[HN Gopher] Eclipse viewing at 30k feet: Delta to offer path-of-...
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Eclipse viewing at 30k feet: Delta to offer path-of-totality flight
Author : gumby
Score : 258 points
Date : 2024-02-20 22:04 UTC (2 days ago)
(HTM) web link (news.delta.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (news.delta.com)
| classified wrote:
| OK, not a new feature of the Eclipse IDE, but still a nice thing.
| iLoveOncall wrote:
| I don't really get the point. 30,000 feet of altitude is only
| 0.002% closer to the moon than 0. Is this going to change
| anything?
|
| Seems like just a marketing stunt (which, of course it is, but a
| pointless one at that).
| SkyPuncher wrote:
| I imagine it's pretty cool watching the shadow be cast over the
| earth.
| elif wrote:
| Wouldn't it be the same experience you get on a sunset flight
| followed by a sunrise flight? It's not like you'd see a
| spotlight of darkness, it's a gradient and likely too large
| to see moon curvature.
| dylan604 wrote:
| You're trying to conflate the sunset terminator vs the very
| small and well defined shadow of the moon itself. Totally
| different concepts. The shadow of the moon _is_ a spotlight
| of darkness. This is so not the same thing as the Earth
| rotating out of view of the sun.
|
| For example:
| https://image.pbs.org/poster_images/assets/buac18-vid-
| epicmo...
| elif wrote:
| How is the edge of that shadow any less blurred than a
| sunrise or sunset?
| elif wrote:
| For example, a normal sunrise you get on thousands of
| normal flights every day:
|
| https://images.app.goo.gl/BHvD5aBSqkA9kT6C6
| avandermeulen wrote:
| The path of totality is only 115 miles wide so from 30,000 feet
| you would be able to see edges of the shadow below you.
|
| You're also guaranteed to be able to see the eclipse because
| you're flying above any cloud cover.
| TheCaptain4815 wrote:
| Majority of the path has an extremely high chance of cloud
| coverage (70%), so maybe this alleviates that?
|
| https://eclipsophile.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/April-No...
| ethanbond wrote:
| It'd definitely alleviate it. I'm going to Vermont to try to
| see it (coinciding with my wedding) and the weather is really
| the only thing worrying me at the moment.
| AnimalMuppet wrote:
| Congratulations!
|
| If you have bad weather, it may ruin the eclipse. Don't let
| it ruin the wedding by letting it ruin your attitude.
| ethanbond wrote:
| Oh yeah, absolutely prepared for it haha. I appreciate
| it!
|
| I was able to catch the last eclipse in 2016/17 (?) and
| am using the wedding to trick all my loved ones into
| (hopefully) getting to experience one too.
| hunter2_ wrote:
| If you look at a map of the "path of totality" for a total
| solar eclipse, think of it as a series of small time windows
| only a few minutes long, where one window ends another begins.
| I say that as if it's discrete, but really it's continuous and
| overlapping. Anyway, totality will begin in Texas at 1:27 PM CT
| and end in Maine at 3:35 PM ET, which is a little more than an
| hour. So theoretically you could be traveling at the same speed
| as the eclipse, from Texas to Maine in that hour, seeing an
| eclipse the whole time instead of just a few minutes!
|
| Of course, the article makes no such claim that this is their
| plan. After all, planes don't go 2000 MPH. But they do go 600+
| MPH, so maybe if things go perfectly you'll have 20 minutes of
| eclipse. Call it 10 minutes due to inability to rapidly correct
| for a slightly wrong departure time. Better than the 4 minutes
| you'd get standing still.
| gowld wrote:
| Totality isn't very interesting for longer periods of time,
| on a plane It's just dark. The transition toward and away
| from totality is interesting.
| FireBeyond wrote:
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ion2QSeGcIQ
| throwaway_13579 wrote:
| > planes don't go 2000 MPH
|
| SR-71: hold my beer
| crazygringo wrote:
| Well, it guarantees you won't have clouds blocking it.
|
| So if turns out to be totally overcast wherever you would have
| been on the ground, this is going to change everything.
| jsjohnst wrote:
| > Well, it guarantees you won't have clouds blocking it.
|
| No it doesn't. Very low probability, yes, guaranteed to not
| be clouds, no.
| sumeruchat wrote:
| How can there be a cloud cover at FL300 so large that the
| plane cant navigate out of it?
| jsjohnst wrote:
| Lots of scenarios where the pilot isn't allowed to
| diverge from a flight path without getting into how freak
| events happen with the weather all the time.
|
| Cirrocumulus clouds are common on that flight path and
| can extend up to FL450. Is it rare that they are that
| high, for sure, but can it happen, definitely.
|
| Cirrostratus clouds are also a possibility and they often
| extend up to FL400. Whenever the sky has a soft white
| haze, these are a common cause.
|
| Will either of those guaranteed ruin an eclipse, probably
| not. But still saying guaranteed no cloud cover
| obstructing the view is very much inaccurate imho.
| sumeruchat wrote:
| Yeah when normal people talk (not pilots) an event with
| >99 percent probability should be deemed a certainty. As
| a pilot however i agree with you that you absolutely
| cannot make any assumptions about cloud cover
| jsjohnst wrote:
| Depends on how you define normal people. If you are
| someone who is ponying up $25k+ for this flight on
| secondary markets you also should know that the chance is
| non-zero, albeit close.
| gowld wrote:
| Cloud cover isn't the same effect as an eclipse. An eclipse
| still has effect on a cloudy day.
|
| And a cloud in the dark sky looks the same from above vs
| below. The difference is how the sun itself looks.
| wolverine876 wrote:
| In addition to other comments: You see it for much longer than
| if you are in one place.
| solarhexes wrote:
| I wonder how well you'll be able to see the sun? It seems like
| you might struggle to look high enough as the flight is midday?
| 01HNNWZ0MV43FF wrote:
| OTOH you might be able to see the dark circle as it streaks
| across the ground, something you can't see from most places at
| ground level. (Maybe on a mountain I guess)
| mackman wrote:
| Story time. In the last total eclipse, I was commuting from
| Boston to San Francisco a bunch and planned my flight to coincide
| with the path of totality. I brought enough eclipse glasses for
| the entire flight. The flight attendants were kind enough to
| distribute them and even gave them to the pilot and copilot. The
| flight crew was excited about it and actually got approval a
| change to their flight plan so that they could bank the plane so
| that people on both sides of the plane could actually look out
| the window to see the eclipse. This is back in the days of Virgin
| America, and as a thank you they sent me a little desk statue of
| a Virgin America plane. I keep it on my desk in fond memory of my
| favorite airline. Also got some cool photos of the flight crew
| and passengers all wearing eclipse glasses.
