Geeking out at the solar eclipse!

trogdor (64) in eclipse • 7 years ago (edited)

My first total solar eclipse!

It seems like I just can't find time to post much these days. I think part of the problem is that I'm trying too hard to think of really good posts, which combined with my OCD/perfectionist side is probably holding me back some. I think I'll just try to post more often whatever random thing I feel like and not care too much about whether it's perfect or interesting...

Back on topic: So I finally graduated from grad school and found a job near Knoxville, TN, and what do you know, my wife and I bought a house a week before the line of totality for a total solar eclipse would pass by overhead. I guess for my slightly superstitious side... maybe that's a good sign? :p

Anyway, I decided to fully geek out and take a half day at work and watch the eclipse from the comfort of my own (first!) home with my wife, and my parents decided to drive down too. So anyway, we had some fun experimenting with pinhole cameras, and they DO work.... but slightly underwhelming....

Pinhole viewer: basically foil with a bunch of holes in it.

Tiny eclipses on a piece of paper!

Well anyway, the pinhole viewer is nice.... but it got slightly boring, so I decided to try to photograph the eclipse in progress. This is my first trial photograph....

Needless to say.... you cannot just point a camera at the sun and expect a good picture. Luckily I had my ISO-certified eclipse glasses, so I just popped those on the camera and managed to take some pretty decent (amateur-quality) pictures. Here are a few of the different stages of the eclipse that I managed to capture pretty well.

We noticed a bunch of projected images of the eclipse showing up on the concrete once it got close to totality. Our best guess is tiny pinholes in the leaves on the trees???

Finally, when the eclipse approached totality, it seemed to move very quickly, and I managed to get a picture during the event, which I think is pretty awesome for a total camera noob.

Also, I had to get a total solar eclipse selfie of course :p haha

I did also manage to get a video of the eclipse as it reached totality which is pretty cool (sorry for the shakiness!).

Also, if you're curious, here are some time-stamped pics to show how much darker it got outside during totality. I swear that the moment of totality, all of the neighbors' dogs started barking at once. It was.... slightly surreal. Also, you can see a lens flare of the partial eclipse reflecting on my chin! haha

I hope some of you got to see the eclipse too! It was beautiful weather in Knoxville, without a cloud in the sky. If you posted any pics, put your links in the comments so I can check them out!

All the best,
Trogdor :)

eclipse solar-eclipse total-eclipse science nerddom

7 years ago by trogdor (64)

$54.99

Authors get paid when people like you upvote their post.
If you enjoyed what you read here, create your account today and start earning FREE STEEM!

Sort Order:

Trending

[-]

egoitss (46) · 7 years ago

Cool pictures, I live in a point where closest solar eclipse is after I will die.

$2.89

2 votes

[-]

trogdor (64) · 7 years ago

That's too bad, I hope you'll get to check one out someday.

$0.00

[-]

aaront028 (44) · 7 years ago

But hey that's when its worth traveling for right? ;)

$0.00

[-]

o1o1o1o (55) · 7 years ago (edited)

Me too! It was an amazing experience. You can look at all the photos you want but there is no way to adequately describe the anticipation and the actual experience of the sun winking out and turning into a black-hole surrounded by fire in the sky. Just amazing.

Unfortunately it was the shortest two minutes of my live and I kick myself for spending even 30 seconds trying to shot a photo of it. So I'm already planning to be seeing another one ASAP. Chile 2019 here we come!

$2.85

1 vote

[-]

trogdor (64) · 7 years ago

Agreed! I wish I would have stared at it even more, but I'm still glad I managed to capture a picture :) It only lasted a minute and 20 seconds from where I was watching. We could have driven an hour and struggled with traffic, parking, etc... to get an extra minute, but we were happy to just watch from home with some iced tea! haha

$0.06

1 vote

[-]

o1o1o1o (55) · 7 years ago (edited)

I was going to fly to Kansas City but at the last minute (okay last hour) cancelled everything due to forecast of bad weather, got in a car and drove 12 hours to Idaho. The reward was a picture perfect clear blue sky by a lake with friends that I knew and an experience to remember instead of a frustrating chase probably in awful traffic looking for cloud-free skies which, judging from most of the KC photos was what happened there almost everywhere.

Even more miraculous was the day before and after there was high cirrus that would have diminished our experience in Idaho - but the day of, perfect. It was meant to be.

$0.00

[-]

raitiger23 (42) · 7 years ago

I liked congratulations

$0.00

1 vote

[-]

raitiger23 (42) · 7 years ago

I liked congratulations

$0.00

[-]

freddbrito (65) · 7 years ago

I've only seen a solar eclipse in my life, and I was very young.

$2.78

1 vote

[-]

trogdor (64) · 7 years ago

Hopefully you will get a chance to see another sometime soon! Thanks for posting.

