Eclipse in April: To scope or not to scope?

[adilhussain084]

To scope during an eclipse in April, ensure you have the right equipment and safety measures in place. Safety is paramount, especially during a solar eclipse. If you're well-prepared and it aligns with your interests, go ahead and scope.

[Mike Q]

Honestly i am not all that interested in eclipses. I mean i will look for a minute but traveling to watch isnt something i would do

Have you ever seen a total solar eclipse in person?

I think i have seen a partial. That was probably 10 years ago or longer. It was neat i suppose, but again, not something i would drive anywhere to see.

[gregl]

Well, Mike, once you have seen a total eclipse in person you will not forget it, and you'll be hooked. Partial does not count. A partial is sort of like going to a fine restaurant and only reading the menu, or perhaps buying a copy of a great work of literature and only reading the dust cover blurb.

[hosshead]

I'm personally kinda jazzed that the comet might be naked eye visible and maybe we can see it DURING THE DAY at totality, and not too far from the sun at that.

I am rooting for Mikes weather prognostication to be wrong, also living in Ohio.

[hosshead]

and I have 2 dozen pairs of eclipse glasses to share.

because Mike is going to be wrong.


lol.

[OzEclipse]

I'm personally kinda jazzed that the comet might be naked eye visible and maybe we can see it DURING THE DAY at totality, and not too far from the sun at that.

I am rooting for Mikes weather prognostication to be wrong, also living in Ohio.

Comet 12P Pons Brooks will barely be visible to the naked eye in total darkness let alone during an eclipse when ambient light is quite bright. See the light curve below.

For those who have not seen a total eclipse, the sky does not go black as seen in some photos. It is twilight blue. The sky is lit by sunlight scattering through the atmosphere from the edges of the umbral path. The brightness of the sky is therefore related to the width of the umbral shadow and scattering properties of the particulates in the atmosphere. No two eclipses are exactly the same. The eclipse in Zambia, June 2001 had a 170km path, a similar path width to the 2024 eclipse in Ohio. The sky was a deep blue. Similar to nautical twilight. Even if the April 8 sky is similar, it's not bright enough to show up a 4.5 magnitude comet to the naked eye. You might see the nucleus in binoculars but I'd recommend that you concentrate on the eclipse.

.


Mike's weather prognostication is not a guess. Decades of weather data show a very low probability of clear skies. Sorry, just trying to keep your expectations realistic. There is a low but not zero probability of clear sky so you could get lucky but travelling south is a better bet.

I have a similar problem in 2028. The path of totality passes about an hour and a half drive north of my house but I'll probably drive 500-1000km up the path to greatly improve my chances of clear sky.

Joe

[Mike Q]

Honestly i am not all that interested in eclipses. I mean i will look for a minute but traveling to watch isnt something i would do

Have you ever seen a total solar eclipse in person?

I dont remember if it was a total eclipse or not, but we did watch one some years ago in the parking lot at work using a welding mask and just passed it around.

I have the filters for my binoculars and 4 inch and i will set up for anyone local who wants to watch it. I will look at totality for a minute just so i can say i did it. I did take the day off, not so much to watch the eclipse but more not to have to deal with the chaos that will descend on this county. We are about 25 miles east of dead center of totality and this general area. EMA predicts that this general area will have someplace between 200 and 300 thousand visitors. That is something that rural counties like mine can not handle.

[AntennaGuy]

??
"Comet 12P Pons Brooks will barely be visible to the naked in total darkness..." Hypothetically, I'd be ok with that, but what should we do if it's cold outside?

[KathyNS]

This will be my first and last total eclipse. I am going for the emotional and esthetic experience, not for photos. I plan to set up a DSLR with a tele lens and an intervalometer, and I might take binoculars. Well, okay, I might take my little C-90. But when totality comes along, I plan to be sitting in my lawn chair just watching it. If I want snazzy photos of the corona, someone else's will be better than any I could take anyway.

[KathyNS]

??
"Comet 12P Pons Brooks will barely be visible to the naked in total darkness..." Hypothetically, I'd be ok with that, but what should we do if it's cold outside?

All part of the experience, I guess.

[StarHugger]

My first Eclipse I was six and at a bus stop in a major american city with my Mom niether of us knowing an eclipse was about to occure and that included all those on foot going in all directions around us,

A cloudy day and no one even noticed the moon interfearing and the darkening then all at once it seemed the skies cleared and the ominous reality came over all of us on the ground with some shrieking and others ooing and ahhing and me getting my first awareness such an event was even possible.

No one had eclipse glasses or telescopes or told thier clildren not to look at the sun, most just used thier hand until totality was complete, afterwords there were no reports of blindness on the news and I was only slightly shaken by the whole thing wondering at 6 years old what surprises might be next.


For April 8th,

I will have two scopes set up for visual, one for whitelight and one for H alpha and we will be down near the Southern IL border, or where ever we have to race to, to get to clear skies...

Best of luck All

[Mike Q]

I'm personally kinda jazzed that the comet might be naked eye visible and maybe we can see it DURING THE DAY at totality, and not too far from the sun at that.

I am rooting for Mikes weather prognostication to be wrong, also living in Ohio.

The best bet to see it in Ohio would be up by the lake. Say up around Sandusky or Port Clinton.

What part of Ohio are you located in? I am near Marion