I went back to Indiana to experience my second solar eclipse! I went to Illinois in 2017 for the first American eclipse in 40 years and I went back to see the 2024 eclipse. Here are a few highlights of the trip and I’m officially a “chaser”!
What are Eclipses?
A solar eclipse is when the moon obscures the sun and you get to be in the shadow being cast. It’s a cosmic coincidence and it really is a cool event that turns your expectations upside down. It’s a unique event that happens somewhere around the globe every 6-18 months. They are easily predicted and tracked and you can probably find one to travel to in the next year or two!
Total Eclipse Experience!
I decided to just watch and look up in 2017 and be fully in the moment. I didn’t take any pictures or video and I think that was a great idea! You should just enjoy the oddity if it’s your first eclipse!
This time I was able to look around more! I also had my cameras and looked around a lot more! The features and ground start to turn grey within about 5 minutes of the start of totality. That is very unusual for the first-timers because it screws with your depth perception and sight for a little bit. Everything is just a bit off.
The moment totality starts and you can look up it’s pretty cool to see the sun’s corona, the Bailey bead lights, and other wisps and lights coming off the sun that you normally can’t see. You may even see a solar flair or prominence coming off the sun if you are able to zoom in! You could also see a few planets like Jupiter and Venus and one or two starts. I didn’t see any comets though.
The final moments of totality I spent just looking around. I noticed the ground was dark, the horizon was bright, the animals were quiet and it was very much “night during day” type thing. It got a little cooler and I could feel the bright edge of the umbra moving towards me as I looked at the bright horizon. It really was something to behold!