Stay away!

[jeffcoslacker]

...from the eclipse! Goddammit this is a nerd event, and we don't need all you slackjaws fucking it all up for us. [emoji2]

If you plan on driving somewhere to see the totality, you'll see a minute or two of bright light halo around the darkened moon that you won't get otherwise. That's it! Unless you know or care what you are looking at there, watch it from home! It's gonna be cool anyway.

Here's a neat little tool that shows what kinda coverage you'll see from your location, and a little animation depicting how it will go down from your vantage point.

https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/in.html

And if you think the kids are gonna like it...well, if they are hardcore nerds like I was, they will...but if you've got standard-issue kids, this plays out slowly over several hours, with the main event like I said lasting just moments. So they are gonna be whiny. And hungry. And bored. Bear this in mind.

It IS kinda funny sometimes, seeing people trying to get in on these things with no idea what exactly it is they will see...I've seen people show up with telescopes to see a meteor shower

So sit at home or work, drink some beverages, eat some baloney, watch it live on one of the countless live feeds online...laugh at/comfort yer dog who is getting all freaked out about it...it's more fun than standing around in a clueless crowd wondering WTF you're doing there while the kids complain....trust me...

[emoji41]

[BlacktopTravelr]

I think I'll be the whiney little brat that gets on the nerves of the neighbors.

[Cuban]

...from the eclipse! Goddammit this is a nerd event, and we don't need all you slackjaws fucking it all up for us ... sit at home or work, drink some beverages, eat some baloney, watch it live on one of the countless live feeds online...laugh at/comfort yer dog getting all freaked out about it...it's more fun than standing around in a clueless crowd wondering WTF you're doing there while the kids complain....trust me...

JFC Jeffco! It's a big country eh. There's enough room for everyone!

[jeffcoslacker]

...from the eclipse! Goddammit this is a nerd event, and we don't need all you slackjaws fucking it all up for us ... sit at home or work, drink some beverages, eat some baloney, watch it live on one of the countless live feeds online...laugh at/comfort yer dog getting all freaked out about it...it's more fun than standing around in a clueless crowd wondering WTF you're doing there while the kids complain....trust me...

JFC Jeffco! It's a big country eh. There's enough room for everyone!

Yeah? You know what you probably wouldn't see? Hoardes of astrophysicists taking up all the good seats at the Super Bowl, carrying catcher's mitts and speculating loudly and incorrectly about what's going on down on the field...



[emoji2]

[Cuban]

[SuzyRidr2]

It's going to be about a 94% eclipse viewing from where I live. That's good enough for me. I'll be at work anyway. Maybe I can take a sneak peek. [space] [emoji106]

[JFL Live]

...from the eclipse! Goddammit this is a nerd event, and we don't need all you slackjaws fucking it all up for us. [emoji2]

There's a guy at work like that. He was ragging on me today about driving 4 hours south to "maybe" get a picture of the eclipse... He's like JFC there's a God Damned solar eclipse every day.... it's called night!

I told him he was a fun hater... [emoji2]

[jeffcoslacker]

No, on a serious note, it does make me happy to see this kind of interest in such a thing. But I just wonder how many folks actually grasp what it is they will see, vs what they coulda seen at home. Hope there isn't mass disappointment. Maybe even nerd lynchings

[jeffcoslacker]

The coolest aspects of a total solar eclipse is that it demonstrates an interesting geometrical fluke of where we are currently in the Earth-Moon system's lifespan, in that from our vantage point on Earth, the Moon's disc in the sky is precisely the same as the Sun's, even though the Moon is a quarter million miles away, while the Sun is 93 million...if the Moon were just a bit smaller, or farther away (as it is getting slowly but steadily) you wouldn't get a totality and the corona would be lost in the glare, and if it were just a bit closer or larger you wouldn't get to have this stunning and revealing view of the corona, which is essentially the Sun's atmosphere, and actually hotter than the surface. The Moon precisely blots out the disc of the Sun, leaving the corona the only luminous thing to be seen.

