Question For Eclipse Totality Veterans

[WEDWDW]

Having only seen 85% Eclipses I am intrigued as to what makes Totality so awesome with comments like "Life Changing","Greatest thing I have ever seen","It made me cry",I was speechless" being common.

For those who have experienced Totality is it the RARITY of the event that makes it so amazing or is it that the event is so beyond spectacular that nothing else in Nature compares.

Let's say that Sunsets where the Sky becomes "on fire" with spectacular colors everywhere only happened once every 18 months somewhere on the Earth and every other day the Sun just plopped down below the Horizon without a hint of any color.

And let's say that Total Eclipse with Totality happened EACH day everywhere.

Would things be reversed and people would say "I saw a Sunset in my 20s and it was the most amazing thing I have ever seen-I hope to see another one before I die.".

And would people occasionally say things like "Honey,hurry,Totality is so good today,you need to see it ,it is even better than yesterday" or "Honey I booked us a Totality Cruise when we go on Vacation this Summer."

Or would people say that seeing that once in a lifetime Sunset was really cool,but it doesn't compare to the daily Totality.

So is a big part of experiencing Totality the rarity of it or is it just so darn SPECTACULAR that the most magnificent Sunset doesn't even compare.

 

[Captain UP]

Wow. That's a really great question. I am personally a totality veteran as of about 22 hours ago- Cleveland, Oh.

It was truly amazing. When the moon had totally eclipsed the sun, it was pitch dark and all you could see was a bright halo in the sky. Or, if you looked a bit differently, the moon was perfectly back lit! And you could literally with the naked eye see solar flares coming out from behind it.

Not to cop out on the answer, but the rarity AND the spectacular nature were both it for me.

 

[Skippy918]

I would say the rareness plus just not really knowing what to expect. I didn’t know it was going to get really dark outside. Pictures did not do it justice. It seemed kind of eery at the same time. I’m glad I didn’t have to travel anywhere to witness totality.

 

[piglet1979]

We were in the path of totality yesterday. It is extremely cool to be apart of it. I think mostly because we will not be able to experience it again as it won't happen here until 2099. It is hard to describe. We dropped 11 degrees in a short during totality. It also got dusty/hazy looking. As it gets darker it got quieter outside. You didn't hear all the birds and animals as they think it is night time. I heard you should be able to hear the crickets and night time animals but around here people were setting off fireworks during totality and yelling.

It is just super cool to experience it.

 

[cabanafrau]

It was definitely a unique experience. I was especially struck by the 360-degree "sunset" during totality, the surprising sudden chill in the air followed by the very perceptible immediate uptick in temp the moment we began departing totality, and the way that bright colors were so noticeably toned down while only blue tones retained their intensity.

 

[unrequited23]

We were in totality yesterday. For me it was cool, but not life changing. I almost feel broken because it was not the amazing, earth shattering experience other people were having. It was neat to experience but pretty much what I expected.

 

[irlandaise]

WEDWDW, if the sun disappeared every day for a few minutes, a total eclipse would still be gorgeous, but you're right that it wouldn't have the same emotional effect as it does now.

I've seen five total eclipses, the most recent one (2017) after a lapse of 26 years. That one gobsmacked me just like the first time. It's just so wrong for the sun to suddenly not be there. It's a stunning event that one just has to see to believe.

 

[TiggerTrigger]

I had experienced a number of partials before yesterday. I've also seen countless pictures showing the visual differences between the phases vs. the spectacle of totality. Don't get me wrong...I think partials are neat too, but it is absolutely nothing compared to what I just witnessed.

I don't love thinking it's just because of the rarity. Yes, some is that this doesn't happen every day and the odds of getting yourself into the path of totality more than once during your lifetime is certainly a factor. That being said, it was such a dramatic experience from the everyday and the partials that rarity isn't the big reason for the excitement and emotional responses.

The very noticeable temperature dip, the changing tone of the sky before totality and the response from wildlife adds to the impact. Some people say that natural dusk is no different, but when your body is saying it's 1:30 in the afternoon, your normal body rhythms start to tell you something is "off." Still, it is wild to see birds of prey start swooping in to begin ingrained dusk hunting instincts as things dimmed. The really loud birds in the trees near me quieting down made it stand out even more. I was grossly unprepared for the moment of totality. The varying stages of daily natural dusk and twilight are gradual. This was like a light switch flipped in the sky. It was sudden and jarring...in the coolest way. It gives you so much perspective on why this scared the living daylights out of ancient civilizations. Seeing things like Baily's beads and then the corona suddenly appear was like having a copy of National Geographic come to life in front of your eyes...except, unlike the pictures, it had movement and changes. I had the benefit of a super telephoto lens on my camera, so it was like having a handheld telescope whenever I looked through my viewfinder. I would go back and forth between looking at it through the lens and my naked eyes just to remind myself that this was real. Seeing Jupiter and Venus at 1:30 in the afternoon was one of those things that hit me about 3 minutes in. Catching the look of twilight all around the horizon was also cool...like a 360 degree late phase sunset. Watching the light start to illuminate the prominences and abruptly shift to the diamond ring was like the heavens shining a spotlight down from the sky before the even more jarring shift back to 99% on the back end.

Now, I knew before going into this that I was going to be moved and wowed. I've been fascinated by this since I was a kid and terribly envious that my parents got to see totality in TN back in 2017. Still, I encountered quite a few people that witnessed this yesterday that went from "what's the big deal" to "OMG, we need to find a way to get to totality for the next one!"

 

[_19disnA]

I also don't get those with that whole 'life changing' experience thing either. Those on the Weather Channel always seem to provide over the top reporting on anything they are talking about. It might be a snowstorm, hurricane or eclipse but they all sound about the same. Astronomers with some huge lens on their camera perhaps got a few unique pictures. But the whole thing only last about 3 minutes in any one place.

