{"id":38094,"date":"2017-08-25T14:16:13","date_gmt":"2017-08-25T20:16:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/?p=38094"},"modified":"2017-08-25T21:15:51","modified_gmt":"2017-08-26T03:15:51","slug":"amateur-astronomers-flock-to-catch-sight-of-rare-solar-eclipse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/amateur-astronomers-flock-to-catch-sight-of-rare-solar-eclipse\/","title":{"rendered":"Amateur astronomers flock to catch sight of rare solar eclipse"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By ALAN SMASON<\/p>\n<p>For only the second time in his life, Pontchartrain Astronomy Society president Barry Simon, caught sight of a rare total solar eclipse this past Monday, August 21, and the first totally American eclipse in 99 years.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_38095\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/IMG_1486_final.jpg\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-38095\" class=\"wp-image-38095 size-medium lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/IMG_1486_final-300x197.jpg\" alt=\"IMG_1486_final\" width=\"300\" height=\"197\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/IMG_1486_final-300x197.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/IMG_1486_final.jpg 722w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/197;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-38095\" class=\"wp-image-38095 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/IMG_1486_final-300x197.jpg\" alt=\"IMG_1486_final\" width=\"300\" height=\"197\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/IMG_1486_final-300x197.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/IMG_1486_final.jpg 722w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-38095\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The American solar eclipse viewed from Chamois, Missouri. (Photo by Barry Simon)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>The last time Simon was able to view this celestial phenomenon was in 1991 while aboard the Carnival Jubilee, a luxury cruise ship with his wife.\u00a0 Plagued by persistent clouds that clung over the coastline of Mexico, the ship&#8217;s captain announced he was sailing off to find a spot at sea where the clouds would have parted, affording\u00a0 them an unobstructed view.\u00a0 So it was that Simon, his wife and several hundred others anchored off the coast and, buoyed by the ocean&#8217;s waves, took in the rare natural spectacle.<\/p>\n<p>Now some 26 years later, Simon and several of his fellow astronomers this week plotted two likely spots along the curved path stretching from Oregon to South Carolina on which the moon&#8217;s shadow or umbra would block out the disc of the sun. Simon and his colleagues booked hotels in a primary site in, but made contingencies to be located to a secondary site in the case of inclement weather. Each of the two were within driving distance of the 70-mile wide swath of totality.<\/p>\n<p>Unlike here in New Orleans, where 71% of the sun was obstructed by the moon&#8217;s shadow, Simon and his group actually saw the skies darken and the bright sun blotted out in the sky for up to two minutes and 39.5 seconds. Using Google Earth they selected a picturesque spot nestled along a small sleepy river to be their primary location within an easy drive of Jefferson City, Missouri, where they had elected to stay. Chamois (rhymes with Hanoi), Missouri, a town of only 396 residents,\u00a0 turned out to be an especially good choice as the moon&#8217;s shadow raced along at a speed of 1900 miles an hour and gave their party spectacular views of the heavenly sight.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Way back we were thinking about Tennessee, but where I wanted to be for reservations, they didn&#8217;t have any,&#8221; Simon told the CCJN over a telephone interview. &#8220;That was in September, so we shifted the focus further west, where we settled on Jefferson City.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>As the date of the eclipse drew near, room rates shot up in recent weeks along the path of the eclipse to as much as four times regular nightly rates. The entire city of Nashville, Tennessee, the closest major city that would lie under the path of totality, was solidly booked. A single night in a luxury hotel that regularly listed for $386 there went for almost $1,000 on Sunday, the night before the event. By booking their rooms 11 months in advance, Simon and his group paid very reasonable nightly rates.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_38096\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/Simon_master_color_eclipse.jpg\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-38096\" class=\"wp-image-38096 size-medium lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/Simon_master_color_eclipse-300x221.jpg\" alt=\"OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA\" width=\"300\" height=\"221\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/Simon_master_color_eclipse-300x221.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/Simon_master_color_eclipse-1024x754.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/Simon_master_color_eclipse.jpg 2048w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/221;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-38096\" class=\"wp-image-38096 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/Simon_master_color_eclipse-300x221.jpg\" alt=\"OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA\" width=\"300\" height=\"221\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/Simon_master_color_eclipse-300x221.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/Simon_master_color_eclipse-1024x754.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/Simon_master_color_eclipse.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-38096\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The disc of the sun is covered by the moon&#8217;s umbra in a series of photos. (Photos \u00a92017 Barry Simon)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>As Simon and his party knew, the closer they set up to the center line of the path of totality, the longer the duration of the eclipse would be. Nashville residents were on the southern edge of the path of totality and so the amount of totality for them was nearly a minute less than those who were only 30 or 40 miles further north.