In the Shadow of the Moon

Scott Hardie | July 22, 2017
There's a pretty big eclipse coming up. Do you plan to observe it? Do you plan to drive into the "totality" region if you aren't there already? What are your thoughts about the excitement around it?

Erik Bates | July 24, 2017
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Samir Mehta | July 24, 2017
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Scott Hardie | July 27, 2017
Considering how much other space stuff appeals to me, for some reason I've never felt excitement about watching celestial events from the ground, like eclipses or blood moons or comets. Maybe it's that the hype about exclusivity rings false: People talk about them like they're rare events, but they seem to keep happening every few years. I should definitely make a point of seeing an eclipse in my lifetime, but a trip to the midwest next month to see this one isn't going to be in the cards for me. :-\

Aaron Shurtleff | July 27, 2017
Scott, couldn't you just go up to South Carolina? I mean, it's still a trip, but it's a lot closer to you than the mid-west. Or I might have mis-read the eclipse map, but I thought just north of Charleston would get the full eclipse. Charleston is a pretty nice city.

I am going to see what I get in Maryland. I can't really blow off work this time, unfortunately. I am wondering how much this might affect things at work, though. If it gets too dark, I'm not sure of the wisdom of having myself and my crew doing the usual field sampling, just for the sake of safety.

Scott Hardie | July 28, 2017
The problem is getting time off, since the eclipse will be on a Monday. I've used up some PTO lately from being sick, and I'm saving what's left for a family visit and hopefully a vacation next year. If the eclipse was happening on a weekend, I'd head up there.

Matthew Preston | August 21, 2017
Well, that was neat! I didn't travel anywhere, but we had an 83% coverage area here in Milwaukee. I am envious of the folks that got to experience 100% totality however. The live NASA streams from Oregon and Idaho looked amazing.

Scott Hardie | August 21, 2017
Nice! I skipped trying to view it from here without safety glasses, but we kept the projector at the office tuned to live coverage throughout the event. Kelly and I are already talking about a trip to Texas in 2024 to see the next full eclipse. There's one coming right to central Florida in 2045, but I don't want to wait that long. :-)

Erik Bates | August 22, 2017
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Scott Hardie | August 24, 2017
Sounds awesome! :-) I've heard similar comments by other people. I look forward to seeing it myself next time, whatever it takes.

Erik Bates | August 25, 2017
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Scott Hardie | August 25, 2017
We might just do that!