#ChasingTotality.com

[rhondacoleman]

“It's very ... it almost is like a bit of a dreadful feeling. It's like, "Whoa, wait a minute. What's happening to my planet?" ... It's a topsy-turvy world. It's not like night. It's not like day. It's not like twilight. It's like nothing you've ever felt before.” From “Tales from the Shadow of the Moon”, Vox.com, by by Brian Resnick and Joss Fong

https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2017/8/10/16114762/total-solar-eclipse-chasers-2017

[rhondacoleman]

“Some eclipse enthusiasts have spent years preparing for this solar spectacle, the first eclipse to cross the entire continental United States in almost a century. But even if you are just finding out about the eclipse, it's not too late to plan for the big event. Here's what you need to know...”

[rhondacoleman]

“We wanted to know: What’s so special about total solar eclipses that you would chase them around the world? So we called up eight eclipse chasers and talked to them for hours, asking them all a similar set of questions. Their responses were much more moving and poetic than we anticipated. Chasing eclipses is not about a cheap thrill. It’s more like a pilgrimage, but one with a constantly moving shrine.”

[rhondacoleman]

Why "Great" American Eclipse? Because it will be accessible to millions of Americans. Remarkably, this will be the first total solar eclipse to pass exclusively over the United States since the nation's founding in 1776.

[rhondacoleman]

Watch the eclipse on TV (SMH)

[rhondacoleman]

I never thought August 2017 would arrive, but here we are, and the Blackout Rally will be nothing short of epic: a weekend for 300 Airstreamers and their friends and families, packed with live entertainment, catered food, science presentations, star parties, a marina bash—and totality on the final day.

We just have to get there (and hope the dire traffic predictions are Fake News), and cross our fingers and toes for clear skies. 

[rhondacoleman]

TravelQuest tour reactions on board the expedition ship Orion, Great Barrier Reef, Nov. 13, 2012—before, during and after totality. 

[rhondacoleman]

An alternative eclipse event in Big Summit Prairie in the Ochoco National Forest, Oregon

[rhondacoleman]

The eclipse that almost wasn’t: It was definitely a nail-biter with clouds overhead all day, but the sky cleared beautifully for totality in Aruba, 1998.

[rhondacoleman]

Rhonda Coleman, eclipse-chasing resident of Bend, Oregon

[rhondacoleman]

“What’s so awesome about totality?

In conversations with several “eclipse chasers,” I was told that the photos can’t really capture the awesomeness (in the truest sense of the word) of the experience.

‘Anytime you've ever taken a picture of the full moon, it never captures how it felt in your eyes and in your heart, you know what I mean?’ says Rhonda Coleman, who has seen six solar eclipses and lives in Oregon. ‘It seems to fill the sky, but your photograph will only be a memory.’

When the totality happens, the sky goes dark. Stars come out. You can see the corona — the sun’s wispy outer atmosphere.

‘The disc of the sun is a black, black, black — like the blackest hole you can ever imagine, ringed with these beautiful wispy white coronal streamers,” Coleman says. “With the naked eye you can see, they're called prominences. It's the flames on the sun. ... There's also a very interesting 360-degree sunset around the rim of the Earth.’”

[rhondacoleman]

At dawn on eclipse day I glared at the thin haze in the sky, and the brownish accumulation wafting from a wildfire on Warm Springs reservation toward our viewing location. “I’m not a fan,” said astronomer Bellis, and the eclipse chasers and telescope buffs agreed that the advertised crystal blue sky of Central Oregon was not to be that day—but visibility was improving with each passing hour and everyone remained hopeful and excited. 

[rhondacoleman]

"I've seen people praying after an eclipse. I've seen a lot of people on their knees weeping after an eclipse. It is an emotional experience to see this event. For me, I get a great sense of our place in the solar system, in the universe. You realize how tiny we really are and how insignificant some of our day-to-day problems and arguments and jealousies and petty fighting really are in the scheme of things."

[rhondacoleman]

Handy dandy checklist so you don’t miss anything on eclipse day.

[rhondacoleman]

Best explainer vid about all types of eclipses and what you’ll see on August 21.

[rhondacoleman]

What would you like to know but are embarrassed to ask? I’ll find out and report back. Ain’t no shame if you’re wondering if you’ll see the moon like it looks on the stamp, why the path travels from west to east, how you’ll be able to see totality with your eclipse glasses on, and why sunglasses won’t keep you from going blind.