August 21, 2017: Total Solar Eclipse. This Was Really Neat!

We’ve been home from our summer travels for three weeks, but one of the most anticipated events of 2017 was going to occur here in Missouri (and well, a few other states).  As most of the people here in the U.S. know due to media coverage, August 21 was the date for a total solar eclipse crossing from Oregon on the west coast down to South Carolina on the east coast.  We would certainly have been able to see a significant partial eclipse from our home, but we had a chance to see the “total” eclipse from Mastodon State Historic Site near Imperial, Missouri, about 40 miles further south.  Mastodon State Historic Site happens to be one of the places where our daughter works.  Our son took a vacation day as well, so this would truly be a family affair.

My daughter had to be at work by 8:00 AM, but we all decided to drive down early.  We weren’t sure how crazy traffic would be traveling south, so better to be safe than sorry.  We got to Mastodon shortly before 7:00 AM, but truly could have gotten there later.  Oh well, we only had five hours to wait for the moon and sun to do their thing.  Too bad it was really hot and humid.  The sky was relatively clear, although we asked some heavier clouds that were coming our way to roll further north.  They obliged!  At least we were able to find a picnic table that we moved to the shade and waited for the event there.  Some cold water and good sandwiches got us through the morning.

Around 11:50 AM, the moon started to cross in front of the sun.  We ventured out from the picnic table with our solar eclipse glasses to track the progress of the eclipse.  We could tell it was getting a little dimmer, but not significantly.  Over the next hour and 25 minutes, we saw less and less of the sun until it was time for the magic.

We had a little over two minutes of totality and it was during this time that we could take off our solar glasses and look at the eclipsed sun and sky.  With totality, it was indeed dimmer than it had been.  I meant to listen to the insects and animals, but kind of forgot.  Bummer.  I was so immersed in looking at the sky that everything else just fell by the wayside.  We were able to easily see the planet Venus off to the right and the planet Jupiter off to the left of the eclipsed sun.  My husband took a few photos, first with the regular lens and then with a telephoto lens.

This photo was taken with the regular lens. My husband initially was a little disappointed in himself with using the regular lens to take photos of the eclipse, so he only took one. However, when he downloaded the photo, he saw these two dim circles on either side of the eclipsed sun. That was totally unexpected. We think the circle on the left is the star Regulus. The circle on the right might be the planet Mars or another star. By the way, this photo is enlarged as well, and in case anyone thinks the two circles might be Venus or Jupiter, they aren’t. Both of those planets were further away.

The remaining photos were taken with the telephoto lens.

We’re not sure what caused the odd shape of the moon in this photo. However, if you look to the left of the eclipsed sun, you will see what looks like a streak of light. That might be a star and the streak could be caused by camera movement. Maybe the movement caused the odd shape of the moon.

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This is pretty much the same photo as the one above, but has a more expected look to it. In all three of these photos, the corona was quite evident. Despite the size of the corona, it looked like twilight where we stood on the ground.

Unfortunately, the two minutes of totality was passing all too quickly.  I kept scanning the sky, trying to make sure I didn’t miss anything.  Not sure if my husband, son, or daughter did the same, but I have my suspicions.  You just don’t want the event to end. You want to keep looking at the sky seeing things that just aren’t seen during the daytime.  It may be a cliche, but this was surreal.  Then, as totality ended, I saw this beautiful red curved streak on the upper right side of the sun.  Totality was ending, and as much as I wanted to continue staring at the eclipse without my solar eclipse glasses, I knew better.  My husband didn’t want to ruin his camera, but he took one more photo of the eclipse.  (The camera’s just fine, by the way.)

There’s no red streak anymore, but I saw it right where the sun is peaking out from behind the moon. Even though there was just this tiny bit of sun showing now, it was beginning to brighten up again. Twilight turned to day just like that, amazingly quickly. Notice too that the corona is barely visible.

It would take a while for the eclipse to end, and frankly, we didn’t stick around to see that.  It really was hot and humid and air conditioning was calling our name.  However, we had just experienced the absolutely neatest thing of the summer and it was only 40 miles from our home.  As we found out later that day, another total eclipse won’t be too far from home in 2024.  Not as close as this one, but still very manageable.  Well, who knows?  Maybe we’ll get to see another one then!