<\/p>\n<p>The location Simon and his crew had selected was remote and only about 150 others were at the small park they had chosen. They arrived at 8:30 a.m. and waited until 11:13 for the eclipse to begin as larger chunks of the sun&#8217;s disc were replaced by the moon&#8217;s shadow. Totality began at 1:13 p.m.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We were a little off the center line,&#8221; Simon admitted. &#8220;I think we could have gotten another three-tenths of a second (of totality), but that&#8217;s really irrelevant.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;One of the other guys had a telescope with a (sidereal) drive,&#8221; Simon continued. This allowed for continuous photos to be snapped with solar filters, without which the image of the sun would have been seen as a bright mass of light. Solar eclipse viewing glasses were also required in the minutes leading up to and beyond totality. The sun&#8217;s ultraviolet rays would have damaged the retinas of those attempting to view the event without such protection.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Then we had photo tripods, binoculars and filters. We had a ten foot by ten foot canopy we set up,&#8221; he added.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=4UMIamTs3p4&amp;feature=youtu.be\" target=\"_blank\">Simon videotaped much of the crowd and uploaded images of the crowd in full sunlight and then witnessing a gradual dimming of the sun&#8217;s brightness<\/a>. The almost unnoticeable sounds of cicadas at the beginning of the event became overwhelming at the height of totality, he noted. Shouts arose from the crowd as the darkness began, stars appeared in the sky and the temperature dropped by 15 degrees at their location.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_38097\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/Simon_crew.jpg\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-38097\" class=\"wp-image-38097 size-medium lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/Simon_crew-300x199.jpg\" alt=\"Simon_crew\" width=\"300\" height=\"199\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/Simon_crew-300x199.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/Simon_crew.jpg 940w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/199;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-38097\" class=\"wp-image-38097 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/Simon_crew-300x199.jpg\" alt=\"Simon_crew\" width=\"300\" height=\"199\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/Simon_crew-300x199.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/Simon_crew.jpg 940w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-38097\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Barry Simon, right, with members of the Pontchartrain Astronomy Society in Chamois, Missouri. (Photo courtesy Barry Simon)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>&#8220;We talked to most of these people from all over,&#8221; he said, explaining that more than ten states were represented by the license plates of the cars they saw there. &#8220;There were even some astronomers from the McDonald Observatory in West Texas.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The group stayed there for six hours while the sun&#8217;s disc retreated from behind the darkness until a regular summer day had returned.<\/p>\n<p>Simon has served as president of the Pontchartrain Astronomy Society for many different terms including the last three years and he has been a spokesman for the group at many events and viewings.<\/p>\n<p>The last time New Orleans was in the path of a solar eclipse was on May 31, 1984. However, the moon was further away from the earth at that time and so the disc did not completely cover the sun, resulting in what is termed as an annular solar eclipse. The sun&#8217;s corona, a vast aura of plasma that surrounds it is only visible during a total solar eclipse.<\/p>\n<p>The next total solar eclipse will be visible across the United States in 2024 and will be viewable in major cities like Dallas and Cleveland.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div style=\"padding-bottom:20px; padding-top:10px;\" class=\"hupso-share-buttons\"><!-- Hupso Share Buttons - https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/ --><a class=\"hupso_toolbar\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top: 5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"lazyload\" \/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top: 5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\"\/><\/noscript><\/a><script type=\"text\/javascript\">var hupso_services_t=new Array(\"Twitter\",\"Facebook\",\"Google Plus\",\"Pinterest\",\"Linkedin\",\"Tumblr\",\"Email\");var hupso_background_t=\"#EAF4FF\";var hupso_border_t=\"#66CCFF\";var hupso_toolbar_size_t=\"medium\";var hupso_image_folder_url = \"\";var hupso_url_t=\"\";var hupso_title_t=\"Amateur%20astronomers%20flock%20to%20catch%20sight%20of%20rare%20solar%20eclipse\";<\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/js\/share_toolbar.js\"><\/script><!-- Hupso Share Buttons --><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":38095,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[8767,8790,8795,8788,8768],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38094"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38094"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38094\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38103,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38094\/revisions\/38103"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38095"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38094"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38094"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38094"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}