$0.00

1 vote

[-]

freddbrito (65) · 7 years ago

Thanks to you for sharing these photos, it reminded me of a moment of my childhood when I saw that eclipse with my 3 sisters

$0.00

[-]

goofygrapes (51) · 7 years ago (edited)

Those are some awesome shots! I got lucky enough to catch it as well - and not too far from you either since I'm just a little West of Asheville.

I was definitely a little bummed the total eclipse didn't last longer, but like you said it was absolutely surreal seeing it get so dark out in the middle of the day! The birds started going crazy right after it came back out, as if it was morning for them all over again lol.

P.S. - Congrats on graduating from Grad School! I know that's no easy task. Mind if I ask your major?

$2.65

1 vote

[-]

trogdor (64) · 7 years ago

Cool, glad someone else on here got to see it! I didn't notice the birds, just the neighborhood dogs going crazy. Thanks for the congrats, I did a Ph.D. in mechanical and aerospace engineering. My focus was on fluid mechanics, applied math, and scientific computing.

$0.00

1 vote

[-]

goofygrapes (51) · 7 years ago

Wow, congrats² in that case!!

My background is in CS and my wife's is in abstract mathematics, so I can definitely appreciate what an accomplishment that is - major kudos man!

$0.00

[-]

laurenkavanagh (54) · 7 years ago

Wow that would have been amazing to see!
I have never seen a solar eclipse before so I am very grateful for the video and detailed pictures looks worth it taking the day off work!
And Congrats on your first new home with your wife :D

$2.61

1 vote

[-]

trogdor (64) · 7 years ago

Thanks! Hopefully you'll get to see one someday. It's definitely worth a roadtrip.

$0.00

[-]

colovhis (60) · 7 years ago

It has been a great eclipse, fortunate that you have seen it. In my country I could not see it.

$2.57

1 vote

[-]

trogdor (64) · 7 years ago

That's too bad, hopefully you will get to see one soon!

$0.00

1 vote

[-]

colovhis (60) · 7 years ago

Thanks friend, I hope to see an eclipse soon.

$0.00

[-]

crosheille (67) · 7 years ago

These are some really great shots! We were outside while it was going on just to see the darkness start to come in. We couldn't watch the eclipse because we didn't have those special glasses. It was still cool to watch how everything changed in just a few seconds. You really have some nice clear shots...thanks for sharing :)

$2.56

1 vote

[-]

trogdor (64) · 7 years ago

Thanks! I'm glad you got to experience it some too. It's definitely worth getting the glasses if you get another opportunity.

$0.03

1 vote

[-]

crosheille (67) · 7 years ago

Oh yes! If we get this opportunity again we will be better prepared. It's so much more exciting seeing this in person other than just on the news. But thank goodness for people like you that take awesome shots like this ;)

$0.00

[-]

shazza (56) · 7 years ago

Wow they are great pictures, you are so lucky to be able to experience this.

$2.51

1 vote

[-]

trogdor (64) · 7 years ago

Thanks! I hope you'll get to see one someday.

$0.00

[-]

goldenarms (66) · 7 years ago

You got some killer shots bud! Pretty cool stuff. Hopefully we'll all still be here to see your pics of the next one 😊

$2.46

1 vote

[-]

trogdor (64) · 7 years ago

I just have to wait 7 years for the next one passing through Indiana... haha

$0.00

[-]

professorbromide (59) · 7 years ago

We saw it at about 90% in Lynchburg, VA. As soon as it was over I went back inside and sent my wife a Google Calendar invite for April 8, 2024 in Austin, TX. The next one is going to travel from Mexico up to Maine.

$2.42

1 vote

[-]

trogdor (64) · 7 years ago

I heard about that. I have some family in Indiana that will be very close to the path of totality, so hopefully I'll be able to see it. Just have to wait seven years... haha

$0.07

1 vote

[-]

rotfoot (55) · 7 years ago

Awesome pictures! You definitely had a great first solar eclipse!

$0.00

[-]

acromott (73) · 7 years ago

Cool pics dude!!
I totally missed out on the eclipse because I was in a math class :P
hah

$0.00

[-]

akkha (59) · 7 years ago

Perfect photos my friend !
Pinhole : nice idea . I will try it on next eclipse .

$0.00

[-]

steemitboard (66) · 7 years ago

Congratulations @trogdor! You have completed some achievement on Steemit and have been rewarded with new badge(s) :

Award for the number of comments

Click on any badge to view your own Board of Honor on SteemitBoard.
For more information about SteemitBoard, click here

If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word STOP

By upvoting this notification, you can help all Steemit users. Learn how here!

