Category Archives: eclipse

April 8, 2024 Eclipse Report

Photos and videos don’t do the eclipse justice, but the ones here give an idea of what we experienced when we viewed the eclipse on April 8.

This is my second total eclipse, and my wife’s third. We both agreed that this one was better than the 2017 version, mostly because of greater solar activity, resulting in a larger corona. Also, the length of totality and the width of the path were greater, which I think resulted in the sky getting darker. My wife thought it was on par with the 1991 eclipse she had seen in Mexico.

We wound up viewing it from Lake Catherine State Park, Arkansas. The entire area seemed well prepared for the eclipse. The park itself had what seemed to be additional staff, I’m guessing both paid staff and volunteers, on hand. We didn’t patronize them, but another part of the park had food trucks on scene. We tried giving the staff some extra eclipse glasses to hand out, but they already had some and were giving them to anyone who needed them.

The original plan was to view it in Dallas, but we awoke to clouds, which were forecast to last through the eclipse. Little Rock, Arkansas, on the other hand, had a forecast of sunny skies. So at about 6:00 AM, we hit the road toward Arkansas. Fortunately, Interstate 30 was within the path of totality for its entire run from Dallas to Little Rock. So as soon as we hit consistently clear skies, we got off the interstate and headed north, which led us closer to the center path. We passed a few good viewing locations, but kept following the state park signs, knowing that we could turn back if the park didn’t prove adequate.

We were greeted at the park entrance by a ranger. We told him the obvious, that we were there to view the eclipse, and he directed us to a parking area near the campground. There were trees around, but we had a good view of the sun, so we set in for totality. There was no admission charge to the park. T here were quite a few people in the other part of the park near the food trucks, and a dozen or so cars in our parking area.

Again, words or pictures don’t do it justice. In my opinion, the total eclipse itself is on par with the Grand Canyon, or Yellowstone National Park in its beauty. But adding to the awe is its short-lived nature. We watched for about four minutes, until it was over. Two stars (actually, the planets Venus and Jupiter, I believe) were visible, and the darkness level was consistent with after sunset. There was a 360 degree sunset visible on the horizon. Everyone else saw them, except for me, but I’m told that the shadow bands were very evident until almost a minute after totality.

If you learned that another Grand Canyon was going to spontaneously form, be there for four minutes, and then disappear without a trace, you would want to go see it. This is why we went to see the eclipse. The next one will be in Iceland and Spain on August 12, 2026, and I plan to be there as well. And the August 12, 2045 eclipse will pass through Arkansas again, so maybe I’ll try to watch it from the same spot. If you see an old guy in Lake Catherine State Park in 2045, stop by and say hello, because that will be me.

I did hear reports of extremely heavy traffic in Missouri, and in New England. In those areas, large population centers had only a few routes to totality, and they were jammed. We notice very little, if any, extra congestion on the route we took. Of course, we were within the path of totality the whole time.

The states of Texas and Arkansas were well prepared for the invasion of eclipse tourists, and everything went without a hitch.

Our viewing location near the campground highlighted one ongoing problem with state park reservation systems. We were right next to the tent camping area, and only one of the about six sites was occupied. On the other hand, it looked like all but one of the sites had been reserved, based upon reservation slips on the posts. Over half the sites in the RV section of the campground were occupied, but I wasn’t able to see how many were reserved. I’m guessing a lot of people made contingency reservations which they didn’t use. This highlights a problem in many state park systems: People make reservations that they don’t use. This ties up the site, making it unavailable. This is an ongoing problem, not just for special events. The knee-jerk reaction is to penalize people who cancel, but this is counter-productive. A better solution, it seems to me, would be to make it easy for people to cancel, and have a way to put the site back into circulation immediately.

Chances are, the people who made those Arkansas camping reservations were watching the eclipse in Indiana, Maine, or some other state miles away. There’s probably no way for them to make the site available, or they didn’t have enough incentive to do so. States with state park reservation systems should figure out a way to make these sites available.

