by Tom Shafer
April 19, 2024
Are you kidding me?? There’s no such thing as an “average solar eclipse.” And no, the little NASA experiment near Chincoteague Island in Virginia (firing rockets into the atmosphere during the event to test and analyze changes in Earth’s magnetic and electric fields) did not produce unseemly rituals performed by “Masonic, Satanic, Esoteric, Gnostic, Brotherhood of the Snake and other occult-like groups” — as claimed and promulgated by idiotic online influencers. And no again, the eclipse did not usher in a new world order as right-winged (or Reich-winged?) conspiracy blowhard Alex Jones theorized. Actually, given the state of our planet right now, perhaps a new world order, a nice, healthy one, would be a refreshing change of pace.
Now that the long awaited solar eclipse of 2024 has come and gone, of course, I’m depressed. I had impatiently anticipated this event since I witnessed the 2017 eclipse (then in Eddyville, Kentucky, and of which you can read about under the Naturelated tab sporting the title “The Coolest Thing Ever Seen!”). But now that the sun and moon are back to normal, what astronomical happening will quench our collective thirst for an encore? Yes, we will experience all of our typical meteor showers (the Eta Aquarids in May, the Perseids in August, and the Geminids in December being the best), and we do have a couple of comets to look for (Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS should be naked-eye visible from late September through mid October — if it doesn’t crumble to pieces as it traverses our solar system). Then, the harvest full moon will undergo a minor partial lunar eclipse on Sept. 17, where the moon will graze the Earth’s dark shadow from 10:12 to 11:16 p.m. But at its peak (10:44 p.m.), only 9% of the moon will be eclipsed, so it will look like a dent or tiny nibble has been taken out of the top of the moon. Cool, I guess, but not solar eclipse cool. I suppose I will have to suppress my celestial excitement until a full lunar eclipse occurs on March 14, 2025.
But the April 8th, 2024, total eclipse DID eclipse all expectations! Fortunately, I didn’t have to travel this time and was able to experience it fully in the comfort of my backyard. Again, for the uninitiated, a total solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes between the sun and Earth, completely obscuring the face of the sun. As the moon begins this passing, it appears “to take bites out of the sun” until it is gone at a moment called totality. At this time, the sky appears darkened like dusk or dawn, so stars are evident overhead and wildlife is briefly confused, thinking and behaving as if nightfall is approaching. During totality, the sun’s corona is visible, its rays radiating outward in hues of yellow and orange. Just before and just after totality, a phenomenon called Baily’s beads occurs, where the moon’s surface of mountains and valleys juxtaposed against the disappearing sun create a rippling effect along the edge of the eclipse. And, approximately ten to fifteen seconds before and after totality, a “diamond ring” becomes visible: as the sun “disappears” — then “reappears” — it dazzles like a diamond set in a ring. The path for a typical solar eclipse can be from 75 to 150 miles in width, and depending on the viewer’s position in the path, he or she can experience a few seconds of totality up to seven minutes. I experienced two minutes of totality here where I live outside Yellow Springs, Ohio, while others in the Miami Valley experienced up to four minutes.
I viewed the 2017 event with my eyes only (in four minutes of totality I took three quick photos with my phone’s camera), but I wanted to capture this one with my Nikon camera while concurrently observing it through my Celestron reflector telescope. I also utilized my Celestron solar binoculars, with which I often inspect the sun while scanning for solar flares and sunspots. For several days prior to the assigned date of the eclipse, the weather forecast was not a favorable one, with many computer simulations predicting clouds and potential thunderstorms. But as the weekend progressed, the prognostication continued improving, and Monday dawned clear and bright with only a hint of high cirrus clouds overhead. Fortunately for us, this weather held for the rest of the day.
What follows (in sequence) are the photographs that I took throughout the entirety of the eclipse. Enjoy!
Sadly, the next significant total eclipse for America won’t happen again until August 12, 2045, and Ohio won’t witness another one until 2099. If I’m alive and still kicking somewhat, I will perhaps travel to catch the 2045 eclipse (Arkansas or Florida would be my picks). And, for a little more perspective about these types of events, our country has experienced just twenty-one total solar eclipses (now twenty-two) since its inception! I have to admit that it would be nice to glimpse that twenty-third one. Just one more reason to stay alive!
