• cordlesslamp@lemmy.today
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      8 months ago

      South East Asia here, no total eclipse for the next 200 years. And I slept through the last one when I was in middle school, FML.

    • AngryCommieKender@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      We aren’t sure yet, but we are likely the only place in the galaxy that has the perfect total eclipses. If humanity ever manages to unite and take to the stars, there’s a strong argument to be made for our flag to just be a black field with a solar corona. We may even have to worry about too much extra-terrestrial eclipse tourism.

      Solar eclipses on Mars are underwhelming.

    • Socsa@sh.itjust.works
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      8 months ago

      It’s also massively over hyped imo. I did the last one and the coolest part was the shadows, but the actual darkness was super underwhelming. Hearing everyone say it was like some spiritual experience makes me roll my eyes a bit. It got dark for a bit. It does that shit every day smh.

      • SpacetimeMachine@lemmy.world
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        8 months ago

        People aren’t amazed because it gets dark for a bit. People are amazed because it reminds us that the sun and the moon are real 3d objects incredibly far away, not just images in the sky. I can understand how it is a spiritual experience for a lot of people.

        • filcuk@lemmy.zip
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          8 months ago

          It’s also an incredible coincidence (or otherwise, depending on your beliefs) how the distance and size of the two bodies matches perfectly for the total eclipse to be a thing at all.

          • Whelks_chance@lemmy.world
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            8 months ago

            Technically it would be fine for the moon to be bigger or closer and you’d still get a total eclipse.

            • Gabu@lemmy.world
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              8 months ago

              Sure, but if the moon was much bigger you wouldn’t be able to see the Sun’s corona. Also, life as we know it wouldn’t be possible, but that’s neither here nor there.

      • protozoan_ninja@sh.itjust.works
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        8 months ago

        It turns out, animals get freaked out when sun does weird thing, and we’re animals too

        EDIT: I went and it was the coolest thing I’ve ever seen. That still just means I was bowled over by a rock casting a shadow. ¯_(ツ)_/¯

      • gmtom@lemmy.world
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        8 months ago

        This is the most wrong comment I have ever seen on this entire fucking website.

        I can assure anyone reading this, that this guy is just being a contrarian to seem better than other people.

        The eclipse was the single greatest thing I’ve ever seen in my life.

        • Socsa@sh.itjust.works
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          8 months ago

          I mean it was cool, don’t get me wrong. But greatest thing I’ve ever seen? IDK, I saw a space shuttle launch live. That was way cooler. Dark Knight in IMAX is a contender. The coolest thing I’ve ever seen is basically the entire country of Iceland. The Eclipse is maybe top 20.

          It’s possible I just did the eclipse wrong. I am glad you enjoyed it. I don’t quite understand why so many people take it personally that I was not moved by it.

          • gmtom@lemmy.world
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            8 months ago

            Space shuttle is pretty cool. Personally wouldn’t put any movie experience in the same universe as the eclipse.

            Like it’s entirely possible that we’re the only planet in the galaxy that has eclipses like that and quite possibly the only one in the universe with life on it to witness such an event.

            And you’re stood there watching as a incomprehensiblely big ball of rock held above us by nothing more than its own angular momentum happe s to perfectly cross infront of and block out and even possibly bigger ball of fusing gas and do it so perfectly it blocks the disk of the sin but leave the corona and solar flares still visible to the naked eye, you watch the world around start to die in the most unnatural way, the temperature drops and then suddenly its night time in the middle of the day, the animals go crazy, you have a 360° sunset and the sun is replaced by black disk surrounded by s ring of fire. Its pretty much a supernatural event.

            So I just really cannot comprehend how anyone could /possibly/ compare it watching a movie. That’s like comparing witnessing the birth of your own child to finding a dollar on the street.

            • Socsa@sh.itjust.works
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              8 months ago

              But all that stuff is still true whether you see it yourself or not. I don’t quite get this line of reasoning. Were you unsure about the nature of astral bodies before that point?

              Again, I have no intention of diminishing your experience, unlike you mine. I am super happy that you had a surreal experience. I just felt extremely underwhelmed personally.

              Also, people keep saying this about animals, but I didn’t witness that at all. My dog slept through it.

        • Agrivar@lemmy.world
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          8 months ago

          I am so sad for you. Your life must have been a painful disappointment up until today.

          • gmtom@lemmy.world
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            8 months ago

            Man with people like you it’s really like I never left reddit.

            I’m sure everybody thinks you’re really cool because you’re not impressed by a thing that impresses a lot of people.