| (https://mackman.net/va.jpg)
| iLoveOncall wrote:
| How did you explain the hundreds of pairs of glasses to TSA?
| mackman wrote:
| I explained what they were for :-)
| hunter2_ wrote:
| Any worry about counterfeit glasses? I recall during the
| last eclipse it was a bit tricky: product detail pages
| would often list some ISO numbers or whatever, but no
| reason to trust that, so instead you could find a short
| list of manufacturer names on some highly reputable website
| (maybe a government or health site?) but then don't use
| Amazon due to the commingling problem...
| smashed wrote:
| https://eclipse.aas.org/eye-safety/viewers-filters
|
| And buy direct, don't use Amazon because of the
| counterfeit risks.
| 01HNNWZ0MV43FF wrote:
| I got these that purport to be from the company's
| official store. Am I dead?
| https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06ZZPRB7L
| DanAtC wrote:
| Commingled inventory; maybe.
| wongarsu wrote:
| Because of commingling, anything shipped by amazon might
| be a fake, even if the seller is legit. Basically if two
| people (claim to) sell the same product, they get thrown
| in the same bin in Amazon's warehouse. When you order it
| you get whatever the worker happens to pick from that
| bin. Amazon can track it internally by the labels, but
| have little inclination to do so.
| 01HNNWZ0MV43FF wrote:
| Ah hell. Good thing I have time to order different ones.
| These guys are legit, right?
| https://www.rainbowsymphony.com/
| mackman wrote:
| Yeah, I did worry. I told the flight crew people were at
| their own risk. I don't remember where I bought them
| from. Might have been B&H photo which sells their own
| branded ones in bags of 100 cheap. Maybe from aas.org.
| It's been a long time.
| bashinator wrote:
| <3 B&H. Finding them was a breath of fresh air given how
| garbage Newegg has become.
| swozey wrote:
| B&H absolutely has their own problems. About a decade+
| ago I thought they were also my savior from newegg, whom
| I really dislike.
|
| They are often pulling stuff like this, tax evasion, LOTS
| of discrimination complaints, etc
| https://www.timesofisrael.com/jewish-owned-bh-photo-
| accused-...
|
| Their return policy isn't great by any means. I buy a
| $2000 49" Monitor that arrives not working and I can't
| return it because I opened and tried to turn it on? Yeah,
| ok.
|
| https://www.bhphotovideo.com/find/HelpCenter/ReturnExchan
| ge....
|
| > Nonreturnable Items
|
| Opened TVs, combos and monitors 37" and larger --
| original packaging cannot be unsealed Opened computers
| and computer software -- original packaging cannot be
| unsealed Electronic software downloads Opened consumable
| items (e.g., film, tapes, paper, bulbs, CD, DVDs, ink
| cartridges, etc.) Any computers built or modified by B&H
| to customer specifications Select special-order
| merchandise, or any item indicated on the website as
| nonreturnable Underwater equipment that has been
| submerged Opened or unwrapped educational tapes and books
| jen729w wrote:
| > Their return policy isn't great by any means. I buy a
| $2000 49" Monitor that arrives not working and I can't
| return it because I opened and tried to turn it on? Yeah,
| ok.
|
| I know some consumer protection laws aren't as strong as
| others - I'm blessed to live in Australia in this regard
| - but surely this just isn't legal?
| zamfi wrote:
| I suspect they didn't say "you're SOL", they probably
| said "file a warranty claim".
|
| Retail stores aren't usually on the hook for items that
| arrive non-functioning from the manufacturer -- the
| manufacturer is.
| swozey wrote:
| Bestbuy etc take opened items like that back up to 30
| days. I think it used to be much longer in the past but I
| would 100% expect to be able to return a dead
| tv/monitor/electronic of any sort to a big box store take
| my broken item back even if I opened it and plugged it in
| to use it.
|
| I rarely buy from box stores but when I do that and being
| able to test things in person is the only reason I ever
| go near a bestbuy/etc.
|
| Microcenter for instance-
| https://community.microcenter.com/kb/articles/28-what-is-
| the...
|
| > Products not eligible for return *
|
| Opened software such as Microsoft Office, Microsoft
| Windows, Microsoft Windows Server, and Microsoft Windows
| Server clients Electronic software downloads Point of
| Sale Activation Cards that have a dollar value Micro
| Center Gift Cards (except as required by law) Products
| with customer-induced damage such as, but not limited to,
| aerial drones with damage due to pilot error. So let's be
| careful out there! Microphones and microphone accessories
| * VR Headsets, Headphones, including AirPods, Earbuds,
| and Over-the-Ear Products
|
| * Hardware items deemed defective are eligible for
| exchange
| roganartu wrote:
| Which is bad, from a consumer protection perspective.
|
| The retailer should absolutely be on the hook. They are
| the ones with a working relationship with the
| manufacturer, and hence are best positioned to be able to
| hold the manufacturer accountable.
|
| As an Australian who lives in the US atm, they are right
| to be grateful for the ACCC (consumer protection
| watchdog). I certainly am now. In the US you have to rely
| on retailers who treat good consumer protection as a
| competitive advantage like Costco, REI, Best Buy,
| sometimes Amazon, etc. In Australia you can easily hold
| any retailer accountable (and they're all just generally
| better behaved with this stuff anyway, so you rarely have
| to force them).
| gottorf wrote:
| > In the US you have to rely on retailers who treat good
| consumer protection as a competitive advantage
|
| For the most part, credit card chargebacks serve a
| similar purpose, though of course the retailer may ban
| you from their store afterwards.
|
| Absolutely agreed that the retailer is on the hook. The
| customer is not making a deal with the manufacturer to
| buy the good; the customer is making a deal with the
| retailer. Along the same line, I dislike it when
| retailers try to weasel out of shipping issues by blaming
| it on the parcel carrier. That's only valid if the
| customer went to ups.com and created and paid for a
| shipment themselves!
