5 ms·

Every total solar eclipse happening in our lifetime

125 points by fmihaila 9y ago

neves 9y ago
Wow, where can I find exact locations for South America? Or even better, for any place in the world?
bennettfeely 9y ago
I like the information on the most and least solar eclipsed places in the United States. I imagine there is a spot on earth that has received more though?
- idlewords 9y ago
  There's a neat Wikipedia map of eclipse tracks for the last 1000 years: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_eclipse#/media/File:Total_Solar_Eclipse_Paths-_1001-2000.gif https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_eclipse#/media/File:Tota... Someone who can math may be able to answer your actual question. My guess is that polar regions are more eclipsed because the lunar shadow subtends a greater area there.
degenerate 9y ago
The next total eclipse in USA is on Monday August 21, 2017. It starts on the Oregon coast at ~9AM PT and finishes on the South Carolina coast at ~3PM ET. More info here: https://eclipse2017.nasa.gov/eclipse-who-what-where-when-and-how https://eclipse2017.nasa.gov/eclipse-who-what-where-when-and...
- almost_usual 9y ago
  Also, the greatest duration of the eclipse will be in Southern Illinois at 2m 4.1s in length.
  - cjensen 9y ago
    Small typo in your comment. Should be 2m 41s.
jngreenlee 9y ago
Realize this is venting, but it is super frustrating to follow links only to be greeted with "Subscribe to the National Digital Edition" blocking pages. I do use adblock plus...are there some Chrome console options I can use to block the script that hides the content?
- spartanatreyu 9y ago
  use uBlock origin by gorhill, never use adblock plus. It's slows your browser down and it only blocks ads to serve it's own
- idlewords 9y ago
  Consider using uBlock Origin instead.
  - MandieD 9y ago
    uBlock Origin + EFF's Privacy Badger have resulted in a really quiet browsing experience.
- Simon_says 9y ago
  I'm using uMatrix. Block the domain js.washingtonpost.com and you won't see the subcription screen. On the other hand, I didn't see the neat visualizations other posters are complimenting, either.
njarboe 9y ago
Nice interactive map with lots of data for this year's eclipse: http://xjubier.free.fr/en/site_pages/solar_eclipses/TSE_2017_GoogleMapFull.html http://xjubier.free.fr/en/site_pages/solar_eclipses/TSE_2017... Click on the map to get a popup of info about the eclipse at that location.
kqr2 9y ago
For those in the US are you planning on attending any particular eclipse totality event / festival?
- dboreham 9y ago
  We're making our own somewhere in Idaho, which is the closest area of totality (less than 4h drive). All the hotels, camp grounds, etc were sold out months ago so it'll be a "pull off onto the shoulder and set up camp" type thing. Order your eclipse glasses and 16 stop filter for your camera now before Amazon sells out..
  - legolas2412 9y ago
    What's a 16 stop filter. I just purchased a cheap solar filter sheet and uv filter for a gopro, seems to work okay.
    - PhasmaFelis 9y ago
      I would spend those precious minutes actually looking at the eclipse, not taking photos that are identical to all the other eclipse photos.
      - dboreham 9y ago
        Agree, but since I didn't have a solar ND filter, and they're likely to sell out, I figured may as well get one now.
    - taejo 9y ago
      "16 stops" means a ratio of 2^16, so in this case a 16-stop filter is a filter that allows 1/2^16 = 0.0015% of the light through. This is presumably "neutral density" that blocks all colours of light equally and has no other effect.
ThinkingGuy 9y ago
For the truly data-hungry, this NASA document (NASA Technical Publication TP-2009-214174) has every eclipse through the year 3000: https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEpubs/5MKSE.html https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEpubs/5MKSE.html
dwaltrip 9y ago
This is a great visualization. Looks like the next eclipse for those in the continental US is in 2024, after the one this summer. Although it will mainly sweep across the eastern half of the country. The pacific ocean will be hosting a lot of eclipse action (likely with few human observers), perhaps unsurprisingly.
- microcolonel 9y ago
  Man, I'm tempted to head south a bit to see the 2017-08-21 Great American Eclipse.
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
  - sohkamyung 9y ago
    If you do, watch out for traffic conditions, which may be horrendous depending on where you want to go on that day [1] [1] "How much traffic on eclipse day?" http://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/traffic-congestion-predictions-maps-eclipse-august-21-2017 http://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/traffic-congestion-...
hexrcs 9y ago
Which library was used to produce the visualization? The globe looks really nice.
- atomwaffel 9y ago
  D3 (https://d3js.org https://d3js.org). It's actually not terribly hard to do: https://bl.ocks.org/mbostock/7ea1dde508cec6d2d95306f92642bc42 https://bl.ocks.org/mbostock/7ea1dde508cec6d2d95306f92642bc4...
developer2 9y ago
As the visualization doesn't let you zoom in to check the precise path, I found a tool[1] where you pick the eclipse from a dropdown, give it your latitude/longitude, and it calculates partial and totality information. Helped me to confirm that I'll be having 100% totality in 2024. [1] http://xjubier.free.fr/en/site_pages/SolarEclipseCalc_Diagram.html http://xjubier.free.fr/en/site_pages/SolarEclipseCalc_Diagra...
LeifCarrotson 9y ago
> Patterns in how eclipses traverse the country mean that some areas, such as the Midwest, get to see many more than others. This statement is shown graphically in the image of the paths of all eclipses since 2000 BC: https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/national/eclipse/img/_leasteclipsed-monotone-280.png https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/national/eclipse/img... This is counterintuitive to me. I understand that the paths are distributed in similar angular arcs across the country because of the relative motion of the planets, but I do not understand why these should occur at any particular longitude. Given the relatively few eclipses represented, could the inequality in this distribution be purely random? Does anyone know?
jakobegger 9y ago
I remember when the 1999 solar eclipse passed over Austria -- there was a huge hype over it. Newspapers came with cardboard glasses for looking at the eclipse. I was a bit underwhelmed when it actually happened. The sun turned into a circle, and then it turned back into a disk. But I remember that I was surprised that crickets started chirping (which is obvious in retrospect -- they though it was dusk)
- gmiller123456 9y ago
  Stupid question: did you remove your glasses during totality? The Sun's corona should have shone very brightly (relatively). If you didn't take off your eclipse glasses, or were just outside the edge of totality I can see how someone would make the claim you are. But the corona isn't a circle.
  - jakobegger 9y ago
    I think I did remove the glasses, but I'm not sure. But I checked, and you are right, it looks like I was just outside the edge of totality according to this website [1]. It doesn't look like I'll have a second chance to see one nearby :( [1](https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/in/@2762558?iso=19990811 https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/in/@2762558?iso=19990811)

