Drone video from the eclipse event that I hosted at the Anderson Jockey Lot. The couple waving at the drone in the beginning are Julie (my wife) and I. Click the link below to see the video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQtz9kssAjk&feature=youtu.be
Friday, September 8, 2017
Friday, August 25, 2017
Video of the Total Solar Eclipse at Anderson Jockey Lot
Bob Ross shot this video of the total eclipse on August 21, 2017 at the event I emceed at Anderson Jockey Lot.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WiKnEHUgmW0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WiKnEHUgmW0
Tuesday, August 22, 2017
Eclipse photos shot at Anderson Jockey Lot on August 21, 2017
Photos below all shot by Ivan Moreno during the eclipse event I hosted.
Here's one that plainly shows the magnetic field lines in the Sun's outer atmosphere called the corona.
Next, the diamond ring effect just after full totality!
Here's one that plainly shows the magnetic field lines in the Sun's outer atmosphere called the corona.
Next, the diamond ring effect just after full totality!
Thursday, August 10, 2017
NASA Eclipse Maps Are In Error as much as One-half Mile!
Simple steps to get more precise info about the upcoming solar eclipse.
By Rick Boozer
As I detail below, the problems with the NASA eclipse map app go even further than the article in the Kansas City Star indicates. See their article: “Those maps of
eclipse path? ‘Wrong’, experts say by up to one-half mile at edge” They are correct in saying the app might mislead you to think
you are at the outer edge of the path of totality (where you would get to see one, two or more seconds with no direct sunlight peeking around the Moon) when you actually are not!
First point. The
reported inaccuracy doesn’t just apply to the boundary edges of the path of
totality, it also applies to the center
of the path where the amount of totality time is supposed longest. Again, you might think you are going to get
maximum totality at the location you have chosen, when you are not. Mind you, it will only be a few seconds off
at most, but still off. To die-hard
eclipse chasers, every second is precious.
Second point. As an
astrophysicist, I would never rely on the NASA map for this
very reason. Instead, there is only one
truly reliable source of eclipse data; that is, the U.S. Naval
Observatory. Eclipse prediction has always
been USNO’s job almost as far back in time as the nation’s founding. Even NASA gets their data from USNO when they
want to figure spacecraft trajectories.
Following is a detailed description of what I do for maximum
eclipse prediction accuracy that I use. It is
simple enough for anyone to do. Run the Google Earth app. Use that app to find the latitude, longitude
and altitude of the location you are checking.
Next, enter this data into the USNO’s Eclipse App at: http://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/docs/SolarEclipses.php. Note you may have to convert the altitude
from feet to meters, but Google has a web app for that.
The above method is how I determined that the Anderson
Jockey Lot would have the longest
totality time of anyplace on the I-85 corridor. Btw, the NASA app predicted a totality duration 3 seconds shorter than the USNO app in this particular case.
Image credit: NASA
Image credit: NASA
Thursday, July 6, 2017
BE SAFE!!! Don’t Misuse Solar Eclipse Viewing Glasses
-- And Other Safe Ways to View a Solar
Eclipse --
Viewing a solar eclipse improperly can put your eyesight in
danger. With the upcoming eclipse on
August 21, now is a good time to discuss various methods to see the eclipse
safely.
By now, everyone has probably heard about the special
eclipse viewing glasses being made available.
At the Anderson
Jockey Lot, 1000 pairs of these glasses will be given away on the day of
the eclipse (yes, at NO charge) as long as supplies last. Many organizations and companies are also offering
such glasses for free as a public service.
These glasses are only needed during the period of the eclipse when part
of the Sun is not covered by the Moon’s disk.
The only time you can safely look at the eclipse directly without
the special glasses is during the scant few minutes that the disk of the Sun is
fully hidden (at totality). Indeed,
during that brief totality you are encouraged to look directly at the eclipse
to get the full effect in all of its glory.
The special glasses will be needed again as soon as totality is over,
should you continue watching the Sun.
However, it is necessary to use the glasses in the way the manufacturer
recommends to properly protect your precious eyesight! Even when looking through the special eclipse
glasses, you should observe the Sun for no longer than 3 minutes at a time
with at
least a 20-minute break in between each 3-minute observation. Indeed, you will not miss anything by not
looking at the Sun frequently before totality, because the Moon’s disk will
gradually cover the Sun’s disk at a very slow imperceptible rate. Those who wear prescription glasses should
place the eclipse glasses in front of their regular glasses, as I am pictured
doing in the above photo.
But there are safe ways to constantly view the eclipse, even before and after totality. Those of you who have read one
of my earlier articles know that you can see all the sunlit periods (called
partial phases) of the eclipse by
looking in the shade cast by a leafy tree.
