I not only watched it, at 96.5% totality here I believe, I bought a limited-edition bi-metal commemorative coin in advance. And I planned of zipping down to Ohio where it was 100%, but didn't make it. If you haven't seen 100% totality, then you really haven't experienced a solar eclipse. When all the bees go back to their hives, birds go to roost, most animals just generally freak out, and the sound of cicadas is replaced by crickets when it gets colder and darker, then the cricket sounds are replaced by cicadas again, it's not just another day. And it's not just another eclipse. This eclipse was special because everyone in the contiguous United States could see it. I believe that's a once (or twice) in a lifetime event for most people. I watched this video last month and was going to post all about the eclipse. I thought I actually may have, but guess I didn't. My coin is number 301 of 1,000, by the way, and may not be worth anything to anyone, but I still got it. I had a huge, detailed map from NASA I was going to post but can't find it. I zoomed in on a couple details and pasted them back on the map on each side so t was easy to read after i reduced the size. I just downloaded the map again and sized it down to fit here. If you were someplace like Cleveland when it got this dark around 3 pm, you probably wouldn't have a ho-hum attitude about this awesome event hat scared the crap of people for almost of the entire time we've been on this planet.
And Nightfall, a novella written by Asimov when he was a graduate student in chemistry at Columbia University is truly one of the classics of science fiction. The Robert Silverberg novel that came out 22 years later is good too. On a planet ordinarily illuminated by sunlight at all times by the six suns of its multiple star system, there's a total eclipse that recurs every 2,049 years. Researchers explain that they have discovered evidence of numerous ancient civilizations on the planet, all destroyed by fire, with the collapses occurring about 2,000 years apart. Furthermore, the religious writings of a doomsday cult claim the planet periodically passes through an enormous cave where mysterious "stars" appear. The stars are said to rain down fire from the heavens and rob people of their souls, reducing them to beast-like savages. This may be a spoiler, but there are fires, and crazy people, none of whom have never seen the sky darken on this planet without night. Astounding Science Fiction editor John W. Campbell asked Asimov to write the story after discussing with him a quotation from Ralph Waldo Emerson:
If the stars should appear one night in a thousand years, how would men believe and adore, and preserve for many generations the remembrance of the city of God!
And I say, if you haven't seen a solar eclipse
in totality, how could you believe why others adore them so?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_eclipse_of_April_8,_2024 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nightfall_(Asimov_novelette_and_novel)
https://www.shirepost.com/products/2024-total-solar-eclipse-commemorative-coin-copper-and-brass https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNK2LI7VeX4
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