Solar eclipse on August 21...anyone getting excited?

[MULTIZ321]

'It's Not Worth Taking a Chance.' Man Who Experienced Eye Damage During 1962 Solar Eclipse Warns Others.
By Jason Duaine Hahn/ People/ Eclipse/ Time/ time.com

"A man who damaged his eyes 55 years ago while looking at a partial solar eclipse is warning others about the risks of looking at the sun without protection.

In 1962, Lou Tomososki walked home from Marshall High School in Bend, Oregon, with his friend Roger Duval, when the two stopped to watch the partial eclipse occurring in the sky. While they only looked with their naked eyes for a few seconds, the damage the sun caused to Tomososki’s vision would stay with him for the rest of his life.

According to Today, Tomososki began to see flashes in his vision, similar to the spots that occur when a picture is taken with a flashbulb. Tomososki, now 70, has experienced vision problems since then, and he is warning those who want to enjoy the Great American Eclipse on August 21 to wear eye protection while looking at the celestial event.

“It’s going to be over real quick and it’s not worth taking a chance,” Lou Tomososki told KGW...."

Richard

 

[bbodb1]

Our school district's first day of school is Aug. 21. Administration just today decided to postpone by one day. It is dismissal time at 2:30 p.m., exactly the peak time for the eclipse here. There would just be chaos, always part of the first day anyway. Our luck, it will be cloudy. And this way, parents will be responsible as to whether their kids look at the sun.

We are already in school, and you can't imagine the chaos this day is causing. And I should say, the chaos is human created. When I was young, I recall a similar level of eclipse as to what we will we see here. My school made it a teaching opportunity, had us participate and then we went on about our business. No big deal. As an aside, with everyone concentrating on eclipse glasses, I am staying old school with my eclipse box.

Fast forward to present - some schools are requiring permission slips to allow kids to view eclipse. I get there is a safety concern but this was the start of things over the top.
No students will be allowed outdoors during the eclipse in certain grades - they HAVE to watch livestream if they watch at all. Class schedules rearranged. Parents have been told they can check their kids out and the absence will NOT be counted against them.

Society continues its descent toward wussification.

 

[bbodb1]

Your school district is at great risk for a lawsuit if one child takes off the glasses to see what is really going on...

While I agree that ANYTHING can be litigated, what is going to happen in the classroom when little Johnny and Joanne decide to go look out the window during the eclipse despite the teacher telling them to sit down?

 

[vacationhopeful]

Too much of this media hype is driving MORE hype.

Educating the public to NOT LOOK at the eclipse is necessary .. but it should be "watch on TV" for the best viewing... not "here are FREE SUNGLASSES to watch it". I would not trust a single teacher to make sure 1 out of 30 kids does NOT forget keep their 'free sunglasses' on. Or some idiot child, tortures another child by ripping off their glasses or thinks they won't lose eyesight by looking for just a few seconds at the sun or to see it better ... to be macho ... part of a dare.

I just want this event to be over ...

 

[PigsDad]

We are already in school, and you can't imagine the chaos this day is causing. And I should say, the chaos is human created. When I was young, I recall a similar level of eclipse as to what we will we see here. My school made it a teaching opportunity, had us participate and then we went on about our business. No big deal. As an aside, with everyone concentrating on eclipse glasses, I am staying old school with my eclipse box.

Fast forward to present - some schools are requiring permission slips to allow kids to view eclipse. I get there is a safety concern but this was the start of things over the top.
No students will be allowed outdoors during the eclipse in certain grades - they HAVE to watch livestream if they watch at all. Class schedules rearranged. Parents have been told they can check their kids out and the absence will NOT be counted against them.

Society continues its descent toward wussification.

In our school district, Monday will be the first day of school. The district is providing all kids at all schools with eclipse viewing glasses. At our daughter's high school, they announced all classes will adjourn to head outside to view the eclipse for about 20 minutes at its peak (we are at 96%). The district is requiring opt-out forms if they don't want their child to participate and stay inside.

So nice to see some common sense (IMO) in our district, instead of the "hysteria" I've read about elsewhere (closing school for the whole day? Idiotic!).

Kurt

 

[ace2000]

After researching the weather and trying to evaluate all the alternatives, we've decided to rent a couple of kayaks and check it all out on the Meremec river, Missouri. A slight risk of rain, but it looks ok.

 

[Born2Travel]

In our backyard. 99.7% is good enough for us. No travel, no crowds, no traffic.

 

[PigsDad]

Here is the traffic leaving the Denver area heading up to Wyoming at 7:00 AM:

You are looking at about 70 miles of I-25 northbound. After they get to Cheyenne, Wyoming, they still have another 100 miles to go.

Kurt

 

[Elan]

Our school district had the foresight/intelligence to delay the start of school until Tuesday. Makes it a lot easier on everyone. I can buzz home from work around 10:45 to 11:00, watch the eclipse with my kids, eat lunch, and be back to work by 12:30.