If there is not a tree around, you can use a common kitchen
colander. The holes in that utensil will
project nice multiple images of the eclipsing Sun onto any surface you choose if hold the
colander far enough away from the surface.
NEVER look at the Sun directly through binoculars or a
telescope at any time, whether there is an eclipse or not. However, if you own either of those, there is
a safe way to use them to observe the solar eclipse. If using binoculars, it is best to use an
adapter (available for a few dollars) to mount the binoculars to a camera
tripod. Again, DO NOT LOOK AT THE SUN
DIRECTLY THROUGH THE BINOCULARS. While
holding a white piece of cardboard behind the binoculars, tilt the binoculars with
the mount until you see the shadows of the binocular’s tubes as perfectly round
circles. At that time, the binoculars will be pointing directly at the
Sun. Now, move the cardboard far enough
away from the binoculars for the Sun’s image (projected onto the cardboard by
the binoculars) to appear at least 3 inches wide. Looking at the image of the Sun, focus the
binoculars until the disk of the Sun is sharp around the edges. Click here
to see a photo such a binocular projected image.
The same technique can be used with a small telescope, but the telescope should have a main lens or mirror no wider than 3 inches (75 mm) to avoid overheating.
The same technique can be used with a small telescope, but the telescope should have a main lens or mirror no wider than 3 inches (75 mm) to avoid overheating.
Another way to safely observe the eclipse with binoculars or
telescope is to buy professionally made full-aperture filters. This method may be the easiest and most
convenient way to use a telescope or binoculars to observe the Sun. Here are a couple of sources: Thousand
Oaks Optical and Orion
Telescopes.
I hope you have found this article useful. Have fun experiencing the once-in-a-lifetime
total solar eclipse, but most of all, stay safe. You are invited to join us at the Anderson
Jockey Lot where we will have the longest totality along the I-85 corridor
lasting 2 minutes and 40 seconds!
Thursday, June 22, 2017
Weird Things Happen with a Total Solar Eclipse
Everyone talks about how visually stunning it is when the
darkened Moon fully covers the face
of the Sun in a total solar eclipse. And
indeed, it is! But there are other
unusual, truly strange happenings
that occur when the Moon passes in front of the Sun. If you
aren’t prepared to look for them, some of these weird phenomena are so fleeting
that you can miss them. Following are
descriptions of a number of those novel occurrences to be looked for on August 21st.
Long before totality (when the Moon is only covering part of
the Sun’s face), go to a nearby tree and look in the shade of the tree’s
shadow. You will see hundreds
of crescent images of the partially covered Sun all over the ground! In fact, this is a safe way to view all the
partial phases of the eclipse without harming your eyes. Where do all these many images come
from? The gaps between the tree’s leaves
act like a pinhole camera by projecting the Sun’s image on the ground. Here is a photo that was shot of such a tree
shadow during a previous solar eclipse:
(Above image credit and copyright Elisa Israel)
Anywhere from 60 to 90 seconds before totality or just after
totality ends, closely look at any flat light-colored or white surfaces around
you. You may see a very strange
sight. At such times, dark lines called shadow
bands may be seen racing back and forth across the surfaces. These shadowy lines are caused by sunlight
peeking around mountains and through valleys around the outer rim of the Moon,
while turbulence in the air makes them appear to shift position. To see a video of eclipse shadow bands, go
here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_XMnU7Ad40
In the minutes before totality, all of your surroundings
will appear dimly lit in a very strange and different way from what you
experience at sunrise or sunset. Everything
will seem somewhat similar to what you see when you wear very dark sunglasses,
but with a kind of surreal sheen that can’t be described adequately.
As soon as the Moon entirely covers the Sun and causes the
sky to completely blacken, the air will instantly chill -- perhaps by as much
as 20 degrees Fahrenheit. Animals will
become confused. Bats may fly around
thinking it is night. Birds may go to
roost. Crickets or cicadas may begin to
chirp.
If the land is flat for miles around your location or you
are on a mountain top, you will be able to see the darkest part of the Moon’s
shadow (called the umbra) racing across the ground towards you just before
totality and away from you afterwards.
Here is video of the approaching and leaving umbra as seen from an
airplane: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InlUONyIpdM
An instant before the Sun’s disk is completely covered by
the Moon, you should experience the visually stunning diamond ring effect. The slight bit of Sun remaining will give the
impression of a brilliant diamond with the ring being a faint glow around the
darkened Moon. Some images of the
diamond ring effect can be seen at this link: https://sunstopper.wordpress.com/tag/diamond-ring-effect/
IMPORTANT NOTE: The brief
few minutes of totality is the only time it is safe to look directly at the Sun
with no eye protection. If you are
wearing special eclipse glasses, take them off when the Moon completely covers
the Sun. But be sure to put them back on
if you continue looking at the sun as soon as totality is finished.
