Total Solar Eclipse, 21-Aug-2017

Trip recommendations, current conditions, and other trail related Q&A
Post Reply
User avatar
kepPNW
Posts: 6411
Joined: June 21st, 2012, 9:55 am
Location: Salmon Creek

Total Solar Eclipse, 21-Aug-2017

Post by kepPNW » November 26th, 2014, 11:31 am

So we have a little time (999 days!) to plan for this one. :lol:
  • Image
Zooming in a bit...
I think the best possible place to watch this one may be on top of Mount Jefferson. But, given the inherent difficulties in getting there, I'm pretty sure I'm going to need to have a Plan B option ready. Can anyone suggest some software that'll present the landscape/lighting that far out in advance? One of the most spectacular ("mind-blowing" isn't excessively descriptive, actually!) features of near-totality are the shadow bands racing across the landscape, and my gut's telling me that Jefferson may obscure those a bit from a spot like Park Butte. Then again, that might be an ideal spot. Solitude is probably not a luxury to be had, for an event like this.

The last time this happened here, this article recollects...
Universe Today wrote:I remember reading about the total solar eclipse of February 26th, 1979 as a kid. Carter was in the White House, KISS was mounting yet another comeback, and Voyager 1 was wowing us with images of Jupiter. That was also the last total solar eclipse to grace mainland United States in the 20th century.
It was my brother's 16th birthday. We drove into the gorge, and camped along the cliffs east of Stonehenge. The experience that morning was indescribable. Need to find a similar vantage point, overlooking a vast area in the general direction of the sun, for this morning just a few years away. :)
Karl
Back on the trail, again...

User avatar
kaltbluter
Posts: 397
Joined: June 2nd, 2014, 10:36 am

Re: Total Solar Eclipse, 21-Aug-2017

Post by kaltbluter » November 26th, 2014, 11:56 am

Plenty of time to plan...do you have to stay in the PNW?
The terrain in the Sawtooth National Forest in Idaho looks rugged enough to make some nice shadows.

Looking east from Blizzard Mountain. Never been there. No idea if it is even accessible.

Aimless
Posts: 1922
Joined: May 28th, 2008, 10:02 pm
Location: Lake Oswego

Re: Total Solar Eclipse, 21-Aug-2017

Post by Aimless » November 26th, 2014, 12:09 pm

Woo hoo! (pumps fist)

This is the best, most exciting news I have heard today! The last one around here was in February. But even though there was several thousand feet of thick cloud cover between me and the sun when it happened, it was pretty danged awesome anyway. I imagine that an August eclipse will have about a 90% chance to be under mostly clear skies in western Oregon, and closer to a 99% chance in eastern Oregon!

User avatar
retired jerry
Posts: 14396
Joined: May 28th, 2008, 10:03 pm

Re: Total Solar Eclipse, 21-Aug-2017

Post by retired jerry » November 26th, 2014, 7:22 pm

I was living in Los Angeles February of 1979. Several of us drove here to see it.

I was thinking Eastern Oregon for 2017. Cove Palisades State Park would be okay. Or maybe Tumalo. Or the Metolius River. You'de want to go to a high point though. Mt Jefferson might be good.

Have to check weather reports though. Sometimes it's cloudy in Eastern Oregon.

User avatar
retired jerry
Posts: 14396
Joined: May 28th, 2008, 10:03 pm

Re: Total Solar Eclipse, 21-Aug-2017

Post by retired jerry » November 26th, 2014, 7:22 pm

Somebody posted this a couple years ago. GH maybe?

User avatar
drm
Posts: 6133
Joined: May 28th, 2008, 10:03 pm
Location: The Dalles, OR
Contact:

Re: Total Solar Eclipse, 21-Aug-2017

Post by drm » November 27th, 2014, 9:06 am

So totality will hit the coast at about 5:16pm. I think that might be the most scenic place to see it, rather than the mountains. And everything - hotels and campgrounds - will sell out long in advance. It's a Thursday so that might keep crowds down a bit, but not much. It reaches the Idaho border just 10 minutes later.

Odd solar eclipse factoid: that they happen as they do is due to the extremely odd coincidence that the moon's distance from the earth means that it's visible width is virtually exactly the same as the sun. In other words, the ratio of the sun's distance from the earth to the moons is exactly the same as the ratio of the sun's diameter to the moons. I think this is a very odd but fortunate coincidence. The moons distance from us does vary a bit though. In the distance future, it will be farther away, and will never fully hide the sun, though this future is many millions of years away. But the moon's current distance from us is generally just right to fully cover the sun but still leave the corona visible.

User avatar
retired jerry
Posts: 14396
Joined: May 28th, 2008, 10:03 pm

Re: Total Solar Eclipse, 21-Aug-2017

Post by retired jerry » November 27th, 2014, 9:12 am

If you can be at a high point and see good East and West, you can see the shadow coming in your direction and leaving.

Obviously, it needs to be clear.

Because of tides, the moon is slowly losing energy. It's slowly moving away from us. Some day, there will be no more solar eclipses. But there will continue to be lunar eclipses.

Some day, the moon will leave orbit? Maybe as it gets further away, the tides are less, so it's speed away from us is slower? Maybe this will all happen after the sun turns into a red giant and subsumes the earth?

User avatar
adamschneider
Posts: 3711
Joined: May 28th, 2008, 10:02 pm
Location: SE Portland
Contact:

Re: Total Solar Eclipse, 21-Aug-2017

Post by adamschneider » November 27th, 2014, 10:11 am

I don't see why Park Butte (or anywhere in/near Jefferson Park) wouldn't be a great place to be; it's near the center of totality.

If you want a rugged spot that doesn't require hiking as far (or at all), [REDACTED — SSSSSHHHHHHHH ;) ].

Further east, the John Day Painted Hills are smack dab on that blue line. But I'd expect a bazillion people there.
Last edited by adamschneider on January 28th, 2017, 6:29 pm, edited 1 time in total.

User avatar
kepPNW
Posts: 6411
Joined: June 21st, 2012, 9:55 am
Location: Salmon Creek

Re: Total Solar Eclipse, 21-Aug-2017

Post by kepPNW » November 27th, 2014, 12:03 pm

adamschneider wrote:I don't see why Park Butte (or anywhere in/near Jefferson Park) wouldn't be a great place to be; it's near the center of totality.
The only "concern" was the extent to which Mt. Jefferson blocked views of the racing shadow bands. The sun should be almost directly above Jeff, perhaps a bit to its left? Local time will be 10:18am, if I did the math right, accounting for DST (Z-0700, in August?). Being able to see for 50-100 miles, southerly from east to west, was incredibly ideal in 1979, especially looking out down/over the surrounding landscape. Other than that one possible niggle, Park Butte is still at the top of my list. :)
Attachments
capture.jpg
Karl
Back on the trail, again...

User avatar
kepPNW
Posts: 6411
Joined: June 21st, 2012, 9:55 am
Location: Salmon Creek

Re: Total Solar Eclipse, 21-Aug-2017

Post by kepPNW » November 27th, 2014, 12:06 pm

drm wrote:So totality will hit the coast at about 5:16pm.
Universal Time. So I think we subtract 7 hours here?
Attachments
capture.jpg
Karl
Back on the trail, again...

Post Reply