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Old 03-07-2017, 06:10 AM
SteveInNZ
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Are you going to Astrocon Jen ?

Steve.
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Old 03-07-2017, 07:02 AM
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Are you going to Astrocon Jen ?

Steve.
What's Astrocon Steve 🤔
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Old 03-07-2017, 11:45 AM
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What's Astrocon Steve 🤔
The Astronomy League's annual convention at the Parkway Plaza Hotel, Aug 16-19. We're there for that and then heading to the Tetons and Yellowstone for the following week and seeing a bit of South Dakota, Nebraska and Wyoming the week before.

Steve.
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Old 27-07-2017, 11:12 AM
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I'm heading to the states next week! Got a new solar filter from B&H photo yesterday as my Thousand Oaks Optical solar filter has been thrown out!! :O *So Peeved* lets throw out a card board box and not check whats in it! so not happy, but just glad i have my new filter in time. Will be heading to dallas, houston, dallas, orlando (nasa of course), tampa, atlanta, chattanooga, huntsville, nashville, st louis, branson, aurora, alliance (totality), yellowstone, and then back to san fran. lots of science/astro/space places in between too!

Good luck fellow eclipse chasers!
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Old 31-07-2017, 09:43 PM
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10 more sleeps till I fly out of here
Woohoo how exciting 😜😜😜😜🔭🔭🔭🔭🍾🍾🍾🍾
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Old 01-08-2017, 07:00 AM
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10 more sleeps till I fly out of here
Woohoo how exciting 😜😜😜😜🔭🔭🔭🔭🍾🍾🍾🍾
2 more for me!! It looks like long range forecast is cloud cover for most of nebraska and missouri... at this stage I'll be heading to Glendo or Casper, but staying at or around Scottsbluff the night before.
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Old 01-08-2017, 10:16 PM
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2 more for me!! It looks like long range forecast is cloud cover for most of nebraska and missouri... at this stage I'll be heading to Glendo or Casper, but staying at or around Scottsbluff the night before.
Don't pay much attention to those long range forecasts. You may as well draw weather forecasts out of a hat. About 3-4 days before the eclipse, look at forecasts generated by two different models. Compare the two models with each other on a given day and compare the forecasts day to day. If they are saying the same thing, and if the models aren't flipping from cloudy to clear on consecutive days, the forecast has a better chance of being correct.

If the forecasts disagree, or if the predictions are flipping to opposing forecasts day by day, the model(s) aren't settling and the forecast probably isn't reliable so it could be or

Clear Skies

Joe
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Old 03-08-2017, 01:05 AM
Protiotype (Ray)
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Just a bit over a week until I "leave Australia"! This will be a big one for me - my first overseas trip since 1997 when I was a kid.

I'll be visiting Seattle, Portland as well as San Francisco (...plus Auckland from the air) and plan to view the eclipse from around Madras, Oregon. I was clouded out for Cairns 2012 due to a combination of having family about and me not wanting to drag us up the range so early in the morning, so this one will have a few backup plans on hand.

My other plans are to cycle around to explore those three towns - I was initially only going to transit in SFO, but United Airlines pushed me to a later flight that couldn't connect me with AirNZ at SFO with everyone escaping Portland on the 22nd, so I'm rolling with it. I'll also visit the Museum of Flight and Boeing factory in Seattle.

Gear that I'll be using will be eclipse glasses (none with B. Ralph Chou's new ISO 12312-2:2015 standard, but they have all the other existing standards in place and are in good condition, especially the two I bought in April) for the partial phases. I'll also use a Celestron Nature DX 8x42 binocular that I purchased a few weeks ago for the corona during totality only (I won't mess around with filters).

Being all too familiar with non-corona observation of the surroundings from Cairns 2012, I know what I'll be focusing on but will also see if I notice any shadow bands in the minute before and after totality. I'll let my smartphone record video of my group in 4k on a tripod for most of it and will make sure I don't get distracted from the main show.

I'll be keeping an eye on weather.gov as well as aviationweather.gov - METAR being my favourite tool for regular cloud reports.

Apart from aiming to do my best to get in the right place at the right time (feels like a rocket launch), I'll keep it relatively simple.
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  #49  
Old 03-08-2017, 02:01 AM
Protiotype (Ray)
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If anywhere is going to have traffic issues, it will be the USA. My comments were based on the fact that I have never seen eclipse traffic jams anywhere and am always sceptical of doomsday predictions. People tend to pick their spot and stay there. They are really reluctant to move.
This reminds me of magicians asking members of the audience to pick a card followed by asking if they're happy with their choice. Invariably, they'll stick with their first pick despite knowing the "odds" will be "rigged". A little bit of sunk cost fallacy and human nature, I guess.