| gottorf wrote:
| > LOTS of discrimination complaints
|
| > A US Labor Department lawsuit filed in 2016 accused
| B&H, the largest non-chain photo and video equipment
| store in New York City, of heavily discriminating against
| Hispanic employees by forcing them to use separate,
| unsanitary bathrooms.
|
| Man, I had no idea. Forcing an ethnic group to use
| separate bathrooms? Whoever thought that was a good idea?
| mikeInAlaska wrote:
| newegg shipped me six 16TB hard drives that were garbage.
| Some looked like a claw hammer ripped through their soft
| aluminum shells. Some had no connectors.
| hunter2_ wrote:
| I actually just did some clicking through from the AAS
| vendor list that smashed offered, and B&H certainly has a
| strong entry in the reputable-and-cheap category! Less
| than $1/ea [0].
|
| [0] https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1750791-REG/am
| erican_...
| Cthulhu_ wrote:
| Do you have to? They're legal products for a national flight,
| what would the TSA want with that?
| thfuran wrote:
| You might have to if they look sufficiently weird on the
| scan. But your end of the conversation is unlikely to be
| much more involved than "Yeah, that's my bag", "It's a
| bunch of eclipse viewing glasses".
| flaminHotSpeedo wrote:
| I once brought a carry on full of random
| electronics/cables, including a partially disassembled
| desktop power supply in a "custom made modular plastic
| enclosure" (read: box made out of Legos, complete with a
| Lego door for the cables to pass through). To make
| matters worse I was in a rush while packing so the cables
| were a huge tangled mess.
|
| They flagged it for further inspection, unsurprisingly,
| but the agent was pretty amicable, I didn't really get
| any grief
| stavros wrote:
| I don't like how normalized it is to ask "how did you explain
| sunglasses in your luggage to the police?".
|
| Too totalitarian for me.
| wolverine876 wrote:
| Isn't it the reality that's too totalitarian? Should we
| deny the reality? That seems even more insidious.
| stavros wrote:
| That's my point, that the reality is too totalitarian.
| eschneider wrote:
| "I'm the sort of kid who brought enough chewing gum for
| everyone in the class."
| mackman wrote:
| Hah, well, yeah. I did learn in high school that if brought
| Starbucks to the front office staff and my first period
| teacher nobody ever marked me tardy :-P
| eschneider wrote:
| That was an important (and transferrable!) life lesson
| learned. :)
| bavent wrote:
| That having enough money lets you get away with things?
| reaperducer wrote:
| That being nice to people gets you farther than being a
| dickweed.
| renewiltord wrote:
| Yeah, you need the money, but you also have to do the
| thing. Useful lesson.
| jldugger wrote:
| But is it compatible with the Categorical Imperative?
| skyyler wrote:
| Oh my god, critiquing pure reason is _so_ 300 years ago.
| mcculley wrote:
| I find such investments often have unexpected returns. At
| worst, I did something nice for someone.
| zo1 wrote:
| I know you're being snarky, but yes. Having money and
| being genuinely generous towards people will put you on
| good terms with them. Just like being nice and polite and
| friendly and considerate, same thing.
| nilamo wrote:
| "Is it dangerous? Then mind your goddamn business."
| SkipperCat wrote:
| That's a great story. I was on a flight during the eclipse of
| 2021. It was hard to see the eclipse from the plane, you had to
| lie down on the floor and look up thru the window. You were
| very lucky for the pilot to bank the plane.
|
| Anyway, stories like this where strangers help everyone around
| them experience something great always warm my heart. Kudos to
| you!
| seper8 wrote:
| That is so cool, honestly you have probably contributed to a
| core memory of everyone on that flight... Really no words.
| londons_explore wrote:
| Banking the plane for people to see is a safety thing.
|
| If people think they _won 't_ get a chance to see, they might
| all crowd to one side of the plane, causing enough weight
| imbalance so as to cause a crash.
|
| It's a big problem on boats, and there are countless stories of
| someone on a crowded boat seeing a dolphin, shouting about it,
| everyone crowds to one side to get closer, and the whole boat
| capsizes.
|
| Regulations now require that boats stay afloat if everyone
| stands on one side, but the regulations aren't perfectly
| adhered to and that still doesn't prevent people crowding to
| one side enough to push/knock others overboard.
| 83457 wrote:
| That explains why they had to get approval.
| IIAOPSW wrote:
| >If people think they won't get a chance to see, they might
| all crowd to one side of the plane, causing enough weight
| imbalance so as to cause a crash.
|
| This gives me an idea. Introducing, the Brennan airplane
| (see: 7:20 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUYzuAJeg3M)
| sorenjan wrote:
| That's an even bigger issue if it's a Polish plane, you don't
| want too many poles on the right side of the plane.
| AnimalMuppet wrote:
| You _monster_. Have an upvote.
| MobileVet wrote:
| Came here for this... wasn't disappointed. Thank you for
| ensuring control stability.
| qazxcvbnmlp wrote:
| I know I'm gonna get along with someone if they make or
| understand this joke.
| onenukecourse wrote:
| Just one pole on the right side will take a plane down
| talldatethrow wrote:
| Im sad to admit I'm Polish born and don't understand this
| joke.
| jdewerd wrote:
| It's a math/engineering joke. A control system is
| considered unstable if there is a pole (a mathematical
| singularity, not Polish person) on the right side of the
| plane (the complex plane of the Laplace transform of its
| closed loop transfer function, not an airplane).
| jannyfer wrote:
| That's ridiculous.
|
| Banking the plane is a nice gesture to help everyone
| experience a special occasion.
| sandworm101 wrote:
| >> causing enough weight imbalance so as to cause a crash.
|
| So I was on a flight from London to Vancouver, which had us
| approaching Vancouver from the north. It was December but a
| sunny day. Half the passengers were on ski holidays. We had
| to delay our arrival a while so the pilot said he was going
| to bank the plane to the left and do a circle, which would
| put the Whistler-Blackcomb ski resort in view out the left
| side. In unison, seatbelts be damned, everyone on the right
| of the plane got up and moved left to get pictures. About
| half-way through the turn, the pilot came back: "Um, we felt
| that up here. When you return to your seats can you please do
| so slowly, at least slower than how fast you moved to the
| left." Pre-9/11 was a simpler time.