      • ricecake@sh.itjust.works
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        8 months ago

        Did you forget to look at it?

        No one is getting hyped for it being dark outside, they’re hyped for being able to see the corona of the sun with their naked eyes.

        • Socsa@sh.itjust.works
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          8 months ago

          Maybe that’s it, my vision isn’t that great. It just looked like a blurry ring of light in the sky to me.

          • ricecake@sh.itjust.works
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            8 months ago

            That seems likely, and unfortunate. To a lot of people it looks like all of the pictures that get posted to the Internet after the eclipse, except a fair bit more impactful because it’s there. The sky turns dark blue, you see the coronal glow as tendrils of light coming away from the hole in the sky where the sun was a moment before.
            Easily one of the more beautiful things I’ve seen, and I’ve seen quite a few.

      • Death_Equity@lemmy.world
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        8 months ago

        That’s because only 63% of us can afford international travel and most of the 37% goes to Canada, Mexico, or the Caribbean.

      • Magnergy@lemmy.world
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        8 months ago

        Is akin to people complaining about how the posts in a thread don’t all agree on something, so the forum and its participants are hypocritical.

    • Buddahriffic@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      Yeah, after seeing a total eclipse, all those partial eclipses seem like nothing. I’m not sure I’ll even bother watching a partial or annular eclipse again.

      Glad you were able to see it without cloud cover. I ended up changing my destination this morning due to cloud forecast.

    • Conyak@lemmy.tf
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      8 months ago

      I saw the 2017 one and I’m curious what you mean by worth it? Like, worth the effort to go outside and look up? I personally wouldn’t go out of my way to see it again. It was cool but not, $1000 dollar for a campsite cool.

      • g_the_b@lemmy.world
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        8 months ago

        I saw the 2017, and spent well over $3k to travel with my family to see it again today. Granted it was more so I could show it to THEM, but I wanted to see it again too.

        • JasonDJ@lemmy.zip
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          8 months ago

          Same. Travelled to SC for 2017 with my wife and 1 year old.

          Was so awe-struck that I flew my wife, now-7-year old, and 4 year old, to Texas to view it here. Also to check out Houston, Austin, and Dallas. Austin was by far the coolest. Wish I spent more time there. Almost want to move.

      • RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world
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        8 months ago

        It cost us a hotel room at a marginally inflated rate (less than $200). Eclipses aren’t a secret so you can plan/buy ahead, you don’t get caught up in the price gouging. We packed food and drinks in a cooler to save $.

        I’m not sure what you mean by going “outside and looking up” other than maybe trying to be dismissive. If you live in the path of totality, going outside and looking up (with appropriate eye protection) is a serious piece of luck, a luxury, and paying “1000 for a campsite” isn’t a problem. If you don’t live in the path of totality then you don’t get to see it - and seeing totality is what’s “worth it”, not just the moon partially blocking the sun.

        • Conyak@lemmy.tf
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          8 months ago

          The comment said “worth it” without specifying what it was worth. That was the reason for me asking what worth it meant. Was it worth traveling? Paying for a flight? Taking a day off? Simply walking outside? The effort to see it is relevant to know what it means when they said “worth it.” Hope that helps you understand.

          • RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world
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            8 months ago

            Don’t know what to tell you. “Worth it” was my personal opinion of the event and efforts to see it, to which you seemed clearly to indicate that such an event was not worth going out of your way for or paying lots of money to see. I don’t understand what me providing further information could offer you.

            If you want I’ll gladly share our process, but I cannot help you with your personal feelings of whether our efforts were subjectively “worth it” by your measure.

            • Conyak@lemmy.tf
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              8 months ago

              You did tell me what you did to see the eclipse in your follow up comment, which showed me what you thought was worth it. It seems like you are taking more offense than was implied. My question was simply to learn what the effort was.

              As for my personal feelings I don’t need help. I’ve seen a total solar eclipse and know what effort I would go through to see another. There isn’t even an argument her. I was simply looking for clarification which you provided in your follow up.

  • Underwaterbob@lemm.ee
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    8 months ago

    Eclipses might be a dime-a-dozen, but Halley’s Comet doesn’t mess around. My grandad saw it twice. I hope to, too. It comes once every 75 years. The last time was 1986. The next is 2061. If you were born today, you’d have to live to be 112 years-old to see it a second time.

  • RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world
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    8 months ago

    Maybe a location thing. The current eclipse passes through NY today, the next one touching NY won’t be until 2079. Texas 2045. So it’s all over the place time-wise between eclipses and location.

