Most Americans in the continental US won’t get another glimpse of this life-size science experiment until 2045.
Source: Americans Are Rushing to See a Rare US Solar Eclipse on April 8
this sort of captures the feeling I had during totality, although not enough to make me want to spend more than $200 to see it again; or spend hours fighting traffic on the way back. if not for the road trip with Joan, the Cincinnati chili opportunities, etc, I’d regret the effort/cost back in 2017.
“As the Earth’s lone external heat source was hidden behind the moon, the animals in the park became confused. The insect chirps that usually pop up around dusk started to sound. The birds went silent. While most people oohed and aahed at the sight, at one point I heard a woman behind me scream with fear. I couldn’t blame her; every sensation in my body told me that this was abnormal.
Knowing the physics left me even more awestruck: You feel like the world is ending but your mind knows it’s not.
I recall be struck by really “getting” how things were arranged such that totals can happen, and how eventually they won’t anymore; on cosmic scale, this is a unique time (this billions of years after solar system formed) in this unique place (earth/moon/sun). but i didn’t scream. might have shivered, but that could have bee due to the quick drop in temperature.
