SUGGESTIONS FOR SURVIVING AND
ENJOYING THE APRIL 8, 2024
TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSE

The Total Eclipse of August 21 2017 Events
 

The Total Eclipse of August 21 2017 was magnificent, but the experience was marred by traffic jams lasting as long as 12 hours after the eclipse ended. 20 million people in 10 million cars attended the Totality Zone nationwide. Traffic backed up on major highways running perpendicular to the Eclipse Totality Zone. And construction obstacles were a big reason for the backups.

Here are my suggestions for preventing problems next time:

  1. ARRIVE EARLY - STAY WHERE YOU WATCHED - LEAVE LATE.
  2. NO CLOSING OR BLOCKING LANES WITHIN 200 MILES AND 3 DAYS OF THE ECLIPSE.
  3. BE SURE THERE IS ROOM FOR ECLIPSE WATCHERS TO PARK AND SET UP EQUIPMENT.
  4. USE PROPER EYE AND CAMERA SAFETY METHODS WHILE WATCHING THE ECLIPSE.
  5. GET YOUR LODGING THE NIGHT BEFORE AND TAKE IT FOR TWO DAYS.

THE LOCATIONS OF THE 2023 AND 2024 ECLIPSES:

ECLIPSES: entire eclipsesunspot
  1. The October 14, 2023 Annular eclipse passes over the following states:

     - OR, CA, NV, UT, AZ, CO, NM, and TX.

    - States close enough to have traffic problems:

     - ID, and MEX.

  2. The April 8, 2024 total eclipse passes over the following countries, states, and provinces (entire path right):

     - MEX, TX, OK, AR, MO, KY, IL, IN, OH, PA, NY, VT, NH, ME, ON, PQ, NB, PE, NS, and NF.

    - States close enough to have traffic problems:

     - MS, and MI.

    -----

  3. For contrast, August 21, 2017 total eclipse passed over the following countries, states, and provinces:

     - OR, ID, WT, NE, KS, MO, IL, KY, TN, GA, NC, and SC.

    - States close enough to have traffic problems:

     - WA, MT, SD, CO, IA, AR, IN, Al, and VA.

    The 2017 eclipse

ADVICE FOR STATE GOVERNMENTS WITH HIGHWAYS WITHIN 200 MILES OF THE TOTALITY ZONE:

  1. The major jams will happen on highways running PERPENDICULAR (or nearly so) to the path of the eclipse.

     - Very few drivers will drive parallel to the eclipse path except to get to a connecting route.

  2. DO NOT close any lanes of any highway perpendicular to the path of totality within 200 miles of the eclipse.

     - In 2017, traffic jammed the entire Pennyrile Parkway (I-69, I-169) for 12 hours because half (3) of the Ohio River bridge lanes (6) were closed.

  3. River crossings are especially important because all traffic crossing the river must use the available bridges.

     - Part of 2017 problems were three major Kentucky to Indiana river crossings were all missing half of their lanes to bridge reconstruction.

  4. Pay particular attention to places where freeways have short gaps in them and places where freeways end.

     - Make sure surface streets and highways can pass the extra traffic. Readjust traffic lights for increased traffic or have police direct traffic.

  5. Use state parks and other state recreation areas in the totality zone so people can park and watch the eclipse.

     - Post temporary signs to guide eclipse viewers to viewing areas. Changeable message signs are helpful here.

  6. Other high-volume events (e.g. sports events) should not be scheduled on the day of the eclipse.
  7. Make sure travelers can get food, water, restrooms, and gasoline so they are not stranded.

ADVICE FOR LOCAL GOVERNMENTS WITHIN THE TOTALITY ZONE:

  1. Provide plenty of places to park and observe the eclipse. Use all parks and recreation areas for places to observe.
  2. Let merchants charge eclipse viewers to park and observe on their parking lots.

     - Keep the businesses open so people can buy what they need.

     - In 2017, Hopkinsville KY had a very successful management of eclipse viewers by letting merchants charge for viewing space.

     - Everyone found a place to observe in Hopkinsville and there was space to spare.

