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xkcd #2914: Eclipse Coolnesss
(imgs.xkcd.com)
Alt text:
A partial eclipse is like a cool sunset. A total eclipse is like someone broke the sky.
I'm curious what does an eclipse look like if your right on the edge of totality like do younget a full eclipse for like 1 second before it ends?
We live outside the edge of totality for the last eclipse. The sun became insanely bright, and changed colors, and all of the shadows had crescent shapes to them. It was trippy.
Yeah I was outside the edge of totality last eclipse and the first thing I noticed was how much brighter the traffic lights looked. It's weird how my eyes adjusted to perceive the darker day as normal daylight but both the sun and other lights seemed so much brighter.
Like being brought to the edge and then being disappointed that you couldn't be taken all the way. I was outside of totality last time, it was like the moon avoided the last week of sunlight. Bright as hell even with the glasses.
Basically yes. Nearer the center of the path means a longer totality.
I just landed in Houston, mainly to see the eclipse next week. Originally I was going to view from Austin, but it's because of this that I decided to trek to Dallas instead.
Essentially "totality" is inside the moons shadow. Since the moon is spherical (well, mostly), the shadow it casts is a circle. That's the path of totality.
I know you know this, I'm just saying this because you see that black band and you think all totality is the same. It's not. If you're on the edges, imagine a big circle shadow. Easier to visualize this way.