It turns out that the skies in Dallas cleared nearly miraculously right before the eclipse, and Dallas got an excellent view. Particular praise should be given to the Dallas Independent School District (and undoubtedly other districts in the area) that made sure all of there students were outside to experience it, and for supplying eclipse glasses to all students. MyEclipseGlasses.com had some left over, and we donated a thousand to one parochial school to make sure their students could safely view the partial phase. But eclipse glasses were not needed to view the most spectacular part, totality, and it appears that all children in the path had an opportunity to see it.

Another school district that deserves special praise is my alma mater, the Minneapolis Public Schools. Not only did they supply eclipse glasses for all K-5 students, but they organized a field trip to Indiana for some lucky students to experience totality, as well as visit museums in Milwaukee and Chicago. You can see pictures at Facebook #MPSEclipseTrip.

The photo and video above were taken by my daughter, with her cell phone camera. The lens flare actually shows the shape of the eclipse better than the main image. The video gives a pretty good idea of how dark it got in the area. Again, nothing does justice to being there in person, but these give an idea of what we experienced.

Eclipse 2024

Eclipse Information

If you are looking for eclipse information, you’ll find all of our eclipse posts at this link. If you’re looking for eclipse glasses, visit our sister site, MyEclipseGlasses.com. Individual pairs are only $3.99, which includes free shipping anywhere in the world. We also have larger quantities at even lower prices.

2023 Post-Eclipse Report

My son and I were in Corpus Christi, Texas, for the annular eclipse on Saturday, October 14, 2023. Our original plan was to view it from the Padre Island National Seashore, which we had scoped out the day before. But when we woke up Saturday morning, it was cloudy in Corpus Christi, and weather maps showed clouds over most of the region.

There was a large break in the clouds to the north, and we decided to head that direction. We decided to head to Rockport Beach, and this proved to be an excellent spot to view the eclipse. This was the first time I experience an annular eclipse. Basically, it’s a 99% partial eclipse, with the remaining 1% of the sun forming a “ring of fire”. The photo above was taken with my son’s cell phone, using the filter from a pair of eclipse glasses. The photo at right is using an expedient projection method. With the pair of “cheaters” reading glasses in my pocket, I simply projected the image onto the picnic table.

The phenomenon was very different from total eclipse. It was worth the trip, but considerably less dramatic. I could tell that it didn’t seem as bright outside as usual, but if I hadn’t known there was an eclipse in progress, I might have dismissed it as haze. No stars were visible, although the sun didn’t seem as hot as it should. As you can see from the photo at the left, it’s still obviously daytime. This is very different from the total eclipse, where at least one star (the planet Venus) was visible, and there was a sunset on the horizon for 360 degrees.

The moral of the story is that if you are in an area with a 99% total eclipse, you should definitely drive a few miles to where it is 100%. It’s worth the drive.

There was a fairly large crowd at Rockport Beach. It was obviously smaller than they would have on a hot summer day, but I’m sure it was much larger than a typical windy October morning. Everyone seemed to have eclipse glasses, and one group played “Ring of Fire” during annularity, which seemed like a nice touch.
After annularity, most other eclipse chasers on the beach started packing up to head home, even though the partial eclipse was still ongoing. I made an effort to operate on the radio during the Solar Eclipse QSO Party on 40 meters CW. Unfortunately, I had an extremely marginal antenna, as there wasn’t much to attach an antenna from my location. As you can see, I used two broomsticks taped together as the center support. The ends, I staked into the ground. In Minnesota, there are always plenty of sticks on the ground to use to tie down the antenna. South Texas, with its palm trees, doesn’t have convenient sticks on the ground. Fortunately, I had two pencils in the car, and I used them.

But my makeshift antenna was only a few feet off the ground, and I didn’t manage to make any contacts, nor was I heard by the Reverse Beacon Network. I made a list of calls heard, and I guess I’ll submit them.

October 14, 2023 Annular Eclipse

You might have noticed that we’ve been kind of incommunicado lately and not posting any new content. That’s because my son and I have been on the road, selling eclipse glasses for the annular solar eclipse, which will be visible in most of North and South America on Saturday, October 14, 2023. If you still need a pair of glasses, you can find them at one of the retailers we’ve sold to from Nevada to Texas, listed at this page.