  3. Other high-volume events (e.g. sports events) should not be scheduled on the day of the eclipse.

     - In 2017, Kelly KY held a 62nd anniversary festival for the 1955 UFO case on eclipse day. This totally blocked US-41 north of Hopkinsville.

  4. DO NOT close any lanes of any highway or street.
  5. Post temporary signs to guide eclipse viewers to viewing areas. Changeable message signs are helpful here.
  6. Make sure travelers can get food, water, restrooms, and gasoline so they are not stranded.

     - advise merchants to stock up on food, water, gasoline, and eclipse glasses.

ADVICE FOR PEOPLE TRAVELING TO THE TOTALITY ZONE:

  1. ARRIVE EARLY - STAY WHERE YOU WATCH - LEAVE LATE.
  2. Bring enough supplies (food, water, gasoline, and eclipse glasses) to be able to do the above.

     - If you can, fill up your gas tank BEFORE the eclipse.

  3. Do not expect to find lodging in the Totality Zone. It will be booked solid weeks before the eclipse.
  4. Book lodging 50 to 100 miles from the Totality Zone if you need it.

     - To ensure lodging, get a room the night before and take it for two nights. Then you already have it after the eclipse when you need it.

  5. Expect traffic jams and allow extra time for them in your schedule - in both directions.

     - There are usually longer traffic jams after the eclipse.

  6. If you are driving when totality happens, do not stop on the highway to watch it. Turn on your headlights.

     - Find an exit or turnout and then find a safe place to stop to watch.

     - Totality usually lasts less than 5 minutes. If you are in traffic when it starts, don't expect to see it.

  7. Read temporary signs to find viewing areas.
  8. Expect a fee to park to watch the eclipse.

ADVICE FOR WATCHING THE ECLIPSE:

image detector damage
  1. NEVER LOOK DIRECTLY AT THE SUN DURING THE PARTIAL ECLIPSE PHASE OR DURING AN ANNULAR ECLIPSE
    WITHOUT APPROVED EYE PROTECTION.

     - You may look directly at the sun only during totality when the moon completely covers the sun.

     - Looking at the sun at any other time will permanently damage your eyes.

     - Looking at the sun through binoculars or a telescope is even more dangerous.

  2. NEVER POINT A CAMERA DIRECTLY AT THE SUN DURING THE PARTIAL PHASE OR AN ANNULAR ECLIPSE.

     - You may photograph the sun only during totality when the moon completely covers the sun.

     - Photographing the sun at other times will damage the camera.

     - Photo at right was taken after camera was damaged by the sun.

     - Placing eclipse glasses over the camera lens will protect the camera. You can photograph the sun this way.
      -The eclipse glasses lens must completely cover the camera lens.

  3. Safe methods to observe solar eclipses:
    • Genuine approved eclipse glasses Equipment Setup
    • Arc welder's helmet
    • Pinhole projects onto white surface
    • Binoculars project onto white surface
    • Small telescope projects onto white surface (right)
    • Telescope with special solar filter

    - It is safe to look at and photograph the solar image projected on the white surface.

    - The equipment shown makes an image about 5 inches across on the white surface.

    Photos taken with the equipment shown on 08/21/2017 in Hopkinsville KY:

    Eclipse 1 Eclipse 3 Eclipse 6
    White surface minutes before totality White surface just before totality Direct to camera during totality

    One thing I wish I had done, I should have brought two tripods - one for the telescope and one for the camera.

    Without a tripod, some of the camera photos were blurry.

  4. Look for other effects of the eclipse:

     - Look for large light and dark patches on the ground during totality. They might move rapidly, making the sunlight flash bright and dim.

     - Look for sunset effects. If there are scattered clouds, some near the edge of totality may turn bright red.

     - The sky often turns a leaden color during totality.

     - Stars and planets appear during totality.

     - If the sky is totally overcast, there are still eclipse effects such as sunset effects, shadow bands, and a huge black circle on the clouds.

ADVICE FOR PEOPLE DRIVING FOR OTHER REASONS WHEN TOTALITY OCCURS:

  1. Expect the eclipse. News coverage should have mentioned it often enough.

     - The time of the eclipse is known so don't let it catch you unaware.