The only way to view it directly and without artificial filtering is during a solar eclipse totality...and for just a few moments...during what amounts to a moment in time when it is possible, geometry-wise, in the billions of years these three objects have been interacting.

It's kind of mind-blowing, when you consider it all.

[JFL Live]

[Cuban]

... The Moon precisely blots out the disc of the Sun, leaving the corona the only luminous thing to be seen...

[emoji2] The fact that I already knew alla that mean I'm also a nerd?

The coolest aspects of a total solar eclipse is that it demonstrates an interesting geometrical fluke of where we are currently in the Earth-Moon system's lifespan...

[emoji2] Now see, I kinda have a problem with the term 'fluke'. Oh, I know that it actually is a fluke, but there's just sooooo damn many coincidences associated with our planetary system, mostly in relation to how life has happened here. The existence of the moon in the first place, and how it's been the perfect stabilizing force (regulator) for Earth's rotation. The effect it's had on our tilt, and how that has influenced weather. The goldilocks zone for water. Jupiter, the great asteroid magnet... and more. They all add up to fantastically improbable odds that we are even here to talk about it. I ain't sayin' that it all must be due to some Grand Design or anything, but damn! The only conclusion I can come to is that in reality, we must exist as characters in some elaborate simulation. It's the only answer man. [emoji41]

[jeffcoslacker]

... The Moon precisely blots out the disc of the Sun, leaving the corona the only luminous thing to be seen...

[emoji2] The fact that I already knew alla that mean I'm also a nerd?

The coolest aspects of a total solar eclipse is that it demonstrates an interesting geometrical fluke of where we are currently in the Earth-Moon system's lifespan...

[emoji2] Now see, I kinda have a problem with the term 'fluke'. Oh, I know that it actually is a fluke, but there's just sooooo damn many coincidences associated with our planetary system, mostly in relation to how life has happened here. The existence of the moon in the first place, and how it's been the perfect stabilizing force (regulator) for Earth's rotation. The effect it's had on our tilt, and how that has influenced weather. The goldilocks zone for water. Jupiter, the great asteroid magnet... and more. They all add up to fantastically improbable odds that we are even here to talk about it. I ain't sayin' that it all must be due to some Grand Design or anything, but damn! The only conclusion I can come to is that in reality, we must exist as characters in some elaborate simulation. It's the only answer man. [emoji41]

That again is a common thought process, but doesn't take into account the massive time scales and sheer numbers of planetary systems in the universe. Sure, it's even possible that we alone are the ONLY place in the whole existence of the universe where life exists. Even so, it doesn't say anything to me. Somebody always wins the lottery, but you can bet it won't be you. The chances against it are astounding. And yet, someone will. So the fact that we happen to be here as a result of a chain of fortunate arrangements of physics shaking out the way it does is statistically interesting, but doesn't really make me wanna suspect anyone pulling the strings behind the scenes, you know?

When I was in school, say elementary and middle, if you said you thought that the majority of stars probably had planetary systems, you'd either be told you were wrong, or 'we'll never know"...I always figured they did, it just makes sense. Now we realize more and more that it is the case.

One other bit of luck is being in a single-star system. The majority of stars in the right range of size, output, and lifespan exist as binary systems, and they just aren't so good for the kinds of predictable conditions you'd expect life to need in order to develop...

[franktiregod]

Too late, the flightless Canadian is already on his way to Georgia and several are headed up to north Georgia.

Hotel rooms are BOOKED and expensive. A friend found some rooms in Maggie Valley. Bet they are gone now.

I may squeeze in time to ride north Georgia or I may just go ride the Dragon but my guess is it will be packed since all the hotel rooms are booked.

[jeffcoslacker]

... The Moon precisely blots out the disc of the Sun, leaving the corona the only luminous thing to be seen...

The fact that I already knew alla that mean I'm also a nerd?

Yeah you're a computer guy too...we'll claim ya.

[JFL Live]

we must exist as characters in some elaborate simulation. [emoji41]

I used to use that as a pick up line in dive bars... never worked.

