I started a group with a long shot dream that some day total solar eclipses will be properly celebrated in the form of giant high tech festivals http://shadow.dance. But in addition to celebration, they are opportunities for somber reflection on history. Any arbitrary long path anywhere on earth will include historic sites that reveal depressingly dark human behavior but the Aug 21 path is remarkable in that it includes the most important historic sites for almost all the dark aspects of US history, including the Minidoka Internment Camp, Fort Laramie where the Sioux were falsely promised the Black Hills, The Trail of Tears and Sullivan’s Island (North America’s largest slaveport). (The most detailed map is on p 6 of the detailed technical proposal which is 3 clicks in – the 16 sites still sadden me when I look at them.) Readers here could be a big help for our project which was unable to get support for our 2017 ambitions but hopes to find fruition in the 2024 Mexico US Canada eclipse – contact information on the web pages.
Travel the path of the solar eclipse
21–30 of 74 posts
Re: Travel the path of the solar eclipse
#22As somebody planning on watching it from the Willamette Valley in Oregon, I should point out that the clouds in question will probably stick to the immediate coast. It'll be the sunny dry season past the first range of mountains.
I think my favorite little blurb was learning of Carhenge in a place just west of nowhere in Nebraska: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carhenge
Re: Travel the path of the solar eclipse
#23I really like the attention to detail where the shape of the "shadow of the sun" changes based on the distance from the equator.
it's really the shape of the projection of the shadow of the moon onto the irregular surface and doesn't really have to do with distance to the equator.
Re: Travel the path of the solar eclipse
#24I started a group with a long shot dream that some day total solar eclipses will be properly celebrated in the form of giant high tech festivals http://shadow.dance . But in addition to celebration, they are opportunities for somber reflection on history. Any arbitrary long path anywhere on earth will include historic sites that reveal depressingly dark human behavior but the Aug 21 path is remarkable in that it incl…
I may just be a bit thick, but what's the significance of Aug 21 in this? (In plain terms, if you can.)
Just for context: I have actually observed a total Solar eclipse, and while it was pretty significant and "awesome" in confirming my (philosophical term:) belief in Science[1], it -- in no way -- implied much else.
[1] It was predicted at least 2 years in advance... which is astounding given the speed at which the earth is hurtling around its orbit, etc. I don't think they even needed much more than Newton's laws for that prediction.
Re: Travel the path of the solar eclipse
#25> Unfortunately for residents of Oregon’s historically cloudy coast, NOAA scientists have calculated the chances of a clear day at about 44 percent.
...
> A few hours east, however, the odds increase dramatically. Because the Cascade Range creates a significant rain shadow across central and eastern Oregon, chances are high that the view will be unobstructed.
How good are the short term forecasts for Oregon? If the day before the forecast for an area west of the Cascades calls for a clear day, is that almost always right?
My plan currently is to drive to Oregon from the Seattle area the day before, and head to one of (1) the Salem/Albany area, (2) the Madras area, or (3) somewhere around where the 84 crosses the centerline of totality, with the choice being based on the weather forecasts at the time.
Re: Travel the path of the solar eclipse
#26I started a group with a long shot dream that some day total solar eclipses will be properly celebrated in the form of giant high tech festivals http://shadow.dance . But in addition to celebration, they are opportunities for somber reflection on history. Any arbitrary long path anywhere on earth will include historic sites that reveal depressingly dark human behavior but the Aug 21 path is remarkable in that it incl…
I may just be a bit thick, but what's the significance of Aug 21 in this? (In plain terms, if you can.) Just for context: I have actually observed a total Solar eclipse, and while it was pretty significant and "awesome" in confirming my (philosophical term:) belief in Science[1], it -- in no way -- implied much else. [1] It was predicted at least 2 years in advance... which is astounding given the speed at which the…
Sorry I do not really understand your question. I hope I made it clear that I do not attach any supernatural significance to the fact that the Aug 21 eclipse includes "dark" history in its path. By chance it includes historical sites that most people have heard of, and it is a shame that we couldn't drum up some luminaries to talk about them and emphasize the common themes - humans are at their worst engaging in horrors that you hate to think about - when: bigotry is widely accepted, when there is assymetry of power between groups, when ruthlessness in the pursuit of profit and power is not condemned and when the actions remain out of sight and there is no investigative journalism to reveal them. If we are of good conscience and do not want to repeat our past then we must constantly be on guard against those factors.
Re: Travel the path of the solar eclipse
#27I started a group with a long shot dream that some day total solar eclipses will be properly celebrated in the form of giant high tech festivals http://shadow.dance . But in addition to celebration, they are opportunities for somber reflection on history. Any arbitrary long path anywhere on earth will include historic sites that reveal depressingly dark human behavior but the Aug 21 path is remarkable in that it incl…
I don't know about the other sites in your list but the Minidoka Internment Camp is 70 miles too far south to see the total eclipse.
Re: Travel the path of the solar eclipse
#28I started a group with a long shot dream that some day total solar eclipses will be properly celebrated in the form of giant high tech festivals http://shadow.dance . But in addition to celebration, they are opportunities for somber reflection on history. Any arbitrary long path anywhere on earth will include historic sites that reveal depressingly dark human behavior but the Aug 21 path is remarkable in that it incl…
I don't know about the other sites in your list but the Minidoka Internment Camp is 70 miles too far south to see the total eclipse.
My summary is oversimplified but if you look at the legend on the map it indicates that the prisoners at the camp were forced to build the Minidoka Irrigation Project which crosses the shadow path from the south where the Camp was located and extends north of it. So the Camp is tied into the shadow path which in the original vision would have been noted by a monument on the path. It was surprisingly easy (by going to many different sources of course) to get GIS layers with shapefiles for everything on the map
Re: Travel the path of the solar eclipse
#29Earlier quoted context omitted.
I may just be a bit thick, but what's the significance of Aug 21 in this? (In plain terms, if you can.) Just for context: I have actually observed a total Solar eclipse, and while it was pretty significant and "awesome" in confirming my (philosophical term:) belief in Science[1], it -- in no way -- implied much else. [1] It was predicted at least 2 years in advance... which is astounding given the speed at which the…
Sorry I do not really understand your question. I hope I made it clear that I do not attach any supernatural significance to the fact that the Aug 21 eclipse includes "dark" history in its path. By chance it includes historical sites that most people have heard of, and it is a shame that we couldn't drum up some luminaries to talk about them and emphasize the common themes - humans are at their worst engaging in horr…
Oh, OK, I apologize. I think it might just have been the phrasing of your original comment that confused me. I definitely think it's a good idea to drum up a bit of interest in history, historical sites, etc. I will say, however, that the look of the webpage you pointed to did induce a little bit of a "cranky" vibe just because of the look, big fonts, etc. If you control it, you might want to tone it down it a down, or if you don't... just avoid linking to it. What you just posted is much more interesting and informative than that page.
Re: Travel the path of the solar eclipse
#30> Unfortunately for residents of Oregon’s historically cloudy coast, NOAA scientists have calculated the chances of a clear day at about 44 percent. ... > A few hours east, however, the odds increase dramatically. Because the Cascade Range creates a significant rain shadow across central and eastern Oregon, chances are high that the view will be unobstructed. How good are the short term forecasts for Oregon? If the d…
> clear day
That is not enough though. Since the temperature drops during any eclipse the air can suddenly hold a lot less water and you have fog ruining your view. So a place with lower humidity is the second thing to consider after the cloud cover itself.