  2. NEVER LOOK DIRECTLY AT THE SUN DURING THE PARTIAL ECLIPSE PHASE OR DURING AN ANNULAR ECLIPSE WITHOUT APPROVED EYE PROTECTION.

     - You may look directly at the sun only during totality when the moon completely covers the sun.

     - Looking at the sun at any other time will permanently damage your eyes.

     - Looking at the sun through binoculars or a telescope is even more dangerous.

  3. Expect traffic jams before and after the eclipse.

     - If you are within 200 miles of the Totality Zone, do not expect traffic to be normal, especially on Interstate highways.

     - There are usually longer traffic jams after the eclipse.

     - Look for alternative routes that are not jammed.

  4. If you are driving when totality happens, do not stop on the highway. Turn on your headlights. It's just like night.

     - Totality usually lasts less than 5 minutes. Then the sun suddenly returns.

  5. Expect other drivers to do unusual things. They may not understand what is going on.

APRIL 8, 2024 TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSE EVENTS

PLANNING FOR THE UPCOMING ECLIPSE:

The predicted path of the eclipse
  1. Through astrophysics, astronomers can predict eclipses centuries before they occur.
  2. We had knowledge of the exact path of this eclipse since well before the 2017 eclipse.
  3. Each eclipse has a center point where the moon shadow is widest across the face of the earth.

     - The center point of the 2017 eclipse was near Hopkinsville KY, half a mile from where I observed.

     - The 2024 eclipse center point is at Jiffy Treet near Ellettsville IN, 8 miles from where I observed.

  4. On this map, the red and blue lines show the edges of the totality zone. The green line is the center.
    (Right click the map and choose "View in new tab" to enlarge.)
  5. The moon's shadow moves from southwest to northeast, centered on the green line.
  6. I predicted that the roads aligned perpendicular (or nearly so) to the eclipse path would be the ones to jam up after the eclipse.
  7. I made a list of things to observe during the eclipse:

     - Shadow bands on the earth's surface - brightening and darkening near the edge of the moon's shadow

     - The eclipse sunset effect - edges of the moon's shadow as seen from inside the shadow have red skies like a sunset.

     - A drop in the temperature in the totality zone during and after the totality

     - A drop in ambient sounds as birds quit chirping

     - The chromosphere of the sun shortly after totality begins and shortly before it ends.

     - Stars and planets become visible during the eclipse.

SETTING UP FOR THE ECLIPSE:

Equipment Setup
  1. Since my wife was in a rehab center for physical therapy, I arranged to set up my projecting telescope on the rehab center grounds.
  2. I set it up near their gazebo about half an hour before the eclipse was going to start (photo from 2017).
  3. Patients came out to observe the eclipse.
  4. The center provided eclipse glasses for all patients who came out to observe.
  5. I had an image about 8 inches across on the screen. Eclipse glasses were not needed to see this image.
  6. I had to re-aim the telescope every few minutes because the sun was moving, making the image go off the screen.
  7. During totality, there was no image on my screen because the sun was obscured.
  8. The image came back after totality.
  9. I took it down about half an hour after totality because most people had left the area.

EVENTS DURING THE ACTUAL ECLIPSE:

planets in the eclipse sky
  1. By the time I had the projecting telescope set up and aligned, the moon already took a small bite of the sun.
  2. We saw a sunspot on the sun in my image. This was not visible with the eclipse glasses.
  3. I told people to not take pictures of the partial eclipse with their cameras. It would scar the image collector.
     - The Apollo 12 color TV camera on the moon quit when an astronaut accidentally pointed it at the sun.
  4. Many put one lens of their eclipse glasses over the camera lens. This is safe to do.
     - Since the image in the eclipse glasses is orange, the photos taken this way have an orange sun.
  5. The first thing we saw during totality was the planet Venus (below). Jupiter was found shortly afterward (right).
    - Notice that all of the planets in the solar system were in the sky during the eclipse.
    - Uranus and Neptune would not be visible to the unaided eye.
    - Right click the map and choose "View in new tab" to enlarge.
  6. Streetlights turned on a few seconds after the sky became dark.
  7. The corona was quite visible, but it was asymmetric. The top part was narrower.
  8. I looked for and pointed out to others the eclipse sunset effect. It was visible all around us.
  9. We noticed that the air felt cooler as totality continued.
  10. We didn't notice that it was quieter because an air compressor was running in the body shop next door.
  11. As we watched, a red prominence (flare) appeared on the bottom (south-south-west) limb of the sun (below).
  12. I saw the chromosphere just before the moon uncovered the photosphere, revealing the sun's bright light.
  13. Just after the sun's bright light returned, shadow bands crossed our location:
     - This made the sunlight rapidly flash bright and dim for a few seconds.
     - I saw narrow (2-3 feet) stripes moving on the ground when this happened.
  14. The streetlights turned off as soon as the sunlight came back.
setup location

