A Concerto of the Spheres

 

On Monday, Aug. 21, I will be attending a concert of sorts. While sitting at a vineyard in Wyoming, I will be drinking wine, wearing goofy glasses, and watching a show rapt in what I am sure will be utter amazement. And while I can’t speak for anyone else who might attend, I can tell you in all seriousness that I personally have been waiting for this particular performance for 45 years.

At some time between this 21st-century age of digital data on demand and the 18th-century age of Diderot embarking on his ridiculously ambitious project, a seven-year-old me could often be found perusing any volume of my family’s collection of encyclopedias. And while I loved the children’s articles on optical illusions and kite-making, and the color plates of the flags of the world, what drew my interest the most was a 50-year table of future total solar eclipses.

That table vexed me. I returned to it time and again in disbelief that I would have to wait forever, or at least until 2017, for a total solar eclipse to occur in the United States — and by that time, I would be old. Adding to my frustration of such a long wait was the knowledge that the little Connecticut town in which I lived was nowhere remotely close to where the totality of that eclipse would occur. It seemed all but hopeless.

As time passed, technology sprinted, and those volumes became obsolete, and I followed the orbit of my life. Along it I found other interests, and that encyclopedic table became a forgotten obsession of childhood — or so it would seem.

On the morning of June 8, 2004, I woke my family before sunrise. We drove to Roxbury Airport — a point near our town that has both the highest elevation and an unobstructed view. To my surprise, it turned out that I was not the only one with the idea of heading there. When we arrived at that antiquated airport, now a farmer’s field, it was filled with members of the Astronomical Society of New Haven and their solar-filtered telescopes. We were all there for the same reason: to view an event that had last occurred in 1882: the Venus Transit.

As the sun rose, our spirits fell a bit. It appeared that New England weather, a constant bane to amateur astronomers, was again not co-operating: a cover of clouds had moved in to obscure the Sun and the Transit.

Then, suddenly, the clouds broke — and an incredibly rare confluence of time, angle, haze, and elevation intersected in just the right way. We all stood there — I, my wife and son, and seasoned astronomers from the ASNH — dumbstruck as we were able to view with naked eye a rising Sun bearing a shadow of Venus as it made its 122 year awaited transit across the Sun’s disk.

That morning at Roxbury Airport rekindled my childhood fascination with astronomy. I joined the ASNH. I and my son spent many hours behind the giant telescopes that Yale University had entrusted to their care. In 2012, I was with the ASNH again to view the second Venus Transit — the last one until December 2117.

But despite my re-found interest in astronomy, I had honestly forgotten about my long-awaited solar eclipse of 2017. Yet today, I and my family live in Wyoming – a short two-hour drive to Table Mountain Vineyards and the path of totality. There were many things that led us to Wyoming, not the least of which was the descent of Connecticut into an absolute, raving, socialist fever dream — the criteria I used when choosing Wyoming were political and economic.

But still, I must confess, I do find it awe-inspiring how objects and events have a way of aligning.

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  1. Randy Webster Inactive
    Randy Webster
    @RandyWebster

    Doctor Robert (View Comment):
    Go to the office. Totality is like nothing you have ever seen. It is awesome, it is soul-shattering. Don’t take photos. Just see it.

    Actually, it is like something I’ve seen.  I’m pretty sure I saw a total when I was in France in 1959 or 1960.

    • #31
  2. Trink Coolidge
    Trink
    @Trink

    A beautiful read Rick.   We’ve made reservations in three states.  The weather will determine where we end up.  Our son will join us. His focus is planetary science/ space physics. We traveled to Aruba for the ’98 eclipse.   Hard to explain to those who’ve never experienced a total eclipse  – just how moving it is.

     

     

    • #32
  3. Lois Lane Coolidge
    Lois Lane
    @LoisLane

    I also enjoyed the article.  I know nothing about astronomy, but I’ve skied in Wyoming.  On any run-of-the-mill evening, there are lots of stars in that there sky.

    I hope the weather is perfect for your eclipse.

