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You always have the option of using the pinhole projection method rather than using direct viewing.

A pinhole projector can be created with nothing more than two sheets of stiff white paper or card. One sheet would have a pinhole in the middle and the other held some distance away is the "screen" where you can safely see the projected image of the Sun.

This is totally safe - no ISO certification needed.

https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/make-pinhole-projector.html

https://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/dont-have-eclipse-glasses-make-a-pinhole-projector-to-view-the-great-american-eclipse/70002363

As of the DarkSky weather update via the Total Solar Eclipse Live thread as of 12:01 am PDT:

Last updated August 15 2017, 12:01 pm PDT (7:01 pm UTC). Data from Dark Sky.

https://www.wunderground.com/DisplayDisc.asp?DiscussionCode=OHX&StateCode=TN&SafeCityName=Nashville

As for solar eclipse day, Mon, Aug. 21st, 12z Euro/12z GFS more in line with their respective solutions as compared to this time yesterday. Both are supporting a dirty ridge scenario, with broad upper level ridging influences, although there is a hint of a shortwave passage in the 12z GFS model solution. Sfc front should remain southwest of mid state. Thus, thus any convection development with be more than likely diurnal driven. Temps expected to initially cool and then warm up again during the 21/18z-21/20z time frame. This could play a role in limiting convective development too. Latest superblend progged pops solution giving a Cornucopia of potential pop categories ranging from slight chance to likely across mid state and am not in agreement with this. However, do agree with superblend sky condition forecast of generally ptcldy skies. Variable sky conditions will probably be the norm for that day. Thus, with all the above considered, will go with ptcldy skies with the potential of iso light to MDT shwrs/tstms most of mid state. Areas farther to the west away from the path of totality will have the potential of experiencing sct shwrs/tstms.

Douglas, Wyoming has this OPTION. It's only 50 miles east of Casper on I-25, so may have a similar weather pattern. This information is 3 or 4 days old, so no telling how many people might already be planning to use this viewing site.

Some of the packages I found included a flight from Miami to Santiago, but you were responsible for getting to Miami.

> If you see a good rate in the path now, can you be reasonably assured of keeping that rate, or even that property, as the event gets closer? I am asking because I have no experience on how good Airbnb is on those kind of things.

I was wondering this as well. I did some googling and found that Airbnb has very hard policies for hosts who cancel reservations. They do not let them rebook those dates and they automatically lose their valuable Superhost status. Here's some info.

Is there a way to check the NAM to account for low, mid, and high level clouds? I've been religious checking GFS and the European model daily on windy.com and high level clouds seems more the issue in Missouri for me, which is a good thing.

Low level clouds is what really blocks the sun. Mid may be a nuisance, but high level clouds, from my understanding, will not be that big of a deal.

I'm in a very similar situation - but in the Nashville area. I'm literally "just" inside the edge with 0:15s, but will be driving towards the centerline anyway. Fortunately, despite me having to cross 3 interstates to get to where I want to go - I am taking nothing but backroads and avoiding roads that have an interchange with the interstate itself (going over/under instead). I'm fairly confident that I'll make it to within 2-3 miles of CL, but have a backup small town 10 miles off CL that's in the middle of nowhere. My dilemma is trying to balance what time to leave vs. unknown traffic vs having a wife and young child with me that will keep entertained for only so long.
My current thinking is to check Waze live traffic map before I leave home (on fiber internet) starting at 5am and then a 7am departure for a normal 1 hour drive and adjust accordingly.

Awesome pic. I love sunspots - too bad there haven't been to many lately. As a ham radio operator, it hurts (limits long-distance radio contacts).

I bought a Canon SX530HS a few months ago on sale, currently $250 at Amazon. Here's a moon pic I took when I got it. ISO 100, F/6.5, 1/80 sec. It was racked out at 215mm or '50x' optical. I actually had to keep tweaking the tripod to keep the moon in frame since it was moving so quickly. I haven't tried with my SLR, but given the size of the sensors in these new cameras and the size of the lenses, I seriously doubt my 200mm lens would get anywhere near this level of magnification.