| qazxcvbnmlp wrote:
| I took a sightseeing flight around Mt Everest (within the
| last year). The flight crew explicitly told everyone to
| move to one side of the plane while we were in the air.
|
| I doubt everyone moving side to side when the plane isn't
| taking off or landing is going to automatically cause a
| crash.
| sandworm101 wrote:
| Not a crash, but having a few thousand pounds of cargo
| shift from side to side will be noticed. But what can
| actually cause a crash is moving front-to-back. Shift 200
| people, say 40,000lbs of cargo, front to back can disrupt
| the cg enough to cause real trouble.
| tantalor wrote:
| Unclear why this is special. Does it fly along the path,
| extending it? Is that feasible?
| ethanbond wrote:
| Yes, you can chase the eclipse if you're traveling fast enough.
| Other nice thing: no potential for your entire eclipse hunting
| expedition to be ruined by bad weather.
| jsjohnst wrote:
| > Other nice thing: no potential for your entire eclipse
| hunting expedition to be ruined by bad weather.
|
| There is definitely a possibility of there being cloud cover,
| even at FL300, to cover the path of that flight. Assuming
| they would be allowed up to fly above FL380 by ATC, even less
| likely, but still not zero potential.
| ethanbond wrote:
| Fair point -- it's _dramatically_ reduced though.
| jsjohnst wrote:
| Fully agree with that updated statement.
| gowld wrote:
| It has other problems though. It's more like watching a video
| of the Eclipse from an uncomfortable seat at a bad angle.
|
| A major part of the eclipse experience is observing its
| interactions with the world. There's no much world to interact
| with at 30K feet, besides one big shadow.
|
| This seems like a thing where the main value is that it costs
| more and is less accessible, so you can brag about it.
| yodon wrote:
| Sucks to have a window seat on the wrong side of the plane
| ourmandave wrote:
| Wonder woman's invisible plane is really the way to go.
| ta1243 wrote:
| Unless you really need to go....
| stavros wrote:
| How are invisible planes not completely black inside? No
| light is reaching them.
| troymc wrote:
| They have light sources on the inside of the plane, like
| lamps and stuff.
| stavros wrote:
| Good point... You can't see anything outside the plane
| though, no?
| 93po wrote:
| i imagine that either the magic that provides the plane
| this ability can magically duplicate the light, or the
| sufficiently advanced technology also has cameras to view
| the light and a way to mimic it on the interior of the
| plane
| lifeisstillgood wrote:
| Surely (I am not a physicist) one kind of an invisible
| plane Would be one where all the light that hits it is
| absorbed - comes _into_ it but does not Reflect off - so
| the light would be incredibly bright inside.
|
| Or would that be just a hole in the sky?
|
| I mean that would be a radar invisible plane. Would the
| scattering of the light around the rest of the sky be
| enough to occlude your "hole" ?
| stavros wrote:
| That's a black hole, yep.
| wolverine876 wrote:
| A black hole absorbs the light via gravity.
| Theoretically, couldn't we have a surface so black that
| nothing reflected?
| elif wrote:
| Maybe it's something about the hours of prep before and after,
| viewing at most half of the event through an 11 inch window, with
| droning noise surrounded by people climbing over you to see the
| window, but I think you could get a better experience watching on
| a 4k computer monitor with a dimming script set up for your room
| lights.
| dylan604 wrote:
| I really hope this is a sad joke vs how you normally experience
| life.
| elif wrote:
| No actually I'm road tripping to experience the event with my
| friends instead of cramming it into an instagrammable
| tokenized experience in a cabin full of strangers
| kyawzazaw wrote:
| You don't have to do this, you know?
| dylan604 wrote:
| If you don't live in the path of totality, then how do
| you propose doing it?
| dkjaudyeqooe wrote:
| Endless hours in a car doesn't sound like that much fun
| either.
| dylan604 wrote:
| the rule of road trips is that the journey is the
| destination
| m2fkxy wrote:
| the agenda for remote work really is pushing things too far.
| elif wrote:
| So is the agenda for tokenizing experiences into expensive
| roller coaster rides suitable for social media
| m2fkxy wrote:
| I'm sorry this is the only prism you can view this
| experience through.
| ourmandave wrote:
| Obligatory PSA, because Amazon will be filled with unsafe viewing
| glasses.
|
| https://www.planetary.org/articles/are-your-solar-eclipse-gl...
| goda90 wrote:
| If you can be on the ground in the path of totality, I highly
| recommend it. Especially go someplace with more nature. The birds
| and bugs will change their behavior as totality happens. Very
| cool experience that really tickles basic human instincts.
| skinner927 wrote:
| The birds and the bugs were undoubtably the most unexpected
| part of the whole experience. I think about it often actually,
| haha.
| sokoloff wrote:
| Adding on to this, I'd recommend getting to totality and not
| thinking "99% occlusion is probably 99% as good."
|
| For the 2017 one, we went to a field about 100 miles from where
| we were staying and compared our experience to our hosts who
| stayed behind because of cloud cover forecast for the day.
| Clouds cleared for both of us, but from the discussions, it was
| worth going that 100 miles.
| noSyncCloud wrote:
| 99% totality is 1% of the experience.
| ta1243 wrote:
| Had that in 1999 in the UK, despite the complete overcast sky,
| it still went dark, and the birds and bugs still did stuff, and
| there was a general feeling of "something is wrong"
| ericbarrett wrote:
| Seconded! Also check out a complex shadow (like that of a bush)
| just before or after totality. The camera obscura effect will
| generate many images of the eclipse crescent, it's really
| uncanny.
| roughly wrote:
| Yes! This was absolutely surreal - one of those weird little
| things that all of the sudden your animal brain is pegging as
| "Something's amiss." Really helped the build-up to the
| totality.
| Workaccount2 wrote:
| I want to emphasize that 100% totality is key.
|
| It's not a linear "eclipesness" where 99 or 95% is close
| enough.
|
| It's a binary 100% or not experience. Even 1% sunlight is
| enough to wash out the entire experience and you must keep the
| glasses on the whole time. At 100% you can take them off, and
| see the most incredible sight you might ever see.
