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Thread: 6 years to total solar eclipse

  1. #1
    Join Date
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    6 years to total solar eclipse

    The U.S. Eclipse Megamovie in 2017: a white paper on a unique outreach event

    http://arxiv.org/abs/1108.3486

    Never too early to plan for observations and experiments.

  2. #2
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    Less than six years! I've been waiting for this one.

    Eclipse path

    Here's a thread I started nine years ago:
    Quote Originally Posted by SeanF View Post
    Me, too! Well, I haven't told my employer yet, but I did tell my fiancee that we'd be taking a family vacation in August of that year.

    You started looking into hotel reservations yet?

  3. #3
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    mmm le tour, or total eclipse? I think le tour will take the back burner this time.

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by grapes View Post
    Less than six years! I've been waiting for this one.

    Eclipse path
    I'm at the center of this one.

    It's too early for hotel reservations, but make sure to find me and say hi that weekend. If we don't do something in Hopkinsville over the weekend, they might be celebrating some woo up the road in Kelly.

    I'll try to remember to keep you all updated on timing of reservations and the like.

  5. #5
    I've been waiting with baited breath for this one; if I have to sacrifice all my sick days for it I'm doing it. My location of choice would be anywhere from Kansas west, but I'll take what I can get. As an added bonus, another total eclipse will pass within spittting distance of my town just eight years later.

  6. #6
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    6 years hmmm......

    How soon till we get the CT threads that it will end all life as we know it?
    At night the stars put on a show for free (Carole King)

    All moderation in purple - The rules

  7. #7
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    My semi-baked plan right now is to rent a motor home. If the weather looks iffy anywhere along the path we can drive to clear skies and take our hotel with us.

  8. #8
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    Almost the entire USA population is going to shift to a single line that day.

  9. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by grapes View Post
    Almost the entire USA population is going to shift to a single line that day.
    You would hope that everyone would be that interested. But I'm not sure. As I flew out of Shanghai in July 2009, after watching day turn to night turn to day during pouring rain, I asked the man in the seat next to me how he enjoyed the eclipse. "Oh, I heard about that!" he said, "but I was in a meeting." It amazed me that some people who were on the centerline of the century's longest eclipse weren't even interested enough to look out the window.

    2017 is nice. But let's not forget about 2012. In less than a year from now, within a 17 day span, the Sun will be crossed by both the Moon and Venus. May 20 will bring us an annular eclipse with the path of annularity traveling from California to Texas, and at least a partial eclipse visible in most of the USA except the East Coast. 17 days later, on June 5, all of North America will get to watch Venus cross in front of the Sun.The contiguous 50 states will get to see Venus transiting the setting Sun. It's time to start thinking about solar filters now.

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by schlaugh View Post
    My semi-baked plan right now is to rent a motor home. If the weather looks iffy anywhere along the path we can drive to clear skies and take our hotel with us.
    Don't even mention that. My greatest fear is to spend 6 years planning for this thing and then . . . .

  11. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tobin Dax View Post
    Don't even mention that. My greatest fear is to spend 6 years planning for this thing and then . . . .
    August in Oregon? I assume it will be clear.


    Comes only 3 days after our wedding anniversary...guess we'll make a week of it in Oregon.


    I wonder how soon I can reserve a room?

  12. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by R.A.F. View Post
    August in Oregon? I assume it will be clear.


    Comes only 3 days after our wedding anniversary...guess we'll make a week of it in Oregon.


    I wonder how soon I can reserve a room?
    Kentucky, actually, though it will pass over Salem, Oregon. And there's just as much chance of it being clear here as there is in Oregon in August.

    The question of hotel reservations has come up recently, but I don't remember if I even know how soon you can reserve a room. I just remember the dry reply saying not this far in advance. I'll let you guys know as soon as I find out.

    *Kentucky is where my rump rests, Oregon is home in my heart. Five years ago, the plan was to visit my parents in Oregon to watch the eclipse. Then I was offered a job in western Kentucky, and it was also pointed out that the location of greatest eclipse was going to be right outside of town. I was going to take the job anyway, but that was a nice perk.

  13. #13
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    I've been looking forward to this since 1999. That was the year that my then 6 year old son became interested in astronomy. We made a deal. We would take a road trip to the region of totality and he would do all of the driving. He was very excited about the idea that he would some day be old enough to have a driver's license. He is now 18 and the idea of him doing all of the driving is not as appealing as it was 12 years ago. BTW, that eclipse will occur on my 55th birthday.

  14. #14
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    (Necromancy alert. I didn't feel like starting a new thread.)

    Five years from tomorrow, folks.

    We had a small press conference today to start to get the word out because I know how many of you are going to rush into town that weekend. That was my kind of public speaking: only a few people from the media or local government and a number of my colleagues. I still think that I need to work my Neil deGrasse Tyson impression.

    As a follow up to my previous post (since it was mentioned today), it's being suggested that the hotels in town start taking reservations only a year in advance. I'll try to remind you guys then.

    If anybody is interested in the Facebook page, here is the link.

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