Dad's videos

The Great America Eclipse of 2024 (April 8) is coming soon. No photos, videos or TV news can do the justice to this magnificent phenomenon, As our visible latitude is much greater than any media. If you have a chance, try to be in the narrow zone, stretching from Mazatlan (again), Dallas, Indianapolis, Cleveland, Niagara Falls and Montreal, and betting against the weather element or just one piece of cloud. Special solar filter glass is a must. A low power telescope or binocular fitted with solar filters, only to be taken off during the totality, will enhance the viewing of flares and coronas.

So far we were very lucky to see 5 total solar eclipses. Cloud cover is the most important factor in this event.

1970 03 07 at Virginia Beach. It was a surprisingly clear day without cloud in the sky. At totality, planets popped out along ecliptic s well as some bright stars. Normally mercury is hard to see, even under best conditions, it is low in the horizon and lost in the dusk.

1991 07 11 at Mazatlan, Mexico. We joined a overflow group organized by NASA personnel. We had to stay in Guadalajara, and flew to and back on the day of eclipse to be with the main group at a beach group. Near totally, seabirds appeared lost in orientation and flow straight up skyward to very high level. We had some cloud cover but the Total was OK. A few members of the group hired a taxi tried to reach places that under much clearer sky. However, they met a river with no bridges nearby. So they missed out the total.

1998 02 26 at Aruba. As there were clouds over the island, all five or six ships there went to clearer spot in the ocean. Some passengers, especially those with heavy equipment decided to stay on firm ground.

1999 08 11 Salzburg, Austria. Three families went together to Salzburg for this event. A German friend of one of the families came to join us and suggested Maria Plain as the viewing spot, which is a large open area in front of a church overlooking the city.  As seen in the video, miraculously the cloud cover opened a hole just before the Total for some 100 of us gathered there. Our previously scouted a spot for observation, a clearing by a lake, had down pour at the time of Total. Depending on the location, not everyone in Salzburg could witness the Total.

2017 05 21 at Santee, SC. Many nearby cities, Charleston, Atlanta had rain.