| inanutshellus wrote:
| Dogpiling on this. 100% totality in an empty field is _change-
| your-life cool_.
|
| Not the roof of a building. Not 99% totality. And don't miss
| it.
|
| Everyone that stayed in town for the 2017 eclipse barely
| remembers it today.
|
| Those of us in a rural area of 100% totality thought it was
| _magic_. Pure, real, magic.
|
| Go into a field. Bring some friends. Let yourself feel awe. You
| won't see it again in the USA for twenty years, so... now's the
| time.
| ethbr1 wrote:
| Also, bring a jacket or sweater. It's surprising how chilly
| it suddenly gets when you're suddenly no longer in the warm
| embrace of our star.
| inanutshellus wrote:
| Do or ... don't! Perhaps there's value in feeling the world
| around you change so quickly, even when it's uncomfortable.
| Allowing that discomfort may help anchor the memory as
| novel for those newbies you sneakily didn't tell to bring a
| sweater. ;-)
| ethbr1 wrote:
| If I make it to the path this year, I'm definitely
| bringing an instant read thermometer. I'm curious what
| the actual drop in temp is!
| russdill wrote:
| The last one I did on a butte, even more highly recommended,
| being able to see far out in the distance in every direction
| during an eclipse is mind blowing. I can't imaging having to
| experience it through a tiny airplane window.
| roughly wrote:
| I am as modern and jaded as the next person, but yes,
| absolutely - if you can be in the 100% totality, get there.
| It is incomparably awe-inspiring - it is immediately apparent
| why this sort of thing was seen as an omen from the gods to
| be respected. You will feel small.
| ethanbond wrote:
| Agreed. I just had this overwhelming sense of
| powerlessness. It's the only time in my life I have _felt_
| the fact that we're just standing on a rock hurdling
| through space.
|
| It is a mind-boggling experience.
| adamsilkey wrote:
| Can you describe what it was like? What made it so cool?
| legitster wrote:
| First there is the experience of watching the darkness
| descend on you. It's like you can see a wall of it coming
| at you from a distance.
|
| But viewing the corona of the sun... wow! I cannot begin to
| describe how cool that is. You don't get to see it in 99%
| totality. Only when the sun is completely blocked from
| space. It's remarkable and beautiful and impossible to
| capture the light on camera and you only get to see if for
| _maybe_ a couple of minutes in your life.
| crazygringo wrote:
| I'm curious which of these images you'd say it looks like
| the most?
|
| https://www.google.com/search?q=sun+corona+during+solar+e
| cli...
|
| With things like this it's always so impossible to tell
| if everybody is altering the brightness and so forth.
| legitster wrote:
| Maybe this one? https://preview.redd.it/8gl2vdhvwzyz.jpg?
| width=1080&crop=sma...
|
| It's entirely a natural lighting spectacle, so it's hard
| to capture the size and dynamic range on an LCD screen.
|
| The pictures make it look like some sort of lens flare,
| but it looks nothing like that in real life. You can
| actually see the vapory tendrils of the suns' plasma
| making stringy loops around the sun in the pattern of the
| magnetic waves. There's a lot of detail.
|
| This does a better job of showing the detail: https://www
| .reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.redd.it%2Fi... But
| you can tell they had to crank up the exposure because
| the space doesn't look nearly as black in this one.
|
| Again, it's something you have to see for yourself. If
| you lived an entire life in a cave, me showing pictures
| of the sun would not have the same effect as actually
| feeling the light.
|
| I was a skeptic when I went to the 2017 one. I've booked
| flights to go see next month's.
| munificent wrote:
| I had always assumed that corona photos like this are
| heavily processed in order to maximize the effect and
| that seeing one in real life would be more like "Eh,
| there's a sort of little ring thing in the sky."
|
| Nope. During totality, the whole sky goes dark and you
| look up and there's a _fucking ring of fire in the sky_.
|
| It looks exactly like these photos, just sitting there up
| in the sky. It feels like you got teleported to another
| solar system onto the surface of an alien planet.
| ethanbond wrote:
| Same exact expectation and same exact violation of my
| expectations. It _actually looks like that_. In the sky.
| Huge.
| davely wrote:
| Agreed! Last eclipse turned me into an umbraphile. I've had
| friends since the 2017 American eclipse say things like "I'm
| in an area with ~80% - 90% of totality."
|
| It literally isn't the same thing at all. The moment of
| totality is just unreal and has me wanting to chase total
| eclipses.
|
| Awhile back, I argued to our school district to move spring
| break for 2024 in order for families to potentially travel
| for this year's total eclipse (I live in California), but
| they wouldn't consider it. Sadly, I'll miss it this year.
|
| Also, think for a moment how crazy this is: our moon is
| exactly the right size to cover the sun exactly (coupled with
| being exactly far enough away) that we can see this beautiful
| ring of fire with flares emanating from the sides during the
| moment of totality.
| radicaldreamer wrote:
| Absolutely, we saw the eclipse in rural oregon, near Bend,
| and it was life changing. I still remember the moment quite
| vividly and I totally got why people chase eclipses all
| around the world.
| adriand wrote:
| So our local school board is closing schools for the day -
| but check out how they communicated it:
|
| ----
|
| On Monday, April 8, a total solar eclipse will cross North
| America, passing over southern Ontario. The City of
| Hamilton is expected to experience a deep partial solar
| eclipse, with the timing of this event presenting a concern
| for school dismissal. The solar eclipse will begin at
| approximately 2 p.m. and end around 4:30 p.m.
|
| A total solar eclipse happens when the moon passes between
| the sun and earth, completely blocking the face of the sun.
| The sky will darken as if it were dawn or dusk. These
| events can pose potential risks and severe damage to
| eyesight if proper precautions are not taken. Viewing the
| sun directly during an eclipse can permanently damage the
| retina's light-sensitive cells.
|
| In addition to the physical risks associated with directly
| viewing the solar eclipse, a period of increased darkness
| will occur. The peak period of darkness (referred to as the
| mid-eclipse) will occur at approximately 3:20 p.m. This
| aspect of the eclipse can present safety concerns for
| students, staff and families during dismissal time.
|
| Hamilton Public Health Services (HPHS) understands that
| there are significant risks associated with the unprotected
| viewing of the solar eclipse and is supportive of HWDSB's
| desire to mitigate potential risks. Shifting the P.A. Day
| is a proactive measure to support the safety and well-being
| of students, staff and families.
