Mullani <mull...@tlite.com> wrote: > > Right over the center line. A piece of sun is missing. > _________________________________________________________________ > To unsubscribe or modify your subscription options, please visit: > https://lists.tdxs.net/mailman/options/tdxs-list/k5izo%40yahoo.com _______________________________________________ BVARC mailing list BVARC@bvarc.org http://mail.bvarc.org/mailman/listinfo/bvarc_bvarc.org Message delivered to ctap...@gmail.com   _______________________________________________ BVARC mailing list BVARC@bvarc.org http://mail.bvarc.org/mailman/listinfo/bvarc_bvarc.org Message delivered to k5...@yahoo.com _______________________________________________ BVARC mailing list BVARC@bvarc.org http://mail.bvarc.org/mailman/listinfo/bvarc_bvarc.org Message delivered to ratnala...@gmail.com Virus-free. www.avast.com

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