Photos taken with a digital camera during totality on 04/08/2024 in Bloomington IN:

Raw photo Processed 1 Processed 2 sunset effect
Raw Overexposed Image
See Venus at lower right		 Processed Image
Shows what observers saw		 Solar Prominence Appeared
Red blob at bottom edge of moon		 Eclipse Sunset Effect
Red sky at edges of moon's shadow
Black background opened lens too far.
Overexposed corona scattered light		 Corona was asymmetric
Images are enlarged from original		 Image larger to show blob
We saw the prominence grow bigger		 Notice streetlights and sign came on
Therapy room lights at left

The red dot in the image at right shows where I set up the projecting telescope.

TRAFFIC AFTER THE ECLIPSE:

Post eclipse midwewst traffic
  1. On this map, the purple lines show the highways that had major traffic jams.
    (Right click the map and choose "View in new tab" to enlarge.)
  2. The black squares are major population centers within the totality zone.
  3. The orange lines are the edges of the totality zone. The one in the center is Indianapolis IN.
  4. Major Interstate and US highways that jammed up are:
    I-24 through Paducah KY I-55 south of St Louis MO
    I-57 north of Carbondale IL I-57 north of Effingham IL
    I-64 east of St Louis MO in IL I-64 west of Louisville KY in IN
    I-65 north of Indianapolis IN to Remington IN I-65 south of Seymour IN
    I-74 west of Indianapolis IN I-74 west of Cincinnati OH and in IN
    I-75 through Toledo OH and in MI I-75 through Dayton OH
    I-79 south of Erie PA I-469 Fort Wayne IN
    I-275 Cincinnati OH US-30 west of Pittsburgh PA and in OH
    US-31 north of Kokomo IN US-33 northwest of Columbus OH
  5. Notice that most of these highways are perpendicular (or nearly so) to the eclipse path.
  6. There were no traffic jams in Bloomington IN.

     - IN 46 is the major highway through Bloomington IN that is perpendicular to the eclipse path.

     - There were no jams on IN-46 because it has no direct connections to out-of-state highways.
      - A driver has to make one or two route changes to get from an out-of-state highway to IN 46.

     - Traffic coming into the state would not turn onto IN 46 unless deliberately going to Bloomington.

  7. I-69 and I-70 had no jamming because they run nearly parallel to the eclipse path.

OTHER EVENTS AFTER THE ECLIPSE:

sunspot
  1. Shortly after I stopped observing, this was on a TV set and I snapped a photo.
     - I wanted a photo of the sunspot we saw. I don't know what channel was on (right).
     - The dark spots in this photo are sunspots.
  2. When I examined the photos I took during totality, I noticed that they were badly overexposed.
     - I corrected what I could with an image editor.
     - The overexposure was caused by the camera averaging eclipse with dark sky to set the lens opening.
     - The corona was larger because the camera saw corona too faint to be seen visually.
     - The overexposure washed out all of the colors seen by the eye.
     - See the reason for colors being washed out at Eye vs Camera
  3. I heard a pastor on the radio talking about the eclipse and relating it to Bible verses.
  4. I realized that sunlight can possibly damage a phone camera image sensor when the camera is not being used.
  5. One week after the eclipse, the state started a big construction project on IN-46 that closes lanes.
  6. An article said the eclipse traffic and business increases were not as large as expected.
  7. An article was written about the eclipse bringing people together. 3 weeks later, anti-Israel demonstrations.