Solar Eclipse

Chatterbox: Down to Earth

Solar Eclipse

Solar Eclipse

There's a total solar eclipse coming up on August 21st! Are you guys as excited as I am?! It's the first total eclipse of the sun in about 100 years (I'll be singing Little Shop of Horrors the whole time :) and the first one in our generation.

We got some eclipse glasses, and they're way different from what I was expecting. For some reason, I thought they'd have special colored lenses like those old 3-D glasses. But they're just really really really dark plastic sunglasses. (I'm sure there's a lot more to them than that, but that's pretty much what they look like.)

I'm hoping to be able to film a little bit of the eclipse, maybe make a short video. Apparently, once the eclipse starts the trees will cast little miniature eclipse-shadows on the ground, which sounds creepy and also cool. XD

Do you guys have any plans for the 21st? 

submitted by Micearenice
(August 9, 2017 - 7:12 pm)

I'm exited! But I couldn't get any eclipse glasses....bummer.

submitted by June
(August 11, 2017 - 9:36 am)

Are you in the path of the total eclipse? If so, you can still look at it while it's completely covered.

 

I'm pretty sure you still need special glasses to do that, or you can permanently damage your eyes. Better to be safe than sorry. I'm sure there will be photos to view later.

Admin

submitted by Crookshanks, age 2nd year, Hogsmeade
(August 12, 2017 - 10:13 am)

I want to see it too! It's two days after my birthday. XD

submitted by Killim
(August 11, 2017 - 12:27 pm)

Cool (happy early bday)

submitted by June
(August 12, 2017 - 7:01 am)

You guys are so lucky that you get to be in the total eclipse region. I, sadly, will only get to see 65% because I live in Arizona. I don't think any of my friends know about it, so I will most likely be sitting on my balcony alone when it happens.  Or be in school and miss it. My life is unbearably tragic.

submitted by Sprocket
(August 12, 2017 - 11:59 am)

I'm so sorry, Sprocket!

*pokes head in* Hi? How are y'all doing? Sorry for disappearing again! (AGAIN.) We're so excited for the solar eclipse! My family lives in Eastern Oregon, and we're fairly close to the band of totality, so all we have to do is drive for a few hours (although it will definitely be more than a few hours, what with the awful traffic that will be swamping the roads), and it's going to be awesome! I've never seen a total solar eclipse before, even in pictures, only read about them, and this might well be a once in a lifetime experience for me. (My sister is planning to be a Cosmologist, so she's even more excited than the rest of us are.) 

@Ashlee G. You live in Washington???

@The People who are driving into Oregon for the eclipse or are already in Oregon and are going to see it: There's probably a one in a million chance that we'll run into each other, but we can always hope, right?

-Nianad  

submitted by Nianad
(August 14, 2017 - 1:46 am)

@Everyone else that's going to Oregon: I am too! We should come up with some way to figure out who we are if we run into each other, like, all wear a shirt with something on it or something. Where in Oregon are you going to? I'm going to Salem.

submitted by Kitten
(August 16, 2017 - 8:40 pm)

I'm going as far south as I can make it, with the traffic, and hope it's far enough! I'll probably be wearing a NASA shirt, so there's that!

submitted by Crookshanks, age 2nd year, Hogsmeade
(August 18, 2017 - 10:16 am)

Only three more days!!! We can post pictures here after the eclipse.

submitted by Micearenice
(August 18, 2017 - 7:13 pm)

I'll be driving from Georgia (Well I won't be driving, but you know what I mean) up to Tennessee to a place I forgot the name of with my best freind and his parents so we can see the total eclipse using his dad's welding goggles and some eclipse veiwing cards for the others. It's gonna be !EMOSEWA

Also, if there's a Dalek invasion, just hide in a fridge. It worked for Indiana Jones.

submitted by General Waffleson, age -457, The Breakfast Kingdom!
(August 20, 2017 - 8:08 am)

Wait! Waitwaitwait--that sounds super familiar, I feel like I remember watching Indiana Jones hide in a fridge during something...I don't remember there being Daleks but who knows....(besides, I don't know what they look like since I haven't watched Doctor Who.....what's this from?

And wow, it's going to be like rush hour down south and west and stuff. Rush hour. All day. 

submitted by Leafpool, age Eternal, Hidden in the forest
(August 20, 2017 - 12:14 pm)

It was in Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, or as I call it, Rocket Ski Fridge Alien IV!

submitted by General Waffleson
(August 26, 2017 - 10:48 am)

Speedy Feet would like to remind everyone to wear their eclipse glasses! ;)

 

IMG_20170820_100207_704.jpg
submitted by Micearenice
(August 20, 2017 - 10:04 am)

If you don't have glasses, you can still watch the eclipse! Search for 'eclipse box', and all sorts of different models will pop up. These boxes will let you watch the eclipse via a reflection shining onto a white piece of paper.

Also, if you leave a white sheet or piece of poster paper on the ground you might catch a glimpse of the shadow bands, AKA shadow snakes! Nobody really knows why they appear. They'll be there in the seconds before and after totality, though I'm pretty sure they're really faint and might be hard to see--for a camera, at least. They're hard to photograph. However, I'm sure our eyes will be able to see them just fine. Look for little shadows wriggling across the ground.

Also be on the lookout for eclipse shadows! They're like miniature images of the eclipse reflecting onto the ground. They're frequent around trees, as they are a result of the eclipsed sun shining through the leaves, and will usually appear on the ground, your house, etc.

See what happens to your shadow. Listen out for crickets. Oh, and be sure to stock up on eclipse snacks! Moon pies, Milky Ways, crescent rolls...xD

Happy eclipse viewing! 

submitted by Micearenice
(August 20, 2017 - 12:15 pm)

My family couldn't get any eclipse glasses because they were all sold out, but it's supposed to be pretty dark anyway. I'm on vacation in Maine right now and that's where I'll be when the eclipse happens. I think it will be darker at my house (in Massachusetts), but it's not in the total eclipse path. My dad told me that lots of small towns in places like Tennessee that are right in the path of the eclipse are worried about running out of things like food and water because so many people are coming to see the eclipse there! 

submitted by Dragonrider
(August 20, 2017 - 3:34 pm)