Last Monday, the entire United States of America (and, nowhere else ...) had the opportunity to experience a total solar eclipse.

Did you?

Did you experience totality?

And, if so, was it a religious experience?

Do tell ...

Yes

Yes

No. But it was certainly awesome to behold. I wouldn't have missed it for the world (or the sun or the moon).

In addition to the totality was the fact that just before totality there were TWO crescents - one the remaining sliver of sun not blocked by moon and the other the edge of the moon itself lit up as if it were on fire. As it ended I saw TWO crescents again on the other side.

I was glad I drove the 130+ miles and took the day off work to see it. Also I was glad I had family that lived in its path so I could stay with them the night before. I was also glad I had the foresight to drive up on Sunday instead of Monday and also wait until 7 PM ET Monday to drive back. Pictures of the traffic in that part of TN and GA lived up to my expectation.

No.

No.

One of the reporters from my local rag made the eight-hour drive to Columbia, SC, though. https://pilotonline.com/news/local/t...5946cfcc4.html

My girlfriend and I saw the 1970 eclipse though from the sunken gardens at the Governor's Palace in Colonial Williamsburg, Va., USA. We both still remember it vividly.

Aside to MensaWater: Nice to bump into another Wolfe fan. I just reread Some Buried Caesar, the first Wolfe novel I read.

Yes!

No. But it was 92%... not enough to see the awesome corona and "diamond ring" but enough to cause great awe and wonder about relativity. My eyes told me they were moving very slowly despite the reality that the Sun's motion of roughly 438,000 mph (an unimaginable speed) had little to do with the phenomenon since locally, at my eyes, the ~2,300 mph orbital speed of the Moon around the earth and the Earth's rotational speed of 1000 mph plus our orbital speed of 67,000 mph only made it appear so incredibly slow because of the sizes and distances being so great.

Since I also know that the fastest commercial bullets move at roughly 2400 mph (essentially invisible at distances where such a small object could be seen at rest) and even rail guns can only hit twice that or 4700 mph, the perspective on speed, size and distance is utterly mind boggling. I struggle to grasp it and fall miserably short, but religious? NO! The awe is not from mystery and Faith but from understanding the reality of physical law and trying to get my feeble brain to make it make sense "in my bones".

I am glad beyond expression that I was born in a time when these things are known fairly well, but sad that I'm too old to go into space, even into low earth orbit to witness that perspective. It is no wonder that astronauts are so deeply moved by such experiences and I'm incredibly jealous.

Yes.

No.

Eclipse records have been kept for thousands of years and could predicted to an accuracy of minutes for many hundreds. Since Einstein have we been able to predict them to an accuracy of seconds.

Despite the fact that you don't have to fly very high to see the curvature of the earth that was one of my more moving experiences. Space would be the ultimate experience...

No

No, missed it

No, but I did in another place and another time.

It wasn't, although it was a profound experience. I also had the chance to witness a partial eclipse, which I managed to capture photographically. Of course a solar filter was mandatory during the whole process!

Regarding eclipses in general, I couldn't have said it better than enorbet did.

My mom infected me in my teens because she had several of his books. In my life I've bought all of them multiple times to help infect my nieces so the family appreciation tradition lives on. I've also read most of Stout's other books even though those that didn't feature detectives weren't quite as good. Being a total smart-ass myself I identify with both Wolfe and Archie.

Some Buried Caesar is quite good. Aren't you glad you didn't read Fer de Lance first? That was actually the first Wolfe/Goodwin mystery and I didn't like part of the way he portrayed Archie in that one. I've often thought if that had been the first I read I might never have read any others.

Yes and No. It gave me a headache that lasted two days

We were sitting on a third-floor balcony on the waterfront in Charleston, SC for totality. The clouds cleared at precisely the right moment.

And, I will very truthfully say, there is no experience like ... totality. The sun is gone, and there's a shimmering ring of fire in the sky ... yet, curiously cold ... and you can look right at it.

"So, let's see, the next eclipse is in South America ... better bone-up on my Spanish and book a hotel now ..."

Not quite a headache, but definite eyestrain from staring most of the 3 hour period from when the moon started occluding the sun to when it was finally gone. It seems many people stopped after the totality was over.

i did in 1999, in Hungary.
it was interesting. the birds stopped singing.

but even if i was so inclined, why would it be a religious experience?
it's a perfectly explainable astronomical occurence.
as those go, a sunrise or sunset is much more magical, but they just happen to happen every day so nobody's getting an epiphany about it...

Yes, Yes, and No...was just like the previous one I'd seen.

I should have gone to see it just to say I saw it. Only 65% here.

However, should I live to 2024 and no clouds, it should go directly over my house.

I guess everyday is filled with religious experiences if you believe.

I think that the operative word is ... totality. If the sun did not disappear from the sky, you really didn't experience a solar eclipse. And if it did, well ...