 

[Passepartout]

We are in Mackay Idaho. Traffic was lighter than expected. Not a cloud in the sky but some California smoke. The eclipse will start at 10:15, totality at 11:34 for about 2 minutes.

 

[Beaglemom3]

Starting here, Boston suburbs. I put my neighbor's dog into the house per the vet site recommendations.

 

[Passepartout]

Totality just ended here. Totally COOL. Well worth the price. So much better than 99%!

 

[Glynda]

It's beginning in Charleston. Am taking my mother out in our courtyard in a minute to see the start of it. It's been cloudy all day but slightly clearing in places. Still a while to go for total but it's really interesting to look at even now.

 

[Timeshare Von]

Nothing worth seeing here in Milwaukee. We're socked in with cloud cover. A good thunderstorm has darker skies that what we experienced at the peak. Disappointing.

Glad others are enjoying the show!

 

[rhonda]

It has been fun watching ABC's coverage across the country. I enjoyed the "funky lighting" in my yard even though I'm far, far from the path of totality.

 

[Glynda]

OK, I confess I wasn't very keen on this. But even with cloud cover and a little thunder it was awesome! We just had to step down to pool level, put on our glasses and look up! We could hear the crowds cheering from the waterfront two blocks away. It was worth it.

 

[PigsDad]

96% here. It was a fun experience, and looking at the traffic from here to Wyoming I'm glad I decided not to try a day trip up there.

Here is a cool picture I took close to the max coverage here. It is a shot of the sunlight filtering through the leaves of a tree onto the sidewalk:

Kurt

 

[rapmarks]

Took whole family to library, we saw about 85 percent. It was fun for the kids and they had a nice size crowd sharing the glasses


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[FLDVCFamily]

Coastal FL and it was really lackluster at what they called 85%. I can't believe my kids missed a day of school for that.

 

[Makai Guy]

Our home on the south side of Aiken SC is just outside the totality band. At the USCA campus in the NW corner of the city they were to get to 99%. Just a few miles around to the north side of town, our county office complex is just inside the band and was to have 23 seconds of totality. We made lunch reservations at a B&B in the woods a few miles out of town to the NE, further into the band, where they were to get about 1-1/4 minutes of totality.

We had scattered clouds today and we had a lot of the partial eclipse before totality blocked by clouds..

...or dimly viewed through the thinner ones.

But we lucked out and a wide clear blue space between the clouds passed over shortly before we reached totality and we got a great view:

 

[MLR]

We had clear skies for the eclipse in SW Illinois today. Our first eclipse. Very eerie. Very neat experience. We were prepared with the correct glasses and I even made my little viewer - and watched on our concrete patio. Our patio was a perfect spot to watch from. No travel required. Our little town had near 'gridlock' traffic for a while.

It was fun listening to the music being played at our local high school - Aquarius, Mood Shadow, etc. People really got enthusiastic about it all. We just ate our lunch outside - checking on things from time to time. Then took a quick peek when we hit 'totality' - VERY VERY COOL.

Looking forward now to the next one on April 8, 2023. It will be on a Sunday - so probably MANY MORE VISITORS than this time around. We will be in the path of totality again. WEEEEEEEEE!

 

[MLR]

96% here. It was a fun experience, and looking at the traffic from here to Wyoming I'm glad I decided not to try a day trip up there.

Here is a cool picture I took close to the max coverage here. It is a shot of the sunlight filtering through the leave of a tree onto the sidewalk:

View attachment 4520

Kurt

I took similar photos of the dappled eclipses coming through the leaves of our oak tree. I hope everyone took a look at the 360 degree sunset. We could only see it in two directions due to bldgs. But it was very beautiful.

 

[MLR]

We had clear skies for the eclipse in SW Illinois today. Our first eclipse. Very eerie. Very neat experience. We were prepared with the correct glasses and I even made my little viewer - and watched on our concrete patio. Our patio was a perfect spot to watch from. No travel required. Our little town had near 'gridlock' traffic for a while.

It was fun listening to the music being played at our local high school - Aquarius, MOON Shadow, etc. People really got enthusiastic about it all. We just ate our lunch outside - checking on things from time to time. Then took a quick peek when we hit 'totality' - VERY VERY COOL.

Looking forward now to the next one on April 8, 2023. It will be on a Sunday - so probably MANY MORE VISITORS than this time around. We will be in the path of totality again. WEEEEEEEEE!

 

[dioxide45]

Looking forward now to the next one on April 8, 2023. It will be on a Sunday - so probably MANY MORE VISITORS than this time around. We will be in the path of totality again. WEEEEEEEEE!

You may need to wait an extra year. If you look up at the sun in 2023, you might be disappointed. The next total eclipse in the USA is April 8, 2024.

 

[MLR]

You may need to wait an extra year. If you look up at the sun in 2023, you might be disappointed. The next total eclipse in the USA is April 8, 2024.

DUH! Yes, I knew that! May have been a 'typo' but who knows? it will be nearly 7 years from now - which as you said - is 2024!! Should be fun if we are still alive and well.............. :0)