Now to see if I can find a filter or piece of viewing film that will fit over the lens!

Two things:

1. I've been playing with an Android weather app (Flowx) since the developer PMed me about it. He added a feature to overlay the path and the timing of total eclipse on top of the cloud cover/precipitation forecast animation. I can't explain it well, just try it: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.enzuredigital.weatherbomb&hl=en Data for the free version is available 7 days in advance.

2. If a storm front is forecast to move through East TN a day or two before the 21st, and if nighttime temperatures are forecast to drop into the low 60's or lower for the 20th and 21st, you're golden. This is a typical summer weather pattern for us and signals clear blue skies.

I'd recommend an app like this one that can tell you the exact location of the path and the duration from your location. As I recall, the app was prompted on SmarterEveryDay. I'd check that app against the NASA chart.

The fact that two eclipses cross the U.S. within 7 years of each other is a combination of three things: the beauty of the saros cycle, and the fact that we live in North America, and are alive at this particular time. Eclipses repeat themselves, the basic shape of their path, in the saros cycle, which is 18 years, 8 days, and 11 hours. Every 18y 11d 8h the path moves westward 120°. There are about 42 active saros cycles at any time of which about 21 produce central eclipses that cross all over the earth (between 2 to 5 per year). Ascending node eclipses drift southward as the saros progresses and descending node eclipses drift northward as the saros progresses. A single saros lasts about 1,200 years as it marches up or down the globe. Read my article about 2017 and 2024 at AccuWeather here https://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-blogs/astronomy/4-years-away-from-the-2024-total-solar-eclilpse/716326

I wrote an article for AccuWeather about the crossing point of the 2017 and 2024 eclipse paths. Since you were in Carbondale you might enjoy the article. https://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-blogs/astronomy/4-years-away-from-the-2024-total-solar-eclilpse/716326

Yep, that was where it was bad. I wrote an article for AccuWeather that discusses having options for observing positions. And I talk about a lady in Missouri. https://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-blogs/astronomy/total-solar-eclipse-on-april-8-2024-is-3-years-away/926730

You are welcome to come stay with us!
https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/20496468 RV & Tent Camping plus offerings of Excursions to 2 minutes of totality and a steak dinner Sunday night! EDIT: We are also only 35 miles from Alliance. As a native, I would be happy to try to help you with any other questions you may have such as viewing suggestions, etc.

I have an airbnb booked here for $40 a night. It's some land converted into campgrounds. It's located in Tellico Plains, TN in the center of the totality. They still have bookings available, 25 total sites. It's a good place to dock, and if you get there early enough and the weather sucks you'll still have time to head out to clearer skies.

The link you are looking at is for forecasts that are more than 24 hours out. There is no such a thing as a reliable thunderstorm forecast more than 36 hours in future. You can get a pretty good rough idea of what is going to happen in 48 hours if you watch air mass movements like chredit suggested >If a storm front is forecast to move through East TN a day or two before the 21st, and if nighttime temperatures are forecast to drop into the low 60's or lower for the 20th and 21st, you're golden.

12-24 hours prior you can look at real time RADAR to see where the clouds are and which way they are going.

https://www.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/findweather/getForecast?query=kceu

I looked specifically in the San Antonio area because we have family there, and their April cloud cover isn't too bad, for April being such a rainy month in general around the country. I want to say 2/3 of the days in the first half of April were either clear or mostly clear. I'll try to find that info I looked at.

Edit, here we go. I was wrong. It's generally about a 50/50 chance of clear skies (or mostly clear skies). Link

Edit 2: Oh wait, that last link was March. Let me look again.

Edit 3: More of the same. 50/50 Link to April

If coming from that far, why not in an area with historically clear weather at this time of the year (e.g. Oregon, and to a lesser extent Idaho)? Though maybe the forecast is clear for Nebraska, I'll check......

Okay, almost all of Nebraska is forecasted to be "partly cloudy," whereas Wyoming is looking good, at least according to this source: https://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-blogs/astronomy/latest-cloud-forecast-for-eclipse-adventure-to-get-to-totality/70002513

I won't be making the trip due to a health issue, but good luck to you!

