Start looking for a boondocking site: eclipse (Aug 21 2017)

LenSatic wrote:
A couple of things to consider: if you choose an observing site near trees or leafy plants, be sure to look at the ground under them during the partial phases. The gaps in the leaves create thousands of pinhole camera images of the crescent Sun. Also, you will need eye protection in the form of Mylar shades or, my favorite, welders glass of shade 13 or 14. I use 13.

Also, a lot of people actually miss the totality itself because they are so busy trying to record or photograph it. Just lay back and enjoy the experience, there will be plenty of professional photographs and videos available afterward. For most, this is a "once in a lifetime" event and should be seen through your M-1A eyeballs to be fully appreciated.

LS

For most eclipses, like the last few partial and annular eclipses, I had hundreds of people lined up to view through solar telescopes, Sunspotters, and other devices....so I appreciate being too busy to appreciate it myself. In that regard, maybe it's a good thing this one is so far from our local region that we're not planning a public outreach event. Between the Annular Eclipse of May 20 2012, and the Transit of Venus on June 5, 2012, we handed out 1,200 Eclipse Shades to the public.

This is where we get them and they come in many different styles and price ranges. We sometimes buy overruns from previous solar events, for as little as 0.25 each, but they were out of stock this time so we're going to order a quantity printed with our own logo for this and future events.

Rainbow Symphony Eclipse Glasses,

Here's the crowds lining up for the May 20, 2012 annular eclipse.