It will become dark as night during totality. The stars will pop out and you will see two
very bright points of light near the Sun. They are really the planets Venus and
Mercury. Most people never get to see
Mercury because it is usually so close to the Sun that it is blotted out by the
Sun’s glare.
Mars and Jupiter will make an appearance. Those two planets will seem to be near the Sun, when in reality they will be much farther
away on the far opposite sides of their orbits.
In total, 4 of the 5 planets that don’t require a telescope can be seen
during the eclipse.
Sirius, the Dog Star, will show itself as the
very bright star to the southwest of the Sun.
In fact Sirius is the second brightest star in our sky after the Sun.
If we are lucky, there will be eruptions from the Sun that
cannot be seen at any other time. These
eruptions are called prominences and will glow a bright
beautiful ruby red color. Go here to see
a photo of red prominence eruptions during an eclipse: http://county10.com/will-wildlife-be-fooled-into-bedding-down-for-the-night-during-the-eclipse/
The bluish white glowing corona (outer atmosphere of the
Sun) is made of charged hydrogen atoms; AKA plasma. During totality, the corona allows us to see
the beautiful structure of the Sun’s powerful magnetic field as the plasma is
pulled by magnetism into graceful curving field lines. Check out this gorgeous corona photo: http://www.zam.fme.vutbr.cz/~druck/eclipse/Ecl2013g/TSE_2013wa_ed/0-info.htm.
As pretty as this image is, no photo can
capture the almost ethereal fluorescent hue that you will see when looking
directly at the corona. Also, notice
that you can see red prominences in this image near the bottom of the Sun.
I hope this description of strange eclipse phenomena has
piqued your interest and raised your excitement level about the upcoming total
solar eclipse. Remember that the Anderson
Jockey Lot will have the longest running totality period of any location along
the I-85 corridor and U.S. Highway 29.
See you there!
For more information contact me (Rick Boozer) by email at topastro@singularsci.com.
Tuesday, June 13, 2017
Awe-Inspiring Spectacle in Upstate South Carolina
For the first time in 47 years, South Carolina will experience a once-in-lifetime total solar eclipse! On August 21, 2017, Anderson Jockey Lot will host a viewing of the event as a free public service. Astrophysicist and veteran total solar eclipse observer, Rick Boozer will provide expert running commentary as the eclipse progresses -- beginning with the more than hour long partial phases and then ending with the short (but spectacular) period of totality.
Assuming clear skies, the
Anderson Jockey Lot on U.S. Highway 29 will be the best viewing location of the totality climax
along the I-85 corridor with longest totality time in this area of 2 minutes
and 40 seconds according to the U.S. Naval Observatory's Solar Eclipse Computer. Totality for the City of
Greenville will be 2 minutes and 10 seconds – fully 30 seconds less. Spartanburg, at most, will only have several
seconds.
Why will the Jockey Lot experience a longer totality than any place else along U.S. Hwy 29? It is because the very center of the Moon's shadow will pass over that location. Thus, anything farther north or south of the Jockey Lot along U.S. 29 will experience a shorter totality time. For instance, even though Green Pond is only a few miles south of U.S. 29 away from the Jockey Lot, totality there will be 8 seconds shorter.
When observing an eclipse’s
partial phases, it is important to understand that eye damage can occur if viewed
with the unprotected eye. Normal
sunglasses do not filter many harmful solar rays that can injure your eyes
during the partial phases. For the
public’s safety, special eclipse sunglasses will be available at the event (while supplies last). The special
glasses will not be needed during totality.
Everyone is welcome to view the
eclipse at the Anderson Jockey Lot. We
will attempt to shoot video of the eclipse and, if successful, the footage will
be accessible online.
Partial eclipse phases begin at
1:09 PM EDT. Totality will start at 52
seconds after 2:37 PM EDT and will end at 32 seconds after 2:40 PM. Late partial phases end at 4:09 PM EDT.
Of course, if the sky is cloudy,
the total eclipse will not be seen.
Let’s all cross our fingers for clear skies!
Our thanks to Anderson Jockey Lot
owner, Mac McClellion for allowing this public event on his premises. Special accommodations for campers will be available as described here: https://www.facebook.com/AndersonJockeyLot/posts/1600346250007626
For information contact Rick
Boozer by email at topastro@singularsci.com.
The next total solar eclipse in
South Carolina won’t happen for another 60 years, so don’t miss the eclipse
this August if you can help it!
--- Photo of total solar eclipse by Koen van Gorp and used here with his permission ---
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