Round trip flights from DC to Denver are $277

It can get much cheaper if you do it through multiple cities. For example, you could fly from DC to Denver for $101, rent a car and see the eclipse somewhere in Nebraska, and then fly from Omaha to DC on Monday or Tuesday for $89. Just gotta make sure your rental lets you drop the car off in a different city. Flights out of the hotspots are actually reasonable, so you just gotta find a city to fly into that isn't too far.

Hey there, I am currently planning my road trip from Nor California to Omaha, (Then going to Grand Island NE Monday) I am searching high and low for great trip planning websites and apps, and finding nothing to my liking, BUT, for you, these might be just what you're looking for: Roadtrippers (https://roadtrippers.com/) has loads of stuff for you to select for your map layers, like attractions, and stuff. I am planning a multi day cross country trip, it was not robust enough for me. I don;t know where I am going to be in Grand Island on the 21st, still working on finding a local astronomy group to tag along with. Good luck!

If you go to the bottom of the Sway I put together, you'll see a campus map, which I'll refer to in this message. The district greatly expanded the parking capacity at the middle school.

Lot 1 is an all new parking area. This is what we'll fill first. Lot 2, the area around the tennis courts, was expanded. We will fill this second. The entrance to both of these lots is off of Richards. Lot 3 has its entrance from Wind River, and we will fill that lot last. The streets in Douglas are very wide, accommodating easy on-street parking in the event that the lots fill up. Wind River Drive will be the best bet of on street parking as it really just winds its way through a mostly undeveloped business park. The community college is across the street, and they may allow parking in its lot, too. Great question - hope to see you there!

> but do you think I could get something like this

Yup. The multiple exposure thing is a little challenging to pull off technically, that looks to me like it was shot with maybe somewhere between a 50-100 mm.

Fred Espenak's page has lots of info for photography.

Of course you will need a proper solar filter for your camera lens. Amazon is still advertising a good-quality 4x4 Thousand Oaks filter sheet, but the price has gone up ten bucks just since yesterday.

https://www.amazon.com/Solar-Filter-Telescopes-Binoculars-Cameras/dp/B00DS7IFQS/ref=sr_1_1

If you have a filter, practice with it NOW, you don't need to wait for an eclipse.

Bracketing refers to making a bunch of other exposures over- and under-exposed from the "correct" exposure. So if I said bracket 3 stops over and under, and let's say the camera says the "correct" exposure is 1/60 at F/8, then you'd shoot (all at F/8):

1/8, 1/15, 1/30, 1/60, 1/125, 1/250, 1/500

Some modern cameras can be set to do that for you automatically, check the user manual.

I use the quotes on correct because there really isn't any one correct exposure during an eclipse, different exposures will give you different results. The exception to that is when you are shooting with the solar filter on your camera. Then there will be one correct exposure that gives you the best image. Practice now.

I have a set of close up filters for macro photography and I'm wondering if I put it a few in front of a piece of paper in the direct path of the sun if it'll show the eclipse. Or do I still need an aperture?

These are the filters: I have the +1,+2 and +4 https://www.amazon.ca/Vivitar-Close-Up-Macro-Filter-Pouch/dp/B004DRCEDW/ref=sr_1_6?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1503176242&sr=1-6&keywords=58mm+macro+filter

Thanks!

These frames here: Hobart 770096 Welding Oxy-Acetylene Goggle - 50mm Eye Cup https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0017Z04SK/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_Qd0KzbSES0KHF

With these lenses here: 50mm Circular Welding Lens, Green IR Shade 14 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B006Y9USNK/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_Se0KzbDT7NZKE

Should get you 14 shade goggles for the eclipse but you better hurry!

Celestron EclipSmart 2017 North American Total Solar Eclipse Binocular, Black, 10x25 (71237) https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01MAX8ZB7/ref=od_aui_detailpages00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Make sure you understand this binocular is for solar viewing only. The solar filters are built directly into the objective lenses. I bought these on Prime Day and they do the job.