General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Raise your hand if you're gonna watch the eclipse...... [View all]PoindexterOglethorpe
(25,998 posts)Nope. Partial eclipses are relatively frequent. Total eclipses? Not so much. The last one was in 2017, 7 years ago. The total eclipse prior to that was something like 1979, and passed through Oregon, Washington state, Idaho, Montana, and North Dakota. Prior to that was in March of 1970, visible mainly along the East Coast.
The next total eclipse visible in this country after Monday's will be, not in seven years, not in 14 years but some 21 years from now, in 2045. Okay, there will be a total eclipse in 2044 which will be visible in Montana and North Dakota. Big whoop.
August 12, 2045 (a bit more than 21 years from now) will be the next total solar eclipse that will pass all across the U.S. That one is notable because totality will last around 6 full minutes, compared to a bit over 2 minutes in 2017, and around 4 minutes on Monday. So it's not as though you should be cavalier about missing the eclipse if you can possibly see it, because depending on your age, you may not be around to see the next one. Me? I keep telling people I have plans for my 97th birthday, as I will turn 97 about a week after.
Yeah, there are partial eclipses more often, and I've gotten to see two annular eclipses in recent years (an annular eclipse is one where the moon is too close to the sun to completely block it out, so the sky does not go black, the stars do not come out, although it's still pretty interesting.
2017 was my first total eclipse experience. It made me understand why people who can afford to do so travel around the world to see them.
So if you are not personally that interested, that's you. But don't dismiss the millions of people who will be travelling to see totality because they inconvenience you a bit. Watch the eclipse and appreciate it. And then go into hibernation until 2045.