    • #33
  4. Front Seat Cat Member
    Front Seat Cat
    @FrontSeatCat

    Chuckles (View Comment):
    Thanks for the info: I get 2 minutes 38 seconds of totality.

    How do you figure out the time for your area?

    • #34
  5. Front Seat Cat Member
    Front Seat Cat
    @FrontSeatCat

    Trink (View Comment):
    A beautiful read Rick. We’ve made reservations in three states. The weather will determine where we end up. Our son will join us. His focus is planetary science/ space physics. We traveled to Aruba for the ’98 eclipse. Hard to explain to those who’ve never experienced a total eclipse – just how moving it is.

    It’s also a powerful spiritual symbol –

    • #35
  6. Doctor Robert Member
    Doctor Robert
    @DoctorRobert

    Randy Webster (View Comment):

    Doctor Robert (View Comment):
    Go to the office. Totality is like nothing you have ever seen. It is awesome, it is soul-shattering. Don’t take photos. Just see it.

    Actually, it is like something I’ve seen. I’m pretty sure I saw a total when I was in France in 1959 or 1960.

    That would have been 2/15/61.  If you’re only “pretty sure” then you likely did not, or you were very young.

    Even if you did a total in 1961, see one again!

    http://xjubier.free.fr/en/site_pages/SolarEclipsesGoogleMaps.html

    • #36
  7. Miffed White Male Member
    Miffed White Male
    @MiffedWhiteMale

    Doctor Robert (View Comment):

    Randy Webster (View Comment):

    Doctor Robert (View Comment):
    Go to the office. Totality is like nothing you have ever seen. It is awesome, it is soul-shattering. Don’t take photos. Just see it.

    Actually, it is like something I’ve seen. I’m pretty sure I saw a total when I was in France in 1959 or 1960.

    That would have been Sept 5, 1960. If you’re only “pretty sure” then you likely did not, or you were very young.

    Even if you did a total in 1960, see one again!

    https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/5MCLE/5MCLE-Figs-10.pdf

    That link is to Lunar eclipses.

    • #37
  8. Randy Webster Inactive
    Randy Webster
    @RandyWebster

    Doctor Robert (View Comment):

    Randy Webster (View Comment):

    Doctor Robert (View Comment):
    Go to the office. Totality is like nothing you have ever seen. It is awesome, it is soul-shattering. Don’t take photos. Just see it.

    Actually, it is like something I’ve seen. I’m pretty sure I saw a total when I was in France in 1959 or 1960.

    That would have been 2/15/61. If you’re only “pretty sure” then you likely did not, or you were very young.

    Even if you did a total in 1961, see one again!

    http://xjubier.free.fr/en/site_pages/SolarEclipsesGoogleMaps.html

    I was only 9.  We looked at it through smoked glass.

    I fully intend to see this one.  We get 1’26” of totality at the office.

    • #38
  9. Bob W Member
    Bob W
    @BobW

    For the July, 1991 eclipse I booked on a cruise in the gulf of Mexico. They had several astronomers giving lectures and after cruising around the Gulf the ship was positioned right on the centerline of totality. Clear skies and an awe inspiring sight. It was a pretty hot day but it was remarkable how much it cooled when fully eclipsed. A special sight was to be able to see the planet Mercury just off to the side of the eclipse, high in the daytime sky.  The deck was covered with some very serious equipment  and some not so much.  Those on board ranged from degreed astromenters to flaky hippies. The hippies wanting to get their crystals energised. Could make out some very serious solar flares and the “Wedding Ring” was to knock your sox off. The time of totality was close to seven minutes, it was one of the longest. I didn’t have a camera set up but there was so many there that had we just purchased some of their photos.

    It is quite a moving experience, as the eclipse ended my wife and I heard some elderly gentleman behind us say “now I can die”

     

    • #39
  10. Bob W Member
    Bob W
    @BobW

    I did want  to see this one, especially since the ’91 was so memorable.  I knew I should be making reservations a couple of years ago but didn’t and now none are available.  Looking at the logistics of maybe just driving up without having a place to stay before the eclipse is probably not a good idea.  Factoring in the length of drive, the shortness of totality, weather and the inevitability of massive gridlock as hundreds of millions of people try to get into that narrow band across the US; I will probably pass.

