The solar eclipse on Wednesday 12th August

I found the lunar eclipse a few years ago captivating.

I’ve tried to work out why this partial eclipse felt slightly less awesome ( to me) than a total eclipse and also other partial eclipses I’ve witnessed and I think it may have been how hot it was (especially after slogging up a hill in 30 heat) and how light it stayed. Perhaps the drop in temperature due to a partial eclipse is more appreciated if it’s a cooler day!
I suspect a totally blind person would sense the temperature change, quiet and the uncanny stillness of a total eclipse of the sun very well.

Oldnproud

srn63

Lathyrus

But they still happen, if they are seen or not. That is my point. Just because this one didn't live up to people's expectations or because they couldn't see it, it still happened. You can't be disappointed because it didn't cause phenomenoms that you expected and then claim that it didn't happen for you. The expected phenomenoms didn't happen but the eclipse certainly did.

But we can presumably rightly claim that the visual phenomenon didnt happen for us, and that is what most of us mean.

Luckily, I have experienced other eclipses that were visible even to the naked eye, and that certainly were noticeable even when unaware in advance that they were going to happen.

This one was hyped up to the extent that I dont think we are being unreasonable to feel disappointed, because as far as our vision is concerned, nothing visual did happen for many of us.

Exactly, it was the level of hype around this that was bound to disappoint.

There was a partial solar eclipse in 1954 and we were told to take photo negatives to our junior school to look through to watch it.
We all went out into the playground to watch, I'm not sure how much Health and Safety there was then or how effective the negatives were.

All I remember of th 1955 solar eclipse is a square of black paper with a pin hole in it. Not the eclipse itself. I was only six

https://signal-corridor.live/uploads/talk/202608/medium-dp4msv-img-5355.jpeg%3C/span%3E https://signal-corridor.live/uploads/talk/202608/medium-5lfw24-img-5359.jpeg%3C/span%3E

Watched it from the observatory above the Clifton Suspension Bridge. Proper glasses worn.

The birds were going mad here and it went dark for a few minutes about 6.45 here in Baildon! It looked great in Cornwall as my godson sent me photos !
A bit underwhelming here , better in 1999 !

A bit underwhelming here.
I remember as eclipse in the 1950s. It got quite dark, the birds stopped singing and it was quite spooky. Then a speck of sunlight and everyone took a breath

It has nothing to do with who can see it or not.

How egocentric we humans are😬

If I hadn't seen all of the hype about the eclipse I wouldn't have known about it. It just went dull for about 1/2 hr, like it was going to rain heavily (too bad it didn't we are desperate for it)

Here there barely was any change in the light or the heat.

Nothing like the one in the 1990s where everything went cold, grey and eerie.

BlueBelle

srn63

But it did happen, just because you didn't see it happen or see any changes doesn't mean it didn't happen. The sun was eclipsed.

But that’s what I ve just spent 5 minutes saying why are you so determined to wrong my post

I said IKNOW IT HAPPENED BUT not everyone saw anything happening I cannot put it any plainer than that Why
I m out of here before I pull my hair out

Me too, BlueBelle.

srn63

But how can you say that the visual phenomenom didn't happen just because you didn't see it? It's the same as the philosophical question 'if a tree falls in a forest and no one hears it does it make a sound?', or words to that effect. I would say it does because it causes physical air vibrations. The same with the eclipse, it happened, as millions of people would agree, just because you didn't see it doesn't mean it didn't happen. Disappointment regarding individual expectations of the phenemonems of an eclipse is an entirely different matter.

I am not saying that the visual phenomemon did not happen per se- I am simply saying that it didnt happen for me. as in it was not visible by the methods available to me (and many other people) at the time.

Obviously I know that not only did the eclipse happen, but that it was also visible many other people.

I dont see what is so controversial about that.

Much Ado About Nothing.

It happened. It has happened since the dawn of time. Why does the media whip people up into such an unnecessary frenzy?

It did happen but only at the pint where the line of light was blocked.

It’s about the line of light.

It’s like the pictures of the aurora that you see on Facebook. I’ll be kicking myself for not going out to see it only to find the actual picture was taken on a camera using time lapse photography ( or something like that). I didn’t even see the Perseids last night because it clouded over and my house was directly under the flight path of the nearby airport on what must have been their busiest night of the year. First time that I’ve not seen a single meteor.

srn63

But it did happen, just because you didn't see it happen or see any changes doesn't mean it didn't happen. The sun was eclipsed.

But that’s what I ve just spent 5 minutes saying why are you so determined to wrong my post

I said IKNOW IT HAPPENED BUT not everyone saw anything happening I cannot put it any plainer than that Why
I m out of here before I pull my hair out

I’ve been amused by some of the ‘phone-ins’ on the radio today. Some people are so miffed that they didn’t see anything I think they’re expecting a refund for the special glasses from Mother Nature. 😂

I wasn’t trying to watch this eclipse but expected some changes. In a total eclipse it is eerily dark, cold and silent.
What happened here was it being slightly overcast for a short while. A disappointment as are most astronomical events.

I don’t know how to explain this.

An eclipse occurs when the travel of light between two points is blocked.

Any point of light can be eclipsed by moving a solid object between the two points.
Let’s say the line of light is A to B.
C, the object, moves between and the line of light is interrupted It has been eclipsed.

But the eclipse has only happened at point B because the light can no longer travel to that point.

It is the source of light that is eclipsed. If the light is still travelling to another point, say D, E or F, an eclipse has not happened at those points.

( I’ve tried not confuse with partial eclipse where some light still travels)

But how can you say that the visual phenomenom didn't happen just because you didn't see it? It's the same as the philosophical question 'if a tree falls in a forest and no one hears it does it make a sound?', or words to that effect. I would say it does because it causes physical air vibrations. The same with the eclipse, it happened, as millions of people would agree, just because you didn't see it doesn't mean it didn't happen. Disappointment regarding individual expectations of the phenemonems of an eclipse is an entirely different matter.

srn63

Lathyrus

But they still happen, if they are seen or not. That is my point. Just because this one didn't live up to people's expectations or because they couldn't see it, it still happened. You can't be disappointed because it didn't cause phenomenoms that you expected and then claim that it didn't happen for you. The expected phenomenoms didn't happen but the eclipse certainly did.

But we can presumably rightly claim that the visual phenomenon didnt happen for us, and that is what most of us mean.

Luckily, I have experienced other eclipses that were visible even to the naked eye, and that certainly were noticeable even when unaware in advance that they were going to happen.

This one was hyped up to the extent that I dont think we are being unreasonable to feel disappointed, because as far as our vision is concerned, nothing visual did happen for many of us.

Lathyrus

But they still happen, if they are seen or not. That is my point. Just because this one didn't live up to people's expectations or because they couldn't see it, it still happened. You can't be disappointed because it didn't cause phenomenoms that you expected and then claim that it didn't happen for you. The expected phenomenoms didn't happen but the eclipse certainly did.

Here, it went suddenly darker than five minutes before and there was an eerie silence. But no actual blackout. We are in the south in a rural area.

Fallingstar

We shared our eclipse glasses with a neighbour sitting in our backyard, didn’t know it had started until we put on the glasses, it took a while until we thought we noticed the light growing dimmer, but it probably wouldn’t have occurred to us that anything dramatic was happening if we hadn’t known there was an eclipse. I had prayed it would get cooler but it didn’t.
I suppose you need a total eclipse to notice it.

Just what I thought.