If you don’t have glasses, see our post from 2017 showing safe projection methods of viewing the eclipse.

Nat’l Park Svc. photo

Our official headquarters for the eclipse will be near Corpus Christi Texas, probably at the Padre Island National Seashore, as we watch the annular eclipse leave the United States and head toward Central and South America.

For hams, please listen for us (W0IS) during the Solar Eclipse QSO Party on 40 meters CW. We will try to set up and look for contacts, probably after annularity, or shortly after noon central time. We will be calling CQ looking for contacts, as well as making ourselves visible on the Reverse Beacon Network. After the eclipse, other citizen scientists will analyze the data generated to see how the eclipse affects the ionosphere. You should be able to see where we are heard at this link. Since we will be in a National Park and on an island, we’ll also submit our logs for POTA and WWFF, as well as US Islands and/or IOTA.

For information about the exact times that the eclipse can be viewed in your area, visit this page. For information from NASA on safely viewing the eclipse, visit this page.

Total Solar Eclipse of September 10, 1923

A hundred years ago this month, the cover of the September 1923 issue of Science and Invention was celebrating the total solar eclipse that was to take place on September 10, 1923.

In the U.S., the path of totality covered only a tiny sliver of southern California, including the city of San Diego, as well as Santa Catalina and the Channel Islands. The best view, however, was in Mexico, since the path extended from Baja California to Yucatan. The Mexican National Government, as well as the governments of San Luis Potosi and Mexico City were heavily involved. The National Observatory and the Mexican National Railway were also assisting in preparations, and astronomers from around the world were preparing to descend upon the country.

Of course, we have two eclipses coming up in short order. The warm-up act will be the annular eclipse of Saturday, October 14, which will extend from Oregon to Texas, then into Mexico and Central and South America. It will also be visible as a partial eclipse in most of North and South America. Since the moon is currently too far from the earth for a total eclipse, the sun will appear to be a “ring of fire” along the path. While this phenomenon is certainly interesting, it’s not really spectacular.

The spectacular event is coming up on Monday, April 8, 2024, when a total eclipse will be visible along a line from Mazatlan, Mexico, and then in the United States and Canada, along a path from Texas through Maine. While the annular eclipse isn’t worth a special trip for most people, the total eclipse certainly is, just as it was a hundred years ago.

For the annular eclipse, and for all but a few minutes of the total eclipse, you will need eye protection to view the partially eclipsed sun. Our sister site, MyEclipseGlasses.com, has approved eclipse glasses available for only $3.99, with free shipping anywhere in the world. Just like eclipse glasses in 2017 (and just like toilet paper in 2020), they’ll be in short supply, so the time to order is now.

One Year Until the Eclipse!

Quick Links:

Hotel Rooms
Eclipse Glasses

One year from today, there will be another total eclipse in North America! As we did in 2017, we will provide full coverage of the April 8, 2024, total solar eclipse.

You might have remembered news stories about two big shortages in 2017: Hotel rooms and eclipse glasses.

Hotel Rooms

Many of the stories about hotels were exaggerated, with reports of alleged “gouging.” While a few run-down motels advertised astronomical prices, the reality was not quite that dramatic. In general, you were able to get a hotel room at the normal price, but if you didn’t make your reservations at least a few months in advance, most rooms were unavailable. We booked our room in Hastings, Nebraska, about 11 months in advance. So if you are planning to travel to the path of totality, whether it’s in Mexico, the United States, or Canada, it behooves you to make your plans now.

We haven’t made our final plans, but the official OneTubeRadio.com eclipse headquarters for the 2024 eclipse will probably be in Dallas.

For the 2017 eclipse, hotel rooms and other accommodations started becoming scarce a few months prior to the eclipse. A few rooms remained available up until two weeks prior to the eclipse.

In general, most hotels allow you to make reservations one year in advance, so if you want, you can make your reservations now.

