We're expecting a total solar eclipse om August 21, 2017. In the it will be about 10:18 AM near Salem, Oregon and cross the USA through Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Nebraska, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, and South Carolina. Not all parts of the states listed will get a total eclipse, and some parts of neighboring states will get a total eclipse. It will be over about 2:50 PM EDT but don't be fooled by the time span because totality lasts less than 3 minutes in each place on the centerline and the time jumps an hour with each time zone going east. The path of totality is about 60 miles wide. At the edges it only be dark for a fraction of a second, longer as you get closer to the centerline. Outside path of totality there is a partial eclipse with the percentage dropping as distance increases. You will need arc welder's glasses to look at the sun safely, please do some research on that. Even in the path of totality you will want to look before and after. I used a safe solar filter to watch a total eclipse that was in Baja, CA, but I saw only a 5% eclipse from my home on Long Island, NY.
So you can find details about the path of totality at
http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEgoogle/SEgoogle2001/SE2017Aug21Tgoogle.html
I'm suspicious of a URL with all those googles in it but since it didn't work with my android phone it's probably genuine, I'll edit it if necessary when I get on a real computer.
What's good about an eclipse for bikes is that it requires some mobility to avoid clouds sometimes, it's really short, and your headlight won't bother any hard-core telescope users. Night time telescope users value their night vision and a stray headlight will mess that up for up to a half hour so bikes would need illegal headlight circuit mods to mingle up close. If you do chance to enter telescope country at night, park next to the road with your headlights pointed down the road, not at the telescopes or up in the sky. When in Rome, do as the Romans do so don't shine lights around either, just hang still until you are dark adapted and you'll see their dim red flashlights etc.
In the meantime, my plan was to visit the wife's relatives in Seattle, rent a car and drive to Madras, Oregon to catch the eclipse near there. Dry climates are best for avoiding clouds but so are straight up viewing angles. That's what makes Casper, Wyoming so good this time. A sunrise view may have to see through 400 miles of clouds but a straight up view only needs to dodge the local clouds.
So you can find details about the path of totality at
http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEgoogle/SEgoogle2001/SE2017Aug21Tgoogle.html
I'm suspicious of a URL with all those googles in it but since it didn't work with my android phone it's probably genuine, I'll edit it if necessary when I get on a real computer.
What's good about an eclipse for bikes is that it requires some mobility to avoid clouds sometimes, it's really short, and your headlight won't bother any hard-core telescope users. Night time telescope users value their night vision and a stray headlight will mess that up for up to a half hour so bikes would need illegal headlight circuit mods to mingle up close. If you do chance to enter telescope country at night, park next to the road with your headlights pointed down the road, not at the telescopes or up in the sky. When in Rome, do as the Romans do so don't shine lights around either, just hang still until you are dark adapted and you'll see their dim red flashlights etc.
In the meantime, my plan was to visit the wife's relatives in Seattle, rent a car and drive to Madras, Oregon to catch the eclipse near there. Dry climates are best for avoiding clouds but so are straight up viewing angles. That's what makes Casper, Wyoming so good this time. A sunrise view may have to see through 400 miles of clouds but a straight up view only needs to dodge the local clouds.
