Eclipse April 8, 2024

Did you see the Eclipse earlier this week? This photo was taken with my iphone in Auto mode. I did capture Venus sitting below the sun on the right. Jupiter was also visible but not in the photo.

After seeing totality in 2017, I knew then that I wanted to see this one in 2024. If you've never been fortunate to experience totality all I can tell you is there are no words to describe how incredible and magical it is. When there was just a sliver of the sun showing seconds before totality, I started to cry. It was such an amazing thing to be able to witness. I kept my eyes on the sky the entire time, not wanting to miss a moment.

We debated flying to Texas or driving to Ohio to have a get into the band of totality. My husband has a doctorate in Atmospheric Science so he was in charge of narrowing down our options. We eventually decided to head towards Ohio or Indiana while keeping New York state as an option. We drove 500 miles from our home in near Raleigh to Dayton Ohio, staying overnight in Charleston WV because that was a good launching point as we made our final destination decision Monday morning.

The day was lovely and the sky was filled with these wispy high level cirrus clouds. 

There were two locations in Dayton that we considered for watching the eclipse. The first was an air force base that was having a big eclipse event with lots of activities and the other was an event at Wright State University. We  checked out the campus first around 10:30. It was too early for any activities to have started so we drove the 4 miles to the air force base. There were already lots of cars and as soon as we pulled in, we decided to leave. The parking lot was gigantic and as cars were streaming in, all we could think of was how big the traffic jam would be afterwards. So we immediately exited and went back to the university. 

Campus was a perfect choice. There were telescopes, a radio station DJ (they played "It was the end of the world as you know it" as totality happened), and a dance party. Video from Wright State University gives you a glance at all the students out and in attendance having fun including the dance party. 

There were also comfy chairs that we could move into the shade for awhile and then into the sun for optimum viewing. If you look carefully, you'll see I'm covered in crescents!

Here is a better view!

My youngest was not with us but captured this cool photo using a colander!

The moon started its journey in front of the sun at 1:53, with totality starting at 3:11 and lasting lasting 2 minutes and 43 seconds. We were in the car and on the road quickly and managed to get home before midnight. We got extremely lucky and hit no traffic whatsoever. As we drove, we thought about those cars still in the parking lot at the Air Force base and happy we chose the university. It is fun to share the event with lots of young people.

Such an amazing day!

Have a wonderful day! Patty