11–20 of 39 posts
We wouldn’t get to see the total eclipse—that dramatic upheaval of the afternoon’s forward march, an ebb when there should be flow. I thought this would be about animal behaviour during a solar eclipse, as that's the title. It is actually written by a poet and so is more style than substance
An eclipse is such an amazing phenomenon. The last time it happened I had my mind blown by a simple realization: There is no physical reason why the moon fits precisely within the diameter of the sun. It just so happens that on our little planet with sentient life, in which human life is present for only an incredibly small window, the time in which we are present and looking to the skies is when the diameter and dis…
I drove 2 hours to get into the path of totality for the 2017 eclipse. I just want to reiterate to anyone with a similar opportunity how worthwhile it is to make the trek to be in the path of totality. I had many friends that figured they would just watch from home because "it is going to be 98% eclipsed here". Let me dispel that logic. Anything less than total eclipse is basically unnoticeable, while the total eclip…
Anyways, 10/10 would recommend.
An eclipse is such an amazing phenomenon. The last time it happened I had my mind blown by a simple realization: There is no physical reason why the moon fits precisely within the diameter of the sun. It just so happens that on our little planet with sentient life, in which human life is present for only an incredibly small window, the time in which we are present and looking to the skies is when the diameter and dis…
Sun's size is so big comparable to both earth and moon. When shadow of moon is spread on earth, shadow's radius is much smaller than moon's radius, unlike our conventional knowledge that shadows appear larger with distance. For people on earth who are in the path of totality, it appears as if moon has completly covered the sun.
I drove 2 hours to get into the path of totality for the 2017 eclipse. I just want to reiterate to anyone with a similar opportunity how worthwhile it is to make the trek to be in the path of totality. I had many friends that figured they would just watch from home because "it is going to be 98% eclipsed here". Let me dispel that logic. Anything less than total eclipse is basically unnoticeable, while the total eclip…
An eclipse is such an amazing phenomenon. The last time it happened I had my mind blown by a simple realization: There is no physical reason why the moon fits precisely within the diameter of the sun. It just so happens that on our little planet with sentient life, in which human life is present for only an incredibly small window, the time in which we are present and looking to the skies is when the diameter and dis…
It turns out our moon has many seemingly strange properties. It's big but not very dense. Still a bit of a mystery how it formed, too. There are leading theories (ex. Mars-sized planet ramming into a young Earth) but not considered settled science just yet IIRC.
An eclipse is such an amazing phenomenon. The last time it happened I had my mind blown by a simple realization: There is no physical reason why the moon fits precisely within the diameter of the sun. It just so happens that on our little planet with sentient life, in which human life is present for only an incredibly small window, the time in which we are present and looking to the skies is when the diameter and dis…
I drove 2 hours to get into the path of totality for the 2017 eclipse. I just want to reiterate to anyone with a similar opportunity how worthwhile it is to make the trek to be in the path of totality. I had many friends that figured they would just watch from home because "it is going to be 98% eclipsed here". Let me dispel that logic. Anything less than total eclipse is basically unnoticeable, while the total eclip…
In a total solar eclipse, it takes an hour or so to go from full sunlight to totality, but the majority of the apparent change in brightness happens during the last minute. And in turn, the majority of the change during the final minute is compressed into the last few seconds.
If you're just a few miles outside the path of totality, those final seconds are what you're missing, and the difference is literally night and day.
An eclipse is such an amazing phenomenon. The last time it happened I had my mind blown by a simple realization: There is no physical reason why the moon fits precisely within the diameter of the sun. It just so happens that on our little planet with sentient life, in which human life is present for only an incredibly small window, the time in which we are present and looking to the skies is when the diameter and dis…
This ought to fit nicely into some version of the anthropic principle. That either pensive critters like us specifically or life in more general terms for a variety of subtle reasons depend on just such a match of ratios.
I drove 2 hours to get into the path of totality for the 2017 eclipse. I just want to reiterate to anyone with a similar opportunity how worthwhile it is to make the trek to be in the path of totality. I had many friends that figured they would just watch from home because "it is going to be 98% eclipsed here". Let me dispel that logic. Anything less than total eclipse is basically unnoticeable, while the total eclip…
Yeah, we perceive "brightness" on a roughly logarithmic scale, and most people don't intuitively understand what that means. In a total solar eclipse, it takes an hour or so to go from full sunlight to totality, but the majority of the apparent change in brightness happens during the last minute. And in turn, the majority of the change during the final minute is compressed into the last few seconds. If you're just a…