 

[RedAngie]

It was a nice experience but I wouldn’t call it life changing or even awesome.

Then again I’m hard to impress.

 

[mickeyboat]

I witnessed totality yesterday on a lake shore in Northern Vermont. It wasn't a life-changing experience, but it was really really cool. During totality the only word I could utter was "wow" because it was so incredibly surprising and beautiful. I wish it had lasted longer (we had about 3 1/2 minutes), and I wish I was more prepared in advance for what I was going to see so that I could have noticed the nuances.

All of the strangers who spent the day with us were so kind and generous and excited and happy - it was a real pleasure to have shared this experience with them. People with telescopes and other neat instruments were letting everyone else look. No one pushed or shoved or blocked anyone's view.

It took us 5 1/2 hours to get 120 miles home in bumper to bumper, crawling traffic last night. We stopped at a highway-side port-a-potty and everyone else who was in the same traffic was still kind and generous and excited and happy. Today I am exhausted, but it was so worth it.

 

[DisneyTeacher]

Not life changing but yesterday was amazing. I only saw a partial eclipse in 2017 and that was nothing compared to what I saw yesterday. It was a very cool experience seeing totality. From the dropping temperature, the darkness, seeing the diamond ring…. Pictures don’t do it justice.

I planned yesterday for seven years after missing totality last time and it didn’t disappoint. Far from it.

 

[runwad]

It was spectacular! I had my whole family over yesterday for it. We made it a party. They all thought I was a bit of a wack a doodle for making such a big deal about it. Some didn't want to come because of hearing the national guard was going to be called for traffic( hint, we weren't impacted by traffic and everyone made it home just fine). The naysayers who didn't see what the big deal was because they see night every day, walked away saying, you were right, that was pretty cool. People talking about it and pictures just don't do it justice, you really have to experience it for yourself. And honestly, having my family and friends around me experiencing it together just made it all the grand of an experience. Plus the fact we got a little divine intervention in the perfect viewing conditions with no clouds. I won't be around for the next totality in 2099, but don't think I'm not thinking about maybe road tripping out west for the next one in 2044 if I'm able at my advanced age.

 

[bsmcneil]

I was in the same city for the 2017 eclipse (partial) and 2024 (total). I recalled 2017 as being neat but had no feelings about it. (granted, some personal health things have me in my feelings more these days ...) This year - yesterday - I felt something pretty strong. I do think it's the rarity; it also very much was a feeling of, "I can only imagine what people 100 years ago would've felt upon experiencing this - or 500 years ago." I don't think pictures did it justice (there was something indescribable about the light effect at like 95-96-97%). I talked about it with my kids a lot - what would it be like if Earth was always like this? It was as if the entire earth was on a dimmer switch; and even though I feel like a rational, intelligent human being who fears almost nothing "scary" - there is honestly a part of me that felt some visceral animalistic concern as things darkened in a different way than I expected (the darkening also occurred in 2017 but not to the same extent and I don't recall feeling as nervous about it, even though at the time I had a 1 year old and was probably sleep-deprived, lol).

Anyway. It was something. Makes me (doesn't everything) think of a line from The West Wing about how, "You know how everyone says don't miss the Grand Canyon but you can't imagine it's really that big of a deal? It's one of those things that doesn't disappoint." It really didn't.

 

[irlandaise]

I don't think pictures did it justice (there was something indescribable about the light effect at like 95-96-97%).

Yep, the light you see during an eclipse is different from what you're normally able to see when the sun is overpowering everything else in the sky:

https://www.americanscientist.org/blog/macroscope/studying-the-light-of-the-eclipse

And you can notice the difference well before totality, although of course it's most dramatic then.

 

[leebee]

I stayed home in 99.3% of totality and while it was a very cool phenomenon, I am kicking myself for not driving the hour to be someplace with totality. Schedules didn't work out in advance (although in real time, we could have driven somewhere) so no totality for me. I'm very bummed.

 

[MICKIMINI]

We are in NH about 50 miles east of path of totality. I saw a jet flying south west to north east just prior to the eclipse and guess it was a "tourist" flight. It did not get as dark as I expected. We live on a mountain surrounded by lakes and I did note birds flying every which way before the eclipse. After, DH noticed three huge hawks circling back and forth to the lake in a weird pattern.

 

[slo]

We had 95% totality by me and it was a very cool experience, but definitely not life changing or making me cry with emotion. I saw many people on the news crying, and I don’t get it. But then again, I cry like a baby every time I see HEA at WDW and the eclipse criers are probably thinking I’m crazy for crying during a fireworks show - LOL! Everyone has their emotional triggers and the eclipse was not mine. I respected it and I’m glad I experienced it, but that’s about it.

 

[indimom]

I do think the rarity is part of it. Even beautiful sunsets get routine if you see them all the time.
That said, the eclipse was amazing; and, certainly ranked with some of the most beautiful sunsets I've ever seen.
I had seen a partial eclipse in the past; and, was underwhelmed by that experience. It was just "interesting." Not beautiful or amazing. This was very different. And it happens so quickly, you only have limited time to really enjoy it.
Previously, I thought it was odd that people would travel to see an eclipse; but, that's because I was basing it on the partial eclipse experience; and, there is really no comparison between the two.
This was so much better than I expected; and, it changed my opinion. Both DH and I agreed, we would consider traveling to see another eclipse if we have the opportunity.

 

[irlandaise]

I'm so sorry for those of you who were within driving distance of the path of totality but couldn't go for some reason or another. Anything short of totality is a completely different experience. I hope you can get to a total eclipse sometime. It's a great excuse for traveling somewhere you've been wanting to visit anyway.