$0.00

[-]

quinneaker (74) · 7 years ago

hahaha looks like you had some geektactic fun!
Congratulations on your FIRST home! What a big step in life. Yes it seems that you have some good luck and fortune on your side as a total solar eclipse is a once in a life time experience here in the states!
Great to see you posting, its nice to have really high quality professional articles but this IS a social media site so its cool to just share your geektastic times also ;-)>

Hope to see you around soon!

SteemON!

$0.00

[-]

wearetheshow (44) · 7 years ago

Sweet, you caught totality. I'll be uploading my eclipse pics soon but unfortunately I wasn't in the path of the full eclipse. Cheers!

$0.00

[-]

lokkie (52) · 7 years ago (edited)

How could I miss so interesting post?
Thanks a lot for this experience, especially for video. I will show it to my kids to start talk about solar eclipses!

$0.00

[-]

pinaynomad (57) · 7 years ago

I would also geek out if I see the solar eclipse. I'll be dancing like crazy and moan like a wolf. lol! Too bad it's not visible in the Philippines. Maybe next time! :)

$0.00

[-]

safrijals (64) · 7 years ago

Nice video.
I like your post

$0.00

[-]

aaront028 (44) · 7 years ago

Awesome post man! really appreciated the whole pinhole camera idea. I'll be following :) would appreciate it if you could do the same if you have the time. Also upvoted! Totally worth it

$0.00

[-]

mjzo (51) · 7 years ago

Six months later I see your post .. And I must say that I loved it! I've never been able to see one live since in my country they do not look with the same intensity and as I live in an apartment the other buildings block my view .. Thank you for sharing that experience with me
By the way, I'm starting in this platform and I made my first post, I would greatly appreciate it if you read it and if you like it, give me a vote, a comment, give me resteem or follow me...Anything is of great help to me!
Without further ado, I say goodbye. I remain attentive to your next publications. 💋
Regards!

$0.00

[-]

kawaiipower (61) · 7 years ago

l dont fully understand but they are all cool pictures! reminded me of the teen novel✨

$0.00

[-]

wisdombtc (40) · 7 years ago

This is nice

$0.00

[-]

isteemithard (60) · 7 years ago

I used a sheet of X-ray paper to see the eclipse its a safe way to look at the sun and if you as a doctors or even dentist office to just cut you off a sliver it works well. just followed you see you havent posted in some time keep up the good posts.

$0.00

[-]

isteemithard (60) · 7 years ago

$0.00

[-]

sakib656 (7) · 7 years ago

Hi i read your blog and its nice. Welcome to steemit and I'm Sakib from Bangladesh. I'm also new in steemit. I'm also vote and followed you. So can you please vote and follow me also ?? Best of luck.

$0.00

[-]

bymelissaclaire (38) · 7 years ago

I love the concrete pic - unexpected beauty!

$0.00

[-]

steemitboard (66) · 7 years ago

Congratulations @trogdor! You have completed some achievement on Steemit and have been rewarded with new badge(s) :

Award for the total payout received

Click on any badge to view your own Board of Honor on SteemitBoard.
For more information about SteemitBoard, click here

If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word STOP

By upvoting this notification, you can help all Steemit users. Learn how here!

$0.00

[-]

rambeesbd (53) · 7 years ago

Good post

$0.00

[-]

winizart (52) · 7 years ago

In Venezuela it was only partially seen, but I enjoyed it very much even though I felt that my eyes were burning with so much seeing it hahah Amazinnnngg photos! What camera do you have?

$0.00

[-]

amyinautumn (46) · 7 years ago

@Trogdor I was in Oregon in the path of totality and it was soooo magical. I couldn't believe it, but I teared up haha. :') We saw one star in the sky, which was super surreal, and the temp dropped considerably. Nice pictures! Mine were hopeless, so I tried to make sketches as the whole thing progressed..

$0.00

[-]

humaidi (72) · 7 years ago

Amazing vidio my friend..

$0.00

[-]

masril (71) · 7 years ago

Good post

$0.00

[-]

steemitboard (66) · 7 years ago

Congratulations @trogdor! You have completed some achievement on Steemit and have been rewarded with new badge(s) :

Award for the number of comments received

Click on any badge to view your own Board of Honor on SteemitBoard.
For more information about SteemitBoard, click here

If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word STOP

By upvoting this notification, you can help all Steemit users. Learn how here!

$0.00

[-]

musicayfarandula (54) · 7 years ago

fantastic friend, I always tried to see that day the eclipse the sun hit too much in my eyes and they did not let me appreciate it but watching your video and photos I could appreciate it more, it's been a long time, but nice way to finally see it. I hope you've had a nice Christmas and I send you greetings from Venezuela

$0.00

[-]

kaciechromatic (53) · 7 years ago

That was so cool! I watched it at the Oregon Eclipse Festival. We were out in a high desert region of Oregon putting a festival together for 10 days and then had 6 days of festival. It was fun but I do envy you guys being able to see it from the comfort of your own home.