    • Buddahriffic@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      Or to make a giant disc that can be positioned in an orbit that totally eclipses the sun and/or our hearts regularly so that when we’re old we can bitch at kids about how total eclipses used to be rare and special but now everyone takes them for granted because NASA wasted a bunch of money making them mundane and that’s what happened to our retirement funds and is why grandparents live in boxes and look forward to the relative comfort of the final box.

      Edit: wording

  • dumbass@lemy.lol
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    8 months ago

    Everytime I do something I’m gonna say to people " that won’t happen for another 150 years".

      • blargerer@kbin.social
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        8 months ago

        Total solar eclipses in any given area only happen about once in 300 years I think? (I’m too lazy to go look up the exact math). So unless you are willing to travel the 150 year number isn’t that wrong.

          • Dave@lemmy.nz
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            8 months ago

            Doesn’t that say it changes slightly each year, so if you’re on the edge one time you may never see that cycle again and will need to wait until a different full eclipse reaches you?

          • ramjambamalam@lemmy.ca
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            8 months ago

            And it’s also entirely possible to travel, paying a premium for accommodations and flights, to an otherwise dull, small town in Texas, and it’s cloudy that day, so you’ve spent thousands of dollars, planning an entire vacation to an uninteresting destination for virtually nothing.

            So when one passes by your doorstep, it’s worth taking time our of your day to appreciate it, if possible.

              • ramjambamalam@lemmy.ca
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                8 months ago

                In some places, yes. In others, no. My point was that it’s an unpredictable risk (and still worthwhile for many people) to travel for an eclipse, and its much more convenient and lower risk to visit when it passes by where you live.

                What exactly is your point?

          • TheOakTree@lemm.ee
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            8 months ago

            Ah yes, surely people are willing to go to the middle of massive oceans on a boat to see the eclipse :P

          • Buddahriffic@lemmy.world
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            8 months ago

            If you have a space ship, you don’t even have to wait for them to hit Earth. There’s constantly total eclipses from each of the planets and moons. I’m very curious what a total eclipse from a body with an atmosphere would look like.

            • JackGreenEarth@lemm.ee
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              8 months ago

              What do you mean? Isn’t Earth a body with an atmosphere? Also, I get your point, but boats are a lot more accessible than spacecraft.

              • Buddahriffic@lemmy.world
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                8 months ago

                I mean where the eclisping body has an atmosphere. The moon is a solid body with hard edges. It can give total eclipses, annular eclipses (where the entire moon is surrounded by the sun but it doesn’t block the whole thing because it’s farther from the Earth), and partial eclipses (where they overlap but aren’t entirely on top of each other).

                Earth would make a different kind of shadow where there would be other variations depending on whether the planet itself and/or the atmosphere are fully or partially covering the sun.

                And then there’s Jupiter, where the atmosphere is much larger than the rocky core and the pressure is high enough that it’s not very well defined where the atmosphere transitions from gas to liquid to solid, which would probably give a different effect for eclipses. Though that depends on how opaque or transparent it is, also the sun’s apparent size would be smaller, so it might be kinda underwhelming.

  • TVgog56789@lemy.lol
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    8 months ago

    Solar eclipses happen every 1-3 years.

    But the darkest shadow called the umbra only falls in a very tiny place, slightly bigger than a few Districts and that shadow moves in a line and those places experience total solar eclipse.

    So next year there may be another solar eclipse but New York will not experience a total solar eclipse for a long time.

    Also two-thirds of the earth is water so most of the time the umbra falls on the sea.

  • Sam_Bass@lemmy.world
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    8 months ago

    Got lucky here as the clouds melted away enabling a good look from about 30% onward. Reinforced for me the fact that even though we are not even a microscopic part of the cosmic whole this event, also not a microscopic part of the infinity of the universe, is still a very moving and impressive thing

  • Tyrangle@lemmy.world
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    8 months ago

    Even with cloud cover, seeing it at home was something special. I know what it’s supposed to look and sound like at that hour. It wasn’t the same as night - I could still see sunlight on the horizon all around me. I could sense that the wildlife was confused by it - all the birds just flew to the tops of the trees and were trying to make sense of what was happening. The bugs went quiet, and we were all whispering for no apparent reason - it just felt appropriate. The slow descent into darkness was unsettling, especially under cloud cover - it felt like we were under the gaze of a passing giant we could not see. I was surprised by how relieved I felt when the light started to return. It wasn’t what I was expecting but the strangeness of it didn’t disappoint, and I don’t think seeing it away from home would have been quite the same.