DEDICATED TO THE SAFE OBSERVATION OF THE TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSE OF APRIL 8, 2024!
The eclipse is over.
We hope you enjoyed it!
 
 
Another TOTAL ECLIPSE
is coming to
North America!

It’s the Great North American Eclipse!
...and we want everyone to see it!
 
Your use of this site is contingent on your understanding and agreement that you will comply
with all the rules and protocols for eye safety when observing any solar phenomenon.
 

Stories

From Bob Minor:

The July 1963 Total Solar Eclipse was also my first eclipse. I was 16, about to be a senior in High School. When plans for a friend and me to drive from California to Alaska or Canada fell through, my parents agreed to loan me the family station wagon and drive across country to Maine for the eclipse.

My father borrowed a Questar from an acquaintance and built a transistorized power supply to operate the Questar's ac motor drive. I put together a small refractor from parts from Edmund Scientific. My recollection is that the objective cost $2.98. I took black and white images with both. A family friend helped me experiment with a pyrocatechol developer for panatomic X to help get maximum dynamic range from the film.

I found a few students from UC Berkeley to share driving and expenses, and arranged to stay with family friends in NYC for a few days after the eclipse. My mother made me strap a 5 gallon gas can to the tailgate just in case we ran out of gas in the Nevada desert.

I signed up for access to Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park and with some cash and a Shell credit card borrowed from my Aunt for emergencies I was off.

The trip included:

Seems just like yesterday.

Looking forward to 2017 (three Saros cycles or one Exeligmos since 1963) when I hope to share that eclipse with many friends and family.