Eclipse Glasses

The other item that will be in short supply will be eclipse glasses. You have plenty of time to order them online, so that you can safely view the eclipse. If 2017 (and other eclipses) is a guide, these will become totally unavailable in the weeks before the eclipse. People will be paying grossly inflated prices, and there will be rumors of counterfeit glasses. This time, we decided to get in on the fun, and we will be selling eclipse glasses. We have started a website, MyEclipseGlasses.com, where you can order safe American-made eclipse glasses at a reasonable price. Our glasses are made in the USA by American Paper Optics. Their website contains an excellent resource explaining eclipses, and includes a one-hour on-demand video presentation.

Schools and the Eclipse

If you have kids who will be in school, plan on taking them out of school that day. Unfortunately, the 2017 eclipse showed that some American schools had an irrational fear of the eclipse and actively prevented children from witnessing it. If you believe that your child’s school is more enlightened, then on the first day of the 2023-24 school year, or maybe now, you should have your children ask the science teacher if the school is planning a field trip to see it. If the teacher balks, then your children should let him or her know that they will be absent the day of the eclipse. At the very least, you should ask whether your children’s school has purchased eclipse glasses for the event. If they buy in bulk before the eclipse, they can be had for pennies. But if they fail to plan and wait until the last minute, they will be unavailable, or selling for outrageous prices.

A field trip to see the eclipse is an entirely reasonable request for most schools. For example, students in Chicago could be placed on a school bus and taken to see the eclipse only a couple of hours’ drive away in Indiana. The expense will be less than other field trips taken to amusement parks, movies, etc. This is true for schools in many cities. They have the opportunity to let the kids witness an amazing scientific event, but only if they do some basic planning.

But I predict that this won’t happen, since most schools won’t think of the possibility until after it’s too late to make the necessary plans, or they’ll have the same irrational fears that showed up in 2017. It’s the duty of the students to pester the administration so that the necessary plans are made sufficiently in advance. And as I explained in 2017, if the school fails to act, then it’s reasonable for children to skip school on April 8, 2024.

October 14, 2023 Annular Eclipse

Path of October 14, 2023 Annular Eclipse.

There is another eclipse, an annular eclipse, on October 14, 2023. That event, while interesting, is nowhere near as breathtaking as a total eclipse. So if you happen to be close, you should take in the 2023 event. But the 2024 total eclipse is in an entirely different league.

The 2024 total eclipse will be visible in parts of Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, a tiny slpeck of Michigan, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine. The path of totality also passes through Mexico and Canada. Major cities in the path of totality include Dallas, Little Rock, Indianapolis, Buffalo, Cleveland, and Montreal.

Please don’t be confused when you hear about “percentages” of eclipse. Some people are lulled into believing that since they will experience a “90% eclipse” at their home, or even a “99% eclipse,” that there is no need to travel. This is a big mistake. Even with a 99% eclipse, the experience is completely different from a total eclipse. Unless you are paying attention, you might not even notice the 99% eclipse. But you’ll definitely notice the total eclipse just a few miles away, since it will become noticeably dark outside.

Partial Solar Eclipse of 25 October 2022

NSF image.

On 25 October 2022, there will be a partial solar eclipse over most of Europe, northern Africa, the Middle East, and western Asia. While not nearly as spectacular as a total solar eclipse, if you are in the area where the eclipse will be visible, it is certainly worth observing.

National Archives image.

Since the sun is never completely obscured, it is dangerous to look directly at the sun. However, you can view it indirectly by projecting it, as shown in this picture. You can use a pair of binoculars or telescope to do this. You do not look through the binoculars or telescope. Instead, you point the binoculars at the sun, and point the other end at the ground or other flat surface. You will then see a projected image.

While this picture shows a relatively expensive telescope, this is not necessary. A good image can be projected with even a pair of toy binoculars. See the NASA website for more ideas on viewing the eclipse. You can also view our page from the 2017 U.S. eclipse.

The eclipse will be visible first over Greenland at 08:58 UTC, and will end over India at 13:02 UTC. The peak eclipse will be visible over Siberia at 11:00 UTC. To find the exact times for your location, use this interactive map.