125 points by fmihaila 9y ago

Wow, where can I find exact locations for South America? Or even better, for any place in the world?

I like the information on the most and least solar eclipsed places in the United States. I imagine there is a spot on earth that has received more though?

idlewords 9y ago
There's a neat Wikipedia map of eclipse tracks for the last 1000 years: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_eclipse#/media/File:Total_Solar_Eclipse_Paths-_1001-2000.gif https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_eclipse#/media/File:Tota... Someone who can math may be able to answer your actual question. My guess is that polar regions are more eclipsed because the lunar shadow subtends a greater area there.

degenerate 9y ago

The next total eclipse in USA is on Monday August 21, 2017. It starts on the Oregon coast at ~9AM PT and finishes on the South Carolina coast at ~3PM ET. More info here: https://eclipse2017.nasa.gov/eclipse-who-what-where-when-and-how https://eclipse2017.nasa.gov/eclipse-who-what-where-when-and...

almost_usual 9y ago
Also, the greatest duration of the eclipse will be in Southern Illinois at 2m 4.1s in length.
- cjensen 9y ago
  Small typo in your comment. Should be 2m 41s.

jngreenlee 9y ago

Realize this is venting, but it is super frustrating to follow links only to be greeted with "Subscribe to the National Digital Edition" blocking pages. I do use adblock plus...are there some Chrome console options I can use to block the script that hides the content?

spartanatreyu 9y ago
use uBlock origin by gorhill, never use adblock plus. It's slows your browser down and it only blocks ads to serve it's own
idlewords 9y ago
Consider using uBlock Origin instead.
- MandieD 9y ago
  uBlock Origin + EFF's Privacy Badger have resulted in a really quiet browsing experience.
Simon_says 9y ago
I'm using uMatrix. Block the domain js.washingtonpost.com and you won't see the subcription screen. On the other hand, I didn't see the neat visualizations other posters are complimenting, either.

njarboe 9y ago

Nice interactive map with lots of data for this year's eclipse: http://xjubier.free.fr/en/site_pages/solar_eclipses/TSE_2017_GoogleMapFull.html http://xjubier.free.fr/en/site_pages/solar_eclipses/TSE_2017... Click on the map to get a popup of info about the eclipse at that location.