|
| HPHS is working with HWDSB to provide information for
| families and staff regarding safety considerations. These
| resources will be shared closer to the P.A. Day on Monday,
| April 8.
|
| -----
|
| I sent them a letter in response:
|
| -----
|
| I fully support changing the PA Day so that children have a
| once-in-a-generation, highly educational opportunity to
| view this incredible celestial event. Describing it as
| risky and dangerous is just plain weird! There are plenty
| of dangerous natural phenomena (e.g. the lake that we
| happen to be situated next to, in which many people drown
| each year), but rather than frighten people, we educate
| them on how to safely enjoy them. This is an incredible
| opportunity to teach kids about solar cycles, space, etc.,
| and something we should all be excited about.
|
| -----
|
| I didn't a response. I'm still completely baffled by this!
| ethanbond wrote:
| Wow that is fucked up. You should go travel into the path
| of totality with your kid, if it's an option at all.
|
| It is worth crossing continents for.
| AnimalMuppet wrote:
| I'd consider taking kids out of school for a few days.
| MobileVet wrote:
| My parents home is almost directly in the very center of
| the totality. The kids will miss that day and the next as
| we drive 10 hours back home. Definitely looking forward
| to it and glad they are in grade school so there is no
| concern about the trade offs of their school assignments
| to the experience.
| munificent wrote:
| _> "I'm in an area with ~80% - 90% of totality."_
|
| That's like being 90% of the way to the ocean versus
| swimming _in_ the ocean.
| bensherman wrote:
| The best metaphor for totality that I read:
|
| Seeing an eclipse is like flying in an airplane. Seeing it
| in totality is like jumping out of one.
| legitster wrote:
| I am thoroughly disappointed by my friends who said "97% is
| enough" and didn't bother making a 2 hour drive to experience
| actual totality.
|
| Even at "99.9%" you get to see the sun's corona for 0% of
| your life.
| ethanbond wrote:
| It is _quite literally_ a night and day difference.
|
| 99% you're in daytime. 100% you're in nighttime.
| wing-_-nuts wrote:
| >Those of us in a rural area of 100% totality thought it was
| magic. Pure, real, magic.
|
| Hell, I saw it at a library in small town SC and it was still
| primal and surreal. The birds got quiet, the crickets started
| chirping. You really felt a direct link back to prehistory
| and you understood why it affected ancient people the way it
| did. There a small, tickling sense in the back of your mind
| that what you're seeing is profoundly _wrong_. The closest I
| can describe it is low grade existential terror, in the
| biblical sense of awe.
| crazygringo wrote:
| Can you explain the difference more?
|
| Is it about light pollution? About being somewhere quiet? Is
| it about a field specifically or about being away from road
| traffic? Like is a park OK? Is the beach OK?
|
| Or is it mainly just being in 100% and you usually have to go
| somewhere rural for that because statistically it doesn't
| pass directly over major cities?
| Symbiote wrote:
| I saw this eclipse in 1999, from England: https://en.wikipe
| dia.org/wiki/Solar_eclipse_of_August_11,_19...
|
| We were within the area of total eclipse, but as you can
| see from the map, there wasn't much area to choose from.
| Other than the towns and cities on the coast it counts as
| rural for England. (Plymouth is largest, 300k people;
| eclipses certainly do pass over cities.)
|
| We stood on a hill, along with probably 30 other people
| who'd chosen the same place, just above a village. It went
| completely dark, and quiet (except for the people), the
| street lights on a road in the distance came on. We could
| see sunlight far to the north and south, yet ourselves were
| in near-total darkness (like overnight twilight at high
| latitudes).
|
| Then it started to get light again, and the birds starting
| singing. It was mostly overcast, but with some glimpses of
| the occluded sun at every stage of the eclipse.
|
| It wasn't a profound and spiritual experience, but it is
| one of the things I remember clearly from several holidays
| to that part of England with my family. Maybe being alone
| would make it different -- there'd have been no-one else
| saying "isn't this amazing!" to their children. But more
| realistically, English families on holiday aren't looking
| for profound and spiritual experiences, we leave that to
| the Americans.
|
| We couldn't see the corona, due to the clouds. Maybe that's
| important.
|
| I think being on a small hill helped, and not being within
| an urban area.
| crazygringo wrote:
| > _But more realistically, English families on holiday
| aren 't looking for profound and spiritual experiences,
| we leave that to the Americans._
|
| You got such a laugh out of me there! True words.
|
| Thanks for the details.
| mcint wrote:
| Temperature drop, and shift of wind too. Amazing to
| experience the solar radiation difference directly. And the
| brightest stars, and planets, coming out.
| gavinhoward wrote:
| Absolutely. 100% is the way to go.
|
| In fact, I have a relative whose rural house was in the path of
| totality for 2017, but it was not centered on the path. That
| relative and I went to her friend's rural house on the
| centerline.
|
| It was by a field too, and yes, the animals went weird.
|
| If you're going to do it, go whole hog.
| dwighttk wrote:
| My favorite part was dusk/dawn (like) on the entire horizon
| itronitron wrote:
| And bring a jacket, because the drop in temperature is
| remarkable.
| nlh wrote:
| I will also dogpile on this and add my own experience and
| enthusiastic agreement - 100% totality in a big open field is
| absolutely mind-blowing cool.
|
| Some friends and I did this for the 2017 eclipse in Nashville.
| We drove 30 minutes north and happened across a huge group of
| nerds in a big green park and the moment of totality was
| absolutely bonkers.
|
| It gets true twilight dark, the birds and crickets start going
| wild, and you see this glowing reddish sunset color perfectly
| evenly along the base of the horizon. That part was the most
| fascinating to me, because I realized that comes from the
| diffraction (diffusion?) of the light from above and all
| around, and NOT from the "edge of the sun below the horizon" as
| we all kinda assumed.
|
| (Note I am likely very materially wrong about that explanation
| so I'd love to be properly corrected.)
|
| Anyway, regardless, go experience 100% totality on the ground!
| adamsilkey wrote:
| Can you describe what that was like?