Those with an interest in radio will want to experience how the partial eclipse affects radio propagation. During the 2017 eclipse, I found that there was a very noticeable effect on propagation on 40 meters. Those with just a mediumwave or longwave receiver will probably discover that stations normally heard only at night can be picked up during the day, due to the eclipse.

Solar eclipses and lunar eclipses come in pairs, about two weeks apart. The corresponding lunar eclipse will be visible in North America on November 7-8.

Popular Science: 1872-2022

1972MayPS

This month marks the 150th anniversary of Popular Science, or at least the predecessor of what we know as that magazine. The original magazine, whose first issue was published in May 1872, was a scholarly journal of about a hundred pages, with about ten articles, and just a few illustrations. The rights to the name were acquired in 1915, and the October 1915 issue resembles the modern incarnation of the magazine.

The first issue contained articles on topics such as the study of sociology, an essay on science and immortality by Rev. T.W. Fowle, the source of labor, Quetelet on the science of man, and disinfection and disinfectants. One of the few illustration is this sketch of the sun’s corona, illustrating an article about the solar eclipse of December 12, 1871.

In April 2021, the paper edition of the magazine ended, and it exists now only in digital format. All issues from 1872 through the early 2000’s are available at Google Books for free reading.

The image shown above is the cover from May 1972, celebrating the 100th anniversary. The magazine used the occasion to publish a review of its first hundred years, and used copies are available at the followng links. As with many used books, prices can vary wildly, so be sure to compare prices at all of these links:

Current subscriptions to the digital magazine are available at the following link:

Some links on this site are affiliate links, meaning that this site earns a small commission if you make a purchase after clicking the link.

Eclipse of April 8, 2024

2024 Eclipse Path. NOAA image.

As we did in 2017, OneTubeRadio.com will provide full coverage of the April 8, 2024, total solar eclipse, which will take place two years from today.

For the 2017 eclipse, hotel rooms and other accommodations started becoming scarce a few months prior to the eclipse. A few rooms remained available up until two weeks prior to the eclipse.

In general, most hotels allow you to make reservations one year in advance. Therefore, if you plan to see the eclipse in an area experiencing totality, which we strongly recommend, then you should plan on booking a hotel room on April 8, 2023. For the 2017 eclipse, we booked a fully refundable hotel room, so there was no risk if we changed our plans. In 2024, we’ll probably view the eclipse in Texas, although our plans are not settled. For the 2019 annular eclipse, we had contingency plans that included both a hotel and campground in Canada, and a campground in the U.S. Since the border was still closed, we cancelled the Canadian reservations, since we made sure to get fully refundable ones.

Speaking of annular eclipses, there is one of those on October 14, 2023. That event, while interesting, is nowhere near as breathtaking as a total eclipse. So if you happen to be close, you should take in the 2023 event. But the 2024 total eclipse is in an entirely different league.

The 2024 total eclipse will be visible in parts of Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, a tiny piece of Michigan, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine. The path of totality also passes through Mexico and Canada. Major cities in the path of totality include Dallas, Little Rock, Indianapolis, Buffalo, Cleveland, and Montreal.

Also, in late 2023 or early 2024, you should order your eclipse glasses.

If you have kids who will be in school, plan on taking them out of school that day. Unfortunately, the 2017 eclipse showed that American schools had an irrational fear of the eclipse and actively prevented children from witnessing it. If you believe that your child’s school is more enlightened, then on the first day of the 2023-24 school year, you should have your children ask the science teacher if the school is planning a field trip to see it. If the teacher balks, then your children should let him or her know that they will be absent the day of the eclipse.

This is an entirely reasonable request for most schools. For example, students in Chicago could be placed on a school bus and taken to see the eclipse only a couple of hours’ drive away in Indiana. The expense will be less than other field trips taken to amusement parks, movies, etc. This is true for schools in many cities. They have the opportunity to let the kids witness an amazing scientific event, but only if they do some basic planning.