[old time rider]

May be it was the.. BAT MAN.. suit?

[Cuban]

... Somebody always wins the lottery, but you can bet it won't be you. The chances against it are astounding. And yet, someone will...

[emoji2] Your comparison to winning the lottery is good, and helps to visualize the mathematical scale involved. Might that also suggest that we may indeed be the statistical winners? Meaning we're alone? Or almost alone? At least as far as life as we know it, or are able to recognize, goes. Given a different set of circumstances within our own system; changes in gravity, temperature, light, etc., we could be unrecognizable even to our current selves. There are soooo many events that had to be 'just so', for us to end up where we are, but at the same time, it all seems so 'right', as in the way it's supposed to be. Is it possible there's other life out there that also believes that things are eacxtly the way they're supposed to be?

Too late, the flightless Canadian is already on his way to Georgia and several are headed up to north Georgia. Hotel rooms are BOOKED and expensive. A friend found some rooms in Maggie Valley. Bet they are gone now. I may squeeze in time to ride north Georgia or I may just go ride the Dragon but my guess is it will be packed since all the hotel rooms are booked.

WTF is that Frank? Wrong thread buddy.

Yeah you're a computer guy too...we'll claim ya.

[emoji2]

[franktiregod]

Now I know you are a little slow so I will type slowly.

The flightless Canadian (Emu) is already headed to north Georgia for the eclipse. Several others are headed up too.

There are no hotel rooms available because all the people who arent staying away have booked them. No room at the inn. Kind of like what happened to Jesus.

Sorry you misunderstood. My canadian is a little rusty.

[jeffcoslacker]

... Somebody always wins the lottery, but you can bet it won't be you. The chances against it are astounding. And yet, someone will...

[emoji2] Your comparison to winning the lottery is good, and helps to visualize the mathematical scale involved. Might that also suggest that we may indeed be the statistical winners? Meaning we're alone? Or almost alone?

I think so. Just my personal opinion/gut feeling.

In fact the number of planetary systems in the universe FAR exceeds the odds of any lottery, some have said if it turns out to be as common as we now think, there are more planets in the visible universe than there are grains of sand on all Earth's beaches...

I think that if you are comfortable with the idea that life can be a spontaneous, random happening, and as we said will only flourish if a wide set of conditions are met, then the next question, since it is inevitable that there is other life of some kind out there, would be how many are on a par with our own?

That's where it really gets tricky. Yes, in an almost infinite number of planetary systems with nearly unlimited combinations of configurations and interactions, there would almost have to be someone as much or more developed than ourselves.

But when you add in the element of time, and consider that complex human thought has only been around for less than a tic of a second in our solar system's lifespan, and could easily be ended any of a number of ways, the chances of a parallel development coinciding with our own timeline really starts to stretch the odds.

So in my mind, yes, I think there may have been, might be, or will probably be at some point, beings as developed as ourselves. But when I put that slim but inevitable chance up against the distances involved, and the chance for overlap of species existence and technology, I have to concede that it is very unlikely we'll ever know.

But that doesn't mean we stop. Everything we do was impossible at some point prior. We get to the impossible through small steps into "well...we might just be able to do [some nearly impossble thing]..."

[Cuban]

Now I know you are a little slow so I will type slowly. The flightless Canadian (Emu) is already headed to north Georgia for the eclipse. Several others are headed up too. There are no hotel rooms available because all the people who arent staying away have booked them. No room at the inn. Kind of like what happened to Jesus.

Sorry you misunderstood. My Canadian is a little rusty.

[emoji106] Ah. I see. I thought you meant to type that into some rally thread I hadn't seen. Usually I'm a pretty good mind reader, but in your case we don't really have much to work with now do we?

... when I put that slim but inevitable chance up against the distances involved, and the chance for overlap of species existence and technology, I have to concede that it is very unlikely we'll ever know.

For sure in our lifetimes anyway. How I wish I could return in about 500 years time...