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What Really Just Happened (Eclipse Science for Dummies)
Sure, lots of people are talking about the eclipse and how awesome it was. They had their NASA glasses and pinhole cameras. But do they really understand this phenomenon? They think they do but most are just faking it. As a public service to Ricochetti as they hobnob with fellow partisans of astro-doohickey-gawking and what not, they can thank me for providing this clear illustration of what an eclipse actually is. Study this illustration and then you will be able to set everyone straight.
As a bonus, next time a Lunar Eclipse occurs in your area, you will be ahead of the crowd if you memorize this:
There you go. Arm yourself with knowledge and rule your friends!
Published in Science & Technology
Go ahead. Toot your own horn.
Best quote of the day, from where I sat, which was at the farm, and within 2 miles of the central line of the path of totality.
Sister-in-law to Lil Skinner, about 45 minutes before totality: you need to watch this, it won’t happen again for 350 years. You won’t see this again in your lifetime.
Lil Skinner: I quit smoking.
Do they make a special version of Lunar Eclipse Sunscreen? or do we just give up the ghost that day? <sar/off>
The real cause of global warming?
Exactly…just what I was thinking.
That first picture looks wrong. Are they still making the Corolla?
I bet they even used the same sound stage that they used for the moon landing. I mean, moon “landing.”
Where he lives, totality must’ve occurred at too-farty.
They have a plant on the Outer Banks of NC.
I feel that counter-Earth is just a bourgeois construct enabling the suppression of an equitable distribution of eclipses. In fact there is an eclipse every month. It is just the sort of thing that…that…ah…ah…SYZYGY!! (gesundheit!)
…<sniff>…
Never mind.
Google just fired an employee who sent out a memo suggesting that some months don’t get solar eclipses.
Yes! We must acknowledge this brilliant book. It is hands-down the funniest book that I have ever seen in my life. I love sharing it with people who visit my home. When I first encountered it in a college book store almost 30 years ago I giggled so much that I had to buy it and get out of there to avoid embarrassing myself in public. He perfectly nails that kind of science illustration from elementary school textbooks from the 50s-60s. The tone is spot on with a delightful absurdity. Get a copy if you can. (Amazon link)
Here is a link to the author Tom Weller’s website. It is also a hoot.
Same here!
One of the things that really happened during the eclipse was this:
When we left home to drive to totalitytown for the eclipse, all our celery was straight, to the best of my recollection. When we came back, this.
anonymous, does the electric universe theory have an explanation for this?
My daughter was watching the eclipse with her boss. Next to them a nurse from another physicians office was next to them. As it got close to maximum ( not totality here), the temperate was noticeably dropping.
The nurse says ” wow, I never would have thought the sun has such an effect on the temperature “.
My daughter and boss just looked at each other and burst out laughing.