| incanus77 wrote:
| Another vote for 100% if possible. I drove my camper van from
| Portland to national forest land in eastern Oregon (largely
| desert and open land) for the 2017 total eclipse. From the cast
| of the light, to the birds, to the way my dog started getting
| ready for bed at nine in the morning, to the whoop I heard
| across the canyon from someone else watching, it was life-
| changing. Such a special event. Anyone I talk to who stayed in
| town and got the ~99% treats it like any other day.
| SoftTalker wrote:
| I guess I'll be the contrarian, I've seen a total eclipse and
| it was ... something I guess? I was not overwhelmed. Not
| something I would make any extraordinary effort or spend a lot
| of money on to see again. I think a nice sunset over the water
| is much more enjoyable.
| gammarator wrote:
| Be sure to plan for enormous traffic jams after the eclipse
| ends. Even extremely rural back/side roads will be bumper to
| bumper.
| somat wrote:
| Right, I Have family living in Wyoming so took the
| opportunity to see the 2017 eclipse there, amazing sight,
| totally worth it, But those poor Wyoming roads, completely
| packed for hundreds of miles, gas stations overwhelmed, with
| them still open having a correspondingly high price. If I did
| it again I would plan to spend 4 hours after the event just
| hanging out, rather than join the traffic.
| fghorow wrote:
| I just looked. It's sold out.
| djsavvy wrote:
| I checked ----- it's sold out. :(
| Lendal wrote:
| I bet Neil deGrasse Tyson will be on that flight.
| Lance_ET_Compte wrote:
| I lived in the UK when there was a total eclipse there. BA flew a
| Concorde (at speed!) to chase the shadow for as long as possible.
| It was still not that long ~30 minutes or so? and the windows
| were tiny and thick, so I heard it was not that grand. Of course,
| those on the ground had the typical cloudy weather. Where I was
| it was 98%, which was still "dusk". It was still neat!
| Symbiote wrote:
| I remember seeing a total eclipse in Cornwall in the 1990s,
| with a clear sky.
|
| I suspect my dad would have been reluctant to drive all that
| way, but I'm glad he did.
| enriquto wrote:
| Was it the 30/6/1973 [0] ?
|
| There's an excellent book [1] about this adventure written by
| its senior scientific advisor (Pierre Lena). The flight went
| under the shadow of the moon for 74 minutes !
|
| [0] https://www.ina.fr/ina-eclaire-actu/30-juin-1973-le-
| concorde...
|
| [1] https://www.fnac.com/a17820796/Pierre-Lena-Soleils-eclipses
| yakito wrote:
| For anyone interested in this I recommend checking out these 2
| articles: Alaska Airlines chasing the Great American Eclipse -
| https://news.alaskaair.com/alaska-airlines/solar-eclipse/
|
| This annular eclipse tour by Delta -
| https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-travel/2021-annular-ec...
| bashinator wrote:
| The most amazing thing I experienced during the last annular
| eclipse was the thousands of crescent-shaped shadows from
| wherever a pinpoint of light shone through, say a pair of tree
| leaves. It was legit astonishing; literally every surface was
| covered in these crescent refractions of the eclipse.
|
| I doubt very much you'd experience anything like that on an
| airplane, but possibly that's just me having sour grapes this
| time.
| jessriedel wrote:
| You can experience them anywhere the sunlight is passing
| through small holes. Punch a bunch of holes through paper with
| a needle or pencil.
| Hnrobert42 wrote:
| I thought the same thing! Even cooler was that I noticed them
| before the eclipse and took a picture. Walking back to my car
| after the eclipse, the crescents had flipped!
|
| Just for you, I created an Imgur account. Cheers.
|
| https://imgur.com/a/TwlmbDw
| deinonychus wrote:
| Thanks for sharing this; I wasn't able to picture what they
| were describing.
| crazygringo wrote:
| Thank you!! I haven't seen this and was having trouble
| picturing it, now it makes perfect sense. It's not the edges
| of the leaves but the pinholes between overlapping leaves
| that allows the shape through.
| sagarm wrote:
| Yeah, I was amazed to learn that dappled sunlight is actually
| thousands of pinhole images of the sun, and during an eclipse
| all the little circles turn into crescents!
| e28eta wrote:
| Last eclipse I was similarly fascinated to discover that the
| lens flare on my iphone timelapse showed the same crescent, and
| turned the timelapse from boring to worthwhile.
| AndrewKemendo wrote:
| To put the carbon emissions of the flight into perspective:
|
| 1. Approximately 22,200 kWh of electricity usage.
|
| 2. 674 kg (or about 1,486 pounds) of grazed beef.
|
| 3.1-2 new freshwater wells in rural areas
| smileysteve wrote:
| On the bright side, Delta buys carbon credits for all of its
| flights.
|
| https://www.delta.com/us/en/about-delta/sustainability
|
| *note there are lawsuits on the dubiousness of the credits and
| the focus on carbon removal.
| Panino wrote:
| Although my first thought was also the climate emissions, we
| have to be careful with these numbers, as 1kWh of electricity
| in Sweden is _very different_ from 1kWh of electricity in
| Poland.
|
| https://app.electricitymaps.com/map
|
| Poland is about 30x dirtier than Sweden. World numbers vary all
| over the place.
|
| Similarly for beef - are the cattle raised under conventional
| agriculture (with maximum emissions) or regenerative
| agriculture (with minimum emissions)?
|
| By my rough count, an example round-trip flight for this trip
| is about 2600 miles (~4200km) with an approximate climate cost
| of about 1100kg _per person_. This accounts for the fact that
| airline emissions do roughly 3x the damage as expected
| (compared to ground transportation) as contrails form cirrus
| clouds which "are too thin to reflect much sunlight, but ice
| crystals inside them can trap heat. Unlike low-level clouds
| that have a net cooling effect, these contrail-formed clouds
| warm the climate... A 2011 study suggests that the net effect
| of these contrail clouds contributes more to atmospheric
| warming than all the carbon dioxide (CO2) produced by planes
| since the dawn of aviation."
|
| https://www.science.org/content/article/aviation-s-dirty-sec...
|
| We have ways to make electricity and food carbon-cheap, and
| potentially even carbon-negative, but the same is not currently
| true for flying. I think we should move to passenger ships for
| transoceanic trips and electrified trains for overland travel.
