You had to be living under a rock to not know about the total eclipse that took place yesterday, visible along a wide swath of the United States. There are actually 4 types of solar eclipses, a total solar eclipse, an annular solar eclipse, a partial solar eclipse and a hybrid solar eclipse. An eclipse happens twice a year when the sun, the moon, and the earth line up. Depending where on earth you are, you might see one type or another, or nothing.
The last total eclipse visible in the United States took place in August 2017. Randy and I were living at the Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri which was in the path of total visibility. It’s true that a total eclipse is a pretty cool thing to see. Back then, we were told that the next total eclipse visible in the US would be on April 8, 2024. It didn’t seem like that long to wait, and sure enough, it wasn’t. Here it is, total eclipse day already, as I write this. Not that I’ve given it much thought since 2017.
Last October, on the 14th, there was another pretty spectacular eclipse visible in some places in the US. That one, an annular eclipse, is often referred to as the Ring of Fire, because the moon’s shadow appears slightly smaller than the sun. Because of that it forms a gorgeous, perfect (for a second or two) orange ring around the black shadow of the moon. I watched it on-line from a place in Alburquerque, NM. It was pretty amazing.
Here in Southwest Florida, we’ll only see about a 50% eclipse, but for the folks in its wide totality path, there is a kind of crazy excitement and some very weird stories circulating about this afternoon’s eclipse. In fact, several states and municipalities have declared a State of Emergency to cope with the increased visitors expected. Cell phone service may be disrupted they say, and supplies may become scarce because of the number of visitors to areas not used to numbers as large as there may be.
Those things are understandable, but there are some kookier narratives also spreading among people who may be more inclined to believe them. CERN, a European organization that operates a particle accelerator, is said to be starting up their Large Hadron Collider on the day of the eclipse, and that it is going to open a portal…to a wormhole, or hell. No one seems quite sure because, apparently, this is an event that’s never happened before. The problem is, CERN actually fired up the Collider on March 8. So far, no reports since then of any portal opening.
Then there are those who say that because the path of the 2017 eclipse that crossed the US from Oregon to South Carolina and the path of yesterday’s eclipse crosses the US from Texas to Maine form an X (with the crossing point around Carbondale, IL) that the world’s gonna end. The poor 25,000 residents of Carbondale are apparently at the epicenter of the apocalypse. If you’re reading this, that obviously didn’t happen.
Some observe that the path will pass over 7 US towns with the biblical name of Ninevah. They take that “fact” as a divine sign that it would be a good idea to repent. I never think it’s a bad idea to repent, but this eclipse has nothing to do with it. Nice try, though.
Then there’s the contingent who suggest the eclipse event is an opportunity for evil people to seize power and carry out a whole lot of nefarious plans. While I like a good conspiracy theory as much as anyone, I do have a great BS detector and recognize fear porn for what it is. I wish these folks would just quit. They give us conspiracy theorists a bad name!
Finally, there’s the interesting way flat earthers explain how an eclipse actually proves the earth is flat. Honestly, I can’t even tell you how they justify that because I understand it even less than I do about what’s really happening with the earth, sun, and moon being in the same line in space. You can google it if you’re that interested. Good luck with that.
There are some unusual, provable things that do happen during an eclipse. Because the sun is completely covered, the temperatures can drop as much as 20 degrees. The wind can change, animals become confused, and there are weird shadows and shadow bands. Those things are understandable. Radio waves are disrupted, although no one is quite sure why. Experts suggest it has something to do with Earth’s ionosphere. Because the sun is blocked out, a few of the brightest stars and planets are visible during the eclipse. This year they said Venus and Jupiter could be seen, and many of the live event commentators reported they could see them.
After totality, as the moon’s shadow begins to move off the sun there’s an effect they call the diamond ring. It’s a beautiful picture of the sun breaking through again on one small part of the sun.
During an eclipse, some ancient civilizations believed that the sun and the moon were fighting. In China ancients thought a dragon was devouring the moon, so people would bang drums and make a lot of noise to scare off the beast. It worked every time. The Inca believed an eclipse was a sign of the sun god’s displeasure so they offered an “appropriate” sacrifice.
All of that is interesting, but honestly, seeing a total eclipse in person is pretty awe-some. It gives you a real, healthy respect for the role the sun plays in our lives.
The next total eclipse in the lower 48 states of the US won’t be until August 12, 2045. I’ll be 91 then. If I’m lucky enough to still be alive.
I’m grateful this is one of the human experiences I’ve enjoyed first-hand (2017). As one commentator said today on the YouTube livestream (which was pretty awesome itself), seeing a total eclipse in person is a bucket list moment. She mentioned it was the best experience of getting mooned in her lifetime. Ahhhh, everyone’s a comedian. Still, life is good.
And guess what? No apocalypse in 2024. Phew….
P.S. We’re going to see Leonid & Friends, a Russian tribute band who do Chicago better than Chicago does Chicago. Here’s a link to one of their videos. Report coming in the next few weeks.
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