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Animal behavior during a solar eclipse

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Re: Animal behavior during a solar eclipse

#21

Post by lsllc »

aketchum wrote: post #2

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…

Agreed! As luck would have it I was in the Carolinas for the 2017 eclipse so I drove to be in the path of totality. What an incredible experience, I am so glad I had the opportunity and made the effort, it's so worth it. And yes, absolutely, there's a massive difference between 98% and full eclipse -- if you're that close, make the trip!!!

The next eclipse in North America is on April 8th 2024 [0] I'll absolutely be making the trip even if I have to hitch-hike or walk!

[0] https://www.space.com/great-american-solar-eclipse-2024-four...

Re: Animal behavior during a solar eclipse

#22

Post by resolaibohp »

I was able to witness the 2017 eclipse under the path of totality and can confirm that animals really did act strange.

Minutes before totality started, a black bear walked casually within 10 feet of me. I remember thinking that my viewing experience was going to be ruined because some bear was going to attack me. It ended up just looking at me and strolling casually along. Very strange indeed.

Re: Animal behavior during a solar eclipse

#23

Post by soulofmischief »

saas_sam wrote: post #16
scop wrote: post #9

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 is a true mind-blowing fact. The ratio of the distances between Earth-Sun and Earth-Moon is close to the ratio of the sizes between Sun & Moon. So the Moon & Sun look to be the same apparent size from the perspective of Earthlings... When I last read about this, we hadn't identified any other moons for which this holds true. It turns out our moon has many seemingly strange properties. It's big but not very dense…

We have no idea how lucky we are and we're destroying our planet and the life within. There are probably so many things about our situation which we take for granted, many things with infinitesimally small chances of occurring even within just systems harboring sentient life.

The number of systems which reach our intellectual capacity must all have certain aspects which make them completely unique, a rare feat in such a large and repetitive universe.

Re: Animal behavior during a solar eclipse

#24

Post by RandallBrown »

aketchum wrote: post #2

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…

I was outside of the totality in 2017 but only just barely. My friends who were in the totality insist that what I saw wasn't as good but their pictures look identical to what I saw.

Considering they were in a farm field and I was on top of a mountain with a view of several volcanoes, I'm not sure I would trade my view for theirs just because it was a little darker.

With that said, maybe you've seen an eclipse from just outside the totality and maybe it is truly different?

Re: Animal behavior during a solar eclipse

#25

Post by munificent »

aketchum wrote: post #2

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…

I drove four hours out and eight hours back to get to totality. I slept in the bed of my truck alone on the side of the road.

It was absolutely worth it. There are a lot of experiences like being in love or eating an amazing meal where the visual obviously doesn't convey it. And there are some like seeing a comet where an image of the experience isn't too far from "being there".

A total eclipse lies in the uncanny valley between those where you can see lots of neat photos that make you think you can imagine what the experience is like. But you cannot. The difference between a picture of a total eclipse and being in the path of totality is like the difference between a picture of the moon and walking on the moon.

It is an incredible, enveloping, irreplaceable experience. It's about as close to magic as we get on Earth. I don't like telling people lists of things they "should" do before they die, but I am sure as hell glad I can now put it on the list of things I did do.

For what it's worth, here's a timelapse I took:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WsuxK81KnPw

But, again, the video doesn't really convey anything about the experience, especially not because the camera automatically adjusts to the massive change in light levels. To get a sense of how much darker it is during totality, here's two photos I took at the same vantage with the same settings before and during totality:

https://imgur.com/gallery/fuGS6

Re: Animal behavior during a solar eclipse

#26

Post by munificent »

vlunkr wrote: post #13
aketchum wrote: post #2

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…

I was there because I just happen to have relatives who lived right in the path, but I was totally blown away. I wish I could convey the experience to people who weren't there. It was interesting as it approached, but once it reached totality it was pretty shocking. It felt a bit like the end of the world. All of the sudden it's dark outside, but not quite the same darkness as night. There's a sunset on the horizon i…

It's like being briefly teleported to another planet.

Re: Animal behavior during a solar eclipse

#28

Post by digitalsushi »

aketchum wrote: post #2

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…

We took a flight to South Carolina to stay at a cheap motel with a grubby pool patio, where we set up shop with our welder's goggles - so cheap, we brought a huge pile for giving to kids who might not know they were super lucky astronomers that day.

The thing that really made the trip worth making was the /incredible/ temperature drop. It was as though outer space was reaching down to give the slightest of taps on the shoulder "I'm always right there, no matter how bright blue it is".

If you're an armchair astronomer - I heavily encourage you to make the trip to be at ground zero of a total eclipse if you find yourself fortunate enough to be able to. I'm not sure I'll need to do it twice in this life, but wow, what an incredible event.

Re: Animal behavior during a solar eclipse

#29

Post by subsubzero »

I was in the totality back in 2017 in Oregon. It was incredible. The darkness in the sky was not like midnight, but more like dusk/twilight where the sun has been behind the horizon for 30 minutes. In terms of nature, I was in a very rural area when it happened(near Madras OR) and all animal sounds stopped completely, my Daughter who was two, got really sleepy and fell asleep in her chair during the totality which was very strange. But the experience I will never forget is how the sun looked when in totality, white flames from the corona licking out past the moons profile, clearly visible to the unaided eye, it was something I will never forget for the rest of my life.

Re: Animal behavior during a solar eclipse

#30

Post by at_a_remove »

scop wrote: post #9

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…

Since the moon moves away from the earth, very slowly, in a bit over half a billion years we will have no more total eclipses.
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