Monday, August 21, 2017

Eclipsin' NYC!

Goofy eclipse selfie after a co-worker loaned me her Warby Parker freebie glasses when she went back to her desk. 

Today's planned trip report for the Floyd Bennett Field Hangar B Ranger Tour paddle I led on Sunday is being postponed in favor of jumping in on today's US eclipse fever. I couldn't make it to anywhere with totality, or even to one of the official viewing events that were going on here and there in the city, but I did make sure I went downstairs to see it.

I first saw it through handy-dandy pinhole projector made from a large mailing label projecting on a sketchbook (kindly demonstrated for the photos by a gentleman who saw me trying to balance the sketchbook on a ledge at the right angle so to free up one hand to take the picture), then through a pair of the Warby Parker freebie eclipse glasses that a co-worker loaned me when she went back in to work. The glasses are actually really cool, I will get my own pair before 2024.

It was quite the event at Scholastic, Mrs. Frizzle would've been proud of us as the entire office emptied out onto Broadway starting around 2:30 to view the maximum coverage at 2:44, using every variety of viewer out there - we had the glasses, the box viewers, and the simple two sheets of paper. No colanders, but pretty much everything else. I got some fun pictures of folks using their various devices, and then, in an unexpected bonus, the cloud cover was JUST thick enough at certain points to act as a filter allowing photos to be taken actually the moon covering 72% of the sun. VERY neat! I'd thrown my camera in my bag as sort of an afterthought this morning but hadn't made any provisions for actual solar photos, thinking more that eclipse-watchers in the streets of NYC might offer some interesting pictures. You can see how that worked out below - as usual, click on any picture for a slideshow view.

Interesting thing was that it was noticeably gloomy, but not as dark as I thought 72% coverage would have made it. I'm glad I was able to get out there for this event. 









6 comments:

Diane Stringam Tolley said...

What fun! It's so wonderful to see people being people! Enjoying nature for just a tiny instant in the midst of our global chaos!

Karen @BakingInATornado.com said...

We were at 99% and it was so great to be able to see it from my home with my oldest son. That said, I love the atmosphere I watched on TV as people watched together, helped each other and shared the experience.

bonnie said...

It was great. I did love having this one brief moment in the middle of the mess we've got going on these days where so many people across the country just took a minute to geek out together.

Alana said...

I watched at the South Carolina State Museum in Columbia, and we all hollered and cheered as totality was reached, and applauded when the second diamond ring signaled the end of totality. All of regardless of ethnicity, political affiliation or religion. It was an awesome moment I may never experience again. I hope I remember it for the rest of my life.

Haralee said...

We were at 99% . I was so surprised how many people before would ask what you were doing for the eclipse, are you ready for the eclipse, where are you going for the eclipse like it was Thanksgiving or Christmas! The biggest surprise to me was it got chilly suddenly and then everything looked like I had my sunglasses on but of course I didn't. Pretty cool, eh?

bonnie said...

Very cool!

I'm looking forward to 2024 now - with totality passing through the other end of NY we should get a little more coverage here in NYC.

So I have 7 years to get my mitts on some eclipse glasses. Anybody wanna bet whether that happens? :D