| AndrewKemendo wrote:
| I used "India" as my locality when pricing the relative
| carbon
| avalys wrote:
| How do you propose society go about determining which life
| experiences are worth their corresponding carbon emissions,
| knowing that there is enormous variety in what experiences
| people value?
| AndrewKemendo wrote:
| How about we put a floor on bad experiences instead of trying
| to figure out how to push our experiences further
|
| we can start by collectively solving poverty and go from
| there
|
| It's really as simple as caring about improving the world for
| others worse off than you over making yourself more
| comfortable
|
| Only you can determine where your lines are
| wolverine876 wrote:
| One way would be to put an accurate price on carbon
| emissions, and then each person could decide for themselves.
|
| Lots of methods have been worked out; that's not the problem.
| The problem is political resistance.
| interestica wrote:
| Good choice in aircraft for the flight. The Airbus A220-300
| windows are a little bigger than 737s and at a better viewing
| height:
|
| > Another passenger experience factor determined by the
| manufacturer is the aircraft window. In this case, the 737's
| windows are smaller - 10" x 14" (25.4cm x 35.56cm). The A220's
| windows are a bit larger at 11" x 16" or 28 x 40.6cm. In addition
| to a difference in window size, the position of windows is
| different for each type as well. Window-seat passengers on the
| 737 (the MAX, but also all others) will find that they have to
| bend down slightly to look straight out the window. For those who
| love to get a good look out at the horizon or the world outside,
| the A220's windows are preferable.
|
| https://simpleflying.com/the-airbus-a220-300-vs-boeing-737-m...
| lostlogin wrote:
| > The Airbus A220-300 windows are a little bigger than 737s
|
| Not always...
| pquki4 wrote:
| Stupid question: what if the flight is delayed by 3 hours because
| of bad weather or air traffic control?
| nlunbeck wrote:
| Doesn't seem like a stupid question to me. Would love to know
| their terms on this, eg. partial refunds? Voucher for next
| eclipse in a few years?
| dwighttk wrote:
| Looks like 2045 is the next continental us eclipse (a couple
| before then kinda touch but not really cut a swath)
|
| Via https://time.com/4897581/total-solar-eclipse-years-next/
| ipqk wrote:
| > DL 5699, DTW-HPN, 2:59 pm EST departure, ERJ-175
|
| > DL 924, LAX-DFW, 8:40 am PST departure, A320
|
| > DL 2869, LAX-SAT, 9:00 am PST departure, A319
|
| > DL 1001, SLC-SAT, 10:08 am MST departure, A220-300
|
| > DL 1683, SLC-AUS, 9:55 am MST departure, A320
|
| The eclipse will happen after Daylight Saving Time began in
| March. If an airline can't even get time zones correct...
| electrosphere wrote:
| You USA people are so lucky living in a country with a large
| landmass
|
| https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/
|
| and https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/solar/2024-april-8
| gumby wrote:
| We're all pretty lucky to live on a planet where the moon the
| the right size and position so this can happen.
|
| Have to mention the famous Connie Willis eclipse short story
| "And Come from Miles Around" (it's collected in "fire watch"
| and I won't spoil it for you).
| at_a_remove wrote:
| I figured out an odd place in the path of totality last go around
| that would have nobody present, ran my plan a month beforehand.
| It was a dried-up mine tailing lake, so it is more or less a
| patch of desert, about a mile long and a quarter-mile across.
| Even the locals forgot about it. I must have been the only person
| for a couple of miles. Had everything timed to the second, even
| the soundtrack. Aside from the obvious songs, every solar eclipse
| is a new moon, so Duran Duran's "New Moon on Monday" (it _was_ a
| Monday, and will be this time as well) fit for the trip down.
| "Thus Spoke Zarathustra" played faintly just as the sun started
| coming back.
| divan wrote:
| I always wanted to write an app that will find flights for every
| solar eclipse (and suggest the seat, of course), but it never got
| enough priority in my backlog. Glad to see airlines already
| implementing this idea to some extent!
| swozey wrote:
| I spent way too long looking for the price + availability.
| They're sold out and got up to around $1200 ea.
|
| This thread sold me on experiencing 100% totality so I'm bummed.
| fortenforge wrote:
| I think this airplane is not the best way to experience full
| totality--especially if it's your first time seeing a total
| solar eclipse. There still should be plenty of opportunities to
| see the eclipse from the ground in April!
| binarymax wrote:
| Travel to a point in the path and view from the comfort of the
| ground :)
|
| https://eclipse2024.org/eclipse_cities/statemap.html
| sonofhans wrote:
| I think I'd lose important things seeing it from an airplane.
|
| One of the things I love about an eclipse is how the world around
| me reacts to it. I saw one in the middle of Wyoming in 2017, in
| the middle of the day. Every animal seemed to think it was night.
| Wolves started howling, moths came out of the grass and flew
| around, daytime insects disappeared.
|
| I saw a partial eclipse in New Delhi in the 1970s, and it was
| very different. The city was a ghost town -- everyone was inside
| waiting it out. It was hard even to find a taxi, in one of the
| largest cities in the world.
|
| So yeah, seeing it from an airplane sounds cool. It wouldn't
| capture everything I've loved and enjoyed about eclipses.
| airstrike wrote:
| But maybe it counts as some new experience? Wyoming was
| different from New Delhi which would be different from a plane
|
| Until someone tries it, we won't know if it's worthwhile. Even
| if it doesn't live up to a "better" experience, we will know
| more about those experiences than we did before
|
| Trying new things is the whole reason for existing
| AnimalMuppet wrote:
| Hearing wolves howl during an eclipse would be just awesome. I
| was in Idaho, but I didn't get that...
| FlyingSnake wrote:
| In India eclipses were considered a bad omen until recent times
| and people would hide themselves indoors during eclipses. With
| education and progress it has improved considerably and such
| superstitions are dying fast.
| tommywiseausmom wrote:
| incredible
| wolverine876 wrote:
| What does it take for Delta to get clearances to fly a route like
| this one? Can they just fly at a different altitude to avoid all
| the routes they cross?
|
| Also, isn't there a risk of lots of commercial and private planes
| all following it together?
| dmitrygr wrote:
| sold out already
| bensherman wrote:
| What happens when everyone on a plane shifts to one side of the
| plane at once while at full speed?
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