     

    • #40
  11. Rick Poach Member
    Rick Poach
    @RickPoach

    OldDan Rhody (View Comment):

    Doctor Robert (View Comment):
    Don’t take photos. Just see it.

    This is important. I wasted my single eclipse experience in 1979 by taking photos rather than just experiencing it. Don’t do that.

    Thanks for the advice, Old Dan. And thanks for reading.

    • #41
  12. Rick Poach Member
    Rick Poach
    @RickPoach

    Cow Girl (View Comment):

    MJBubba (View Comment):
    MJBubba

    When I was a Boy Scout we drove to North Carolina and camped in the Joyce Kilmer Forest. We weren’t in the umbra but we were close. What I had not anticipated was the way the birds all started singing their goodnights and settled down for the night at two o’clock in the afternoon. The forest was astoundingly quiet at the full extent of the eclipse.

    I remember a partial eclipse when I was still living in Wyoming. (a really long time ago…I was 18) I’d just finished the morning milking, and I was putting hay in the feeders. I saw all the birds fly back into the big pine trees in my mother’s yard, and all the cows went back into their sleeping shed. It didn’t last long, and as the light began to return all the birds and cows just resumed their morning routines. Weird…

    Thanks for reading, Cow Girl.

    • #42
  13. Rick Poach Member
    Rick Poach
    @RickPoach

    James Gawron (View Comment):
    Rick,

    Regards,

    Jim

    Thanks for reading, Jim.

    • #43
  14. Rick Poach Member
    Rick Poach
    @RickPoach

    Trink (View Comment):
    A beautiful read Rick. We’ve made reservations in three states. The weather will determine where we end up. Our son will join us. His focus is planetary science/ space physics. We traveled to Aruba for the ’98 eclipse. Hard to explain to those who’ve never experienced a total eclipse – just how moving it is.

    Thank you, Trink. And thanks for reading.

    • #44
  15. Rick Poach Member
    Rick Poach
    @RickPoach

    Lois Lane (View Comment):
    I also enjoyed the article. I know nothing about astronomy, but I’ve skied in Wyoming. On any run-of-the-mill evening, there are lots of stars in that there sky.

    I hope the weather is perfect for your eclipse.

    Thank you, Lois. And thanks for reading.

    • #45
  16. Rick Poach Member
    Rick Poach
    @RickPoach

    Front Seat Cat (View Comment):

    Trink (View Comment):
    A beautiful read Rick. We’ve made reservations in three states. The weather will determine where we end up. Our son will join us. His focus is planetary science/ space physics. We traveled to Aruba for the ’98 eclipse. Hard to explain to those who’ve never experienced a total eclipse – just how moving it is.

    It’s also a powerful spiritual symbol –

    Thanks for reading, FSC.

    • #46
  17. Rick Poach Member
    Rick Poach
    @RickPoach

    Bob W (View Comment):
    For the July, 1991 eclipse I booked on a cruise in the gulf of Mexico. They had several astronomers giving lectures and after cruising around the Gulf the ship was positioned right on the centerline of totality. Clear skies and an awe inspiring sight. It was a pretty hot day but it was remarkable how much it cooled when fully eclipsed. A special sight was to be able to see the planet Mercury just off to the side of the eclipse, high in the daytime sky. The deck was covered with some very serious equipment and some not so much. Those on board ranged from degreed astromenters to flaky hippies. The hippies wanting to get their crystals energised. Could make out some very serious solar flares and the “Wedding Ring” was to knock your sox off. The time of totality was close to seven minutes, it was one of the longest. I didn’t have a camera set up but there was so many there that had we just purchased some of their photos.

    It is quite a moving experience, as the eclipse ended my wife and I heard some elderly gentleman behind us say “now I can die”

    Thanks for reading, Bob.

    • #47
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