Solar Eclipse viewing in the Path of Totality: Totali-tea Awesome!

Solar Eclipse in the Path of Totality:  Dark sky midday in Findlay, Ohio

This past Monday, April 8th, a solar eclipse took place and with a year of preplanning, and a lot of support from like-minded family and friends, we traveled just a few hours south to Findlay, Ohio to witness an incredible show in the path of totality - or, as we like to say at Barb's Tea Service, the path of totali-tea (and we've got the tea to prove it!).

Day turned to evening, putting on a spectacular show

However one refers to this awesome phenomenon, it doesn't come too often. In fact, the next total solar eclipse that can be seen in the contiguous United States won't occur until August of 2044. So, with the path of totality within a two-hour drive, we signed up for a long weekend of activity sponsored by the Oakland Astronomy Club, a well-organized group of telescope geeks to which my husband, Chris, is a member.

Solar Eclipse Eve:  Team assembled for pizza and sunglasses

What happens during a solar eclipse?  In short, it's when the Moon passes between the Sun and Earth. When the Moon blocks all of the Sun's light, it's a total solar eclipse. And, if one wants to experience total darkness, one needs to be in the path of totality which is why we traveled south. In Findlay, Ohio, we took in four minutes of inky darkness, starting at 3:10 in the afternoon. 

Chris setting up telescope with camera and computer

But, there was more to the show and more to the weekend for us. We were joined by our "local family" (our children in Michigan) and good friends which made it even more of a party. Before the sun-gazing Monday, with a few extra days to settle in, we celebrated April birthdays in a historic hotel and toured a presidential home (future blogs!). But we officially kicked off Solar Eclipse Eve at our hotel dining room with the full team assembled.  Points of order:  pizza, assorted gifts and the distribution of protective eclipse sunglasses. The required T-shirts and eclipse chipse were to follow.

High Tech and Low Tech

Cereal box design inspires a LaCroix box "knock off"

For the big day, the Astronomy Club had reserved a campground exclusively for members and their guests. Accommodations were perfect - lots of room to spread out and clean facilities. With a picnic-like setting, we plunked down chairs, blankets, coolers and bags of snacks while Chris set up his telescope. 

Our group combined high tech with low tech (Cheerio's box viewer inspired a copycat version from a LaCroix carton).

Solar Eclipse T-shirts to commemorate the occasion.

During each phase of the eclipse, starting at the first phase seen in our location at 1:56 until it's final conclusion at 4:26, the Club's  "town crier" bellowed alarms and countdowns. It was like waiting for the ball to drop in Times Square on New Year's Eve, but with a lot more calm and, at point of impact, perhaps a bit more dignity. It was excitement combined with a bit of reverence. We were witnessing nature's spectacular show and all we had to do was observe.

Checking telescope and camera for optimum eclipse viewing

As the sky got darker and the Moon bit bigger chunks of the sun, the temperature took a radical dip (almost ten degrees) and the birds got quieter and flew about, taking a mistaken cue from nature that it was time to get ready for the evening. 

It was "awesome" - a word commonly overused (and, yes, guilty as charged), but in its truest sense, this is the apt descriptor for the solar eclipse. 

Picture taken with Chris' camera attached to his telescope shows corona and flairs

And, although it's critical that one wear protective sunglasses leading up to the eclipse, during the total darkness phase, one can view the sun without protective glasses. In addition, the telescope can pick up the corona and it's fiery, red-purple solar flairs, not ordinarily visible.  Add a camera to the telescope, as Chris did, and those images can be snapped up for continued analysis and awe-invoking reactions.

Solar eclipse swag, chocolate bars didn't make the return home

Eclipse kitsch:  During solar eclipse weekend, I amassed quite a collection of souvenirs to commemorate the occasion:  eclipse chipse, eclipse candle, eclipse T-shirt, eclipse tote bag and two chocolate bars (the last items didn't make it back home).  I also purchased some solar eclipse tea (another future blog), with a label that boldly states, "taste the darkness". (Oh, eclipse tea, you're on!)

Eclipse tea boldly states:  "taste the darkness"!

Along with these treasures, the biggest takeaway was, of course, seeing the total eclipse in the path of totality, with tech geeks, family and friends - and certainly, there's a lot of overlap there.  

So, yes, I'm going to have to say it:  the solar eclipse experience was awesome, totally awesome!