2024 as a year will be remembered for multiple things. However, one reason for which I will remember this year is witnessing my second totality during the total eclipse in April. After having experienced my first totality back in the 2017 eclipse, I was hooked. This time around, I got to share that experience with both my partner and with a few of my friends.
For the longest period of time, I wasn't even sure if I would be able to travel for the eclipse since my knee wasn't fully healed. Neither was I confident about the weather, which can play spoilsport in April in most of the country. Thankfully, with a few last minute changes, my partner and I were able to catch this years eclipse.
While photography was not as stellar as the one in 2017 due to a thin layer of high altitude clouds, the experience of being in the zone of totality was still unmatched. Here is one of the many photos I took that day, with this one capturing the moment the sun emerged from behind the moon. It features a very bright Baily's beads, with the effect being called a diamond ring of the eclipse. See this large in my 2025 calendar, available for purchase at this link, This is likely the last day to purchase it in order to get it in time for Christmas.
Indianapolis
IN, USA
Chasing totality
The chatter on social media over the last few weeks has been the great 2024 eclipse earlier this week.
Tracing a path from south-western Texas all the way across to New England and the north-eastern tip of the US, this eclipse was the last total eclipse in the lower 48 for the next 20 years. While the last eclipse I witnessed was in August of 2017 within driving distance of where I lived, this one required a flight and hop to get to the zone of totality.
While eclipses are easy to predict years in advance, the local weather pattern isn't. It had been a constant
dance of credit cards and booking websites over the last few weeks as I analyzed weather patterns to determine if I was heading to the correct location to catch the eclipse.
While I haven't yet edited the images from this year's eclipse yet, here is totality from the 2017 eclipse in Oregon.
Madras
OR USA
The Eclipse of 2017
2017 was a memorable year for many reasons, but watching a total eclipse tops that list. I still remember driving the day before towards the town of Madras, to a campground (which was really farmland let to fallow) right on the path of totality. I wandered into the town, walking right into the heart of an eclipse-themed carnival. After having had my fill of that atmosphere, I got back to the campground, which had swollen in numbers stretching over the entire open field. The people here were eagerly awaiting in anticipation of the big event of the next day.
Morning dawned and the crowd slowly gathered around to catch a spot of open ground to shoot the eclipse. The sky gradually cleared up of the clouds left over from the night with the rising temperature. Groups of astronomers from as far away as Poland had set up their armada of telescopes catering to different spectra and magnifications for viewing the upcoming eclipse. Meanwhile, I only had two cameras that I jerry rigged to carry mylar filters, along with a eclipse-shade for myself. I had set the cameras up to shoot at a specific interval so that I could go and watch the eclipse through one of telescopes belonging to the neighboring tent.
Soon, a chorus of sounds went around the campground as we observe the first contact of the eclipse. As the eclipse progressed, the size of the solar disc kept reducing, leading to a drop in temperature as well as the volume of the songs the passarine birds lowering to ominous levels. And then totality hit the area, and it was a spectacle like no other. A hushed silence pervaded the area, with everyone engrossed by the dance of the plasma in the coronal stream. And soon after the famed Baily's beads appeared, transforming the sun into an celestial diamond ring. A cacophony of screams, joyful gasps of delight and a chorus of claps spread around the area, with everyone feeling thoroughly blessed by the scene.
Its funny that even though eclipses that are predictable to the exact time and location, they still inspire an awe in every person who watches it. Perhaps there are some instincts leftover from our genetic past that still prods us to observe this celestial dance in rapt attention. As for myself, I can't wait long enough to see the next one
Madras
OR USA
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Totality
It was the morning of Aug 21, the day of the total eclipse. The bright sunny day was slowly transforming into a twilight zone. The light started fading slowly at first, and quickened as it approached totality. The mercury was dropping steadily, and I regretted my decision on not carrying a hoodie. The crescent of the sun continued thinning, and suddenly, Mt Jefferson, a volcanic peak 100 miles away, went dark. And then, darkness hit me with a celestial hammer.
The bright disk of sunlight was replaced by the stream of coronal discharge emanating in all directions. Even solar flares on the surface became visible. And while that in itself was spectacular, it was seeing the surreal landscape around that threw me off. The sky was pitch black above me (dark enough to spot planets), while on either side of the band of totality, it looked like twilight after a sunset. The crowds all around erupted in cheers, while I was still juggling the task of soaking in the scene and trying to capture the event with two cameras. Nevertheless, it was an unforgettable event. And then, just as darkness began, it ended.
I had seen eclipses before, a partial eclipse back in India, and an annular eclipse in California. And I had known today's total eclipse for a long time. And I had always wondered what the big deal of a total eclipse was. But after today's event, I was completely blown away by how unique totality is. And I now look forward to total eclipses that the future will bring.
Madras
OR USA