kqr2 9y ago

For those in the US are you planning on attending any particular eclipse totality event / festival?

dboreham 9y ago
We're making our own somewhere in Idaho, which is the closest area of totality (less than 4h drive). All the hotels, camp grounds, etc were sold out months ago so it'll be a "pull off onto the shoulder and set up camp" type thing. Order your eclipse glasses and 16 stop filter for your camera now before Amazon sells out..
- legolas2412 9y ago
  What's a 16 stop filter. I just purchased a cheap solar filter sheet and uv filter for a gopro, seems to work okay.
  - PhasmaFelis 9y ago
    I would spend those precious minutes actually looking at the eclipse, not taking photos that are identical to all the other eclipse photos.
    - dboreham 9y ago
      Agree, but since I didn't have a solar ND filter, and they're likely to sell out, I figured may as well get one now.
  - taejo 9y ago
    "16 stops" means a ratio of 2^16, so in this case a 16-stop filter is a filter that allows 1/2^16 = 0.0015% of the light through. This is presumably "neutral density" that blocks all colours of light equally and has no other effect.

ThinkingGuy 9y ago

For the truly data-hungry, this NASA document (NASA Technical Publication TP-2009-214174) has every eclipse through the year 3000: https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEpubs/5MKSE.html https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEpubs/5MKSE.html

dwaltrip 9y ago

This is a great visualization. Looks like the next eclipse for those in the continental US is in 2024, after the one this summer. Although it will mainly sweep across the eastern half of the country. The pacific ocean will be hosting a lot of eclipse action (likely with few human observers), perhaps unsurprisingly.

microcolonel 9y ago
Man, I'm tempted to head south a bit to see the 2017-08-21 Great American Eclipse.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- sohkamyung 9y ago
  If you do, watch out for traffic conditions, which may be horrendous depending on where you want to go on that day [1] [1] "How much traffic on eclipse day?" http://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/traffic-congestion-predictions-maps-eclipse-august-21-2017 http://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/traffic-congestion-...

hexrcs 9y ago

Which library was used to produce the visualization? The globe looks really nice.

atomwaffel 9y ago
D3 (https://d3js.org https://d3js.org). It's actually not terribly hard to do: https://bl.ocks.org/mbostock/7ea1dde508cec6d2d95306f92642bc42 https://bl.ocks.org/mbostock/7ea1dde508cec6d2d95306f92642bc4...

developer2 9y ago

As the visualization doesn't let you zoom in to check the precise path, I found a tool[1] where you pick the eclipse from a dropdown, give it your latitude/longitude, and it calculates partial and totality information. Helped me to confirm that I'll be having 100% totality in 2024. [1] http://xjubier.free.fr/en/site_pages/SolarEclipseCalc_Diagram.html http://xjubier.free.fr/en/site_pages/SolarEclipseCalc_Diagra...

LeifCarrotson 9y ago

> Patterns in how eclipses traverse the country mean that some areas, such as the Midwest, get to see many more than others. This statement is shown graphically in the image of the paths of all eclipses since 2000 BC: https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/national/eclipse/img/_leasteclipsed-monotone-280.png https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/national/eclipse/img... This is counterintuitive to me. I understand that the paths are distributed in similar angular arcs across the country because of the relative motion of the planets, but I do not understand why these should occur at any particular longitude. Given the relatively few eclipses represented, could the inequality in this distribution be purely random? Does anyone know?

jakobegger 9y ago

I remember when the 1999 solar eclipse passed over Austria -- there was a huge hype over it. Newspapers came with cardboard glasses for looking at the eclipse. I was a bit underwhelmed when it actually happened. The sun turned into a circle, and then it turned back into a disk. But I remember that I was surprised that crickets started chirping (which is obvious in retrospect -- they though it was dusk)

gmiller123456 9y ago
Stupid question: did you remove your glasses during totality? The Sun's corona should have shone very brightly (relatively). If you didn't take off your eclipse glasses, or were just outside the edge of totality I can see how someone would make the claim you are. But the corona isn't a circle.
- jakobegger 9y ago
  I think I did remove the glasses, but I'm not sure. But I checked, and you are right, it looks like I was just outside the edge of totality according to this website [1]. It doesn't look like I'll have a second chance to see one nearby :( [1](https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/in/@2762558?iso=19990811 https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/in/@2762558?iso=19990811)