Tuesday, August 22, 2017

Things I didn't expect from a 99.2% eclipse here in Portland

The lack of light that reminded me of sunset at the beach was the first thing. The second thing was crescent shaped lights coming through trees onto the ground. I had heard this would happen through a vegetable strainer as well and It did.

But, the real thing that surprised me is it started to get cold from lack of sun, (which is logical) but it wasn't what I had expected. So, it is like when on an autumn day at the beach during sunset (here on the pacific Ocean) where as soon as the sun begins to set you might want to put on a flannel shirt or wool shirt or a jacket because of the night fall. The temperature likely dropped about 15 degrees over an hour until at the peak it had dropped around 15 degrees total. So, the temperature changes were for me the single most surprising thing I witnessed. Friends of mine in Corvalis, Oregon to the south of me here now in Portland witnessed a 100% eclipse. They said they could see planets like Venus at the peak in the sky and they could see the solar corona around the sun with plasma discharges which they found extremely beautiful so they were very happy with their 100% eclipse experience. I was happy to share my experiences with my wife and two daughters here at their home in Portland while they are in University here.

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