Experiencing Totality By Sky & Telescope

Above, the eclipse in totality. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

The big event of last summer (and, perhaps, the year) was the Great American Eclipse that took place on August 21. 

As readers of this blog know, I headed up to Idaho to see the eclipse for myself and it was a very worthwhile trip. I was originally going to go to Rexburg, Idaho to view it, but elected instead to go a few miles north of Roberts, Idaho.

Above, the frontage road along Interstate 15 to the viewing area. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Getting to the viewing area was not difficult. Getting back to camp in Lava Hot Springs was a different story. The traffic was so heavy, it took me four and a half hours to get to camp.

Sky & Telescope has posted some stories of people's experiences in viewing the eclipse from across the country.

They begin with:

With Sky & Telescope's editors and writers scattered across the eclipse path, we have dozens of stories to share. Here are a few.

To experience a total solar eclipse is to experience the sublime. It is to encounter something so awe-inspiring, so earth-shattering, that you lose all capacity for reason. Even if you understand the celestial alignment above, you often react in ways that you never expected. 

At least that's what accounts of the celestial spectacle often say. At Sky & Telescope, we have been poring over these accounts for years — wondering what our personal reactions might be to the Great American Eclipse. Now that August 21, 2017, has come and gone, we no longer have to wonder. In fact, we can now add our own stories to the pool of others. 

Of course, it might still be impossible to speak lucidly about the event. Jay Pasachoff — an astronomer at Williams College who has seen 34 total solar eclipses — notes that no one has ever described a total solar eclipse adequately. But we wouldn’t be writers if we didn’t try.

To read more, go here.