Heck, I was at the Cairns Esplanade in 2012 and opted not to move anywhere despite seeing a huge looming cloud that we hoped would shift in time. Interestingly people in other parts of Cairns (including the northern end of the Esplanade, I think) got to see some corona so it was very location-dependent. Port Douglas was in a similar situation with gaps in cloud, from what I heard. The Cairns Esplanade in 2012 wasn't exactly packed - certainly nowhere near the level of NYE, a festival, or Ironman event. Free parking spaces were still available about an hour before.

I've noticed on an eclipse Facebook group that there are still frequent questions from many assuming that staying in 80% or 99% locations will be good enough - the levels of education or enthusiasm with reference to eclipse chasing just doesn't appear all there. No one else I personally know in Australia is actually going despite a good handful taking overseas trips of late (some even to the United States!)

So as you say, everything else combined with the fact that not everyone can organise leave from Mondayitis will be a significant factor. My bet is also that traffic is unlikely to be apocalyptic (conversely, think of how many choose to stay during disasters) but I'll make arrangements to "beat" it as early as possible and observe from there on.

I recognise that America is in love with the car and interstate highway "system", but it's not like India and China aren't normally congested either - so provided there aren't any oil tanker crashes, roads *should* continue to work.

Accommodation within the path is hard to find now, but that's mostly all small-town country. Campsites are still taking bookings, and I notice places like Portland still have some vacancies (albeit at inflated prices). What I still find interesting is the number of eclipse festivals that continue to be toted with earnest promotion, as if the main show won't be enough (events management and promotion is a tough gig). It's really just not something I'm into given what space already has on offer (disclosure: fireworks have bored me ever since I discovered satellite chasing).

All of this suggests to me that there won't be that much of a mass exodus from neighbouring cities near the path - not like how it was for Brisbane during the 2014 G20 when everyone instead preferred to hit the beach with a long weekend instead of chasing motorcades. :p
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  #50  
Old 03-08-2017, 02:15 AM
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We have booked... 3 Aug BNE to SYD to DFW (Dallas fort worth) on the A380, then for totality looking at either Jeffersen City/Columbia Missouri region (flexible depending on clouds).
Have a great flight today rowena and enjoy the excursion! Hope you have a good time on that whale plane - it'll still be a while until I'll get to try it. Maybe in 2024 to DFW.
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Old 06-08-2017, 01:07 AM
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Some great maps and useful info on this site including weather prospects. http://www.americaneclipse2017.org/
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  #52  
Old 09-08-2017, 12:49 PM
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I'm in Chicago now. Planning on seeing the Adler Planetarium and science Museum tomorrow and the Yerkes Telescope the day after. Then the long drive to Wyoming.
Who else will be in Casper?

Rodd
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Old 09-08-2017, 06:10 PM
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I'm in Chicago now. Planning on seeing the Adler Planetarium and science Museum tomorrow and the Yerkes Telescope the day after. Then the long drive to Wyoming.
Who else will be in Casper?

Rodd
Rodd. The Art Institute of Chicago is really worth seeing if you have the time and like impressionist art. One of the biggest and finest collections in the world. Joe
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Old 09-08-2017, 07:15 PM
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I'm in Chicago now. Planning on seeing the Adler Planetarium and science Museum tomorrow and the Yerkes Telescope the day after. Then the long drive to Wyoming.
Who else will be in Casper?

Rodd
I'm up at Niagara Falls at present as part of a US holiday and will be flying to Denver on the 18th & driving up to Casper over two days.
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Old 09-08-2017, 09:21 PM
Protiotype (Ray)
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I'm up at Niagara Falls at present as part of a US holiday and will be flying to Denver on the 18th & driving up to Casper over two days.
Depending on how I find this one, I'll be weighing up whether to go to Toronto/Niagara Falls (cloud and all) or DFW for the 2024 eclipse.
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Old 10-08-2017, 08:53 PM
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I'm in Chicago now. Planning on seeing the Adler Planetarium and science Museum tomorrow and the Yerkes Telescope the day after. Then the long drive to Wyoming.
Who else will be in Casper?

Rodd
I hope to be there on the 21st
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Old 14-08-2017, 10:02 AM
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Depending on how I find this one, I'll be weighing up whether to go to Toronto/Niagara Falls (cloud and all) or DFW for the 2024 eclipse.
Not sure what the weather is like in April (apart from colder) but for what it's worth it was beautiful and clear on the two days I was there.
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Old 14-08-2017, 10:40 AM
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I'll be visiting Seattle, Portland as well as San Francisco (...plus Auckland from the air) and plan to view the eclipse from around Madras, Oregon. I was clouded out for Cairns 2012 due to a combination of having family about and me not wanting to drag us up the range so early in the morning, so this one will have a few backup plans on hand.

My other plans are to cycle around to explore those three towns - I was initially only going to transit in SFO, but United Airlines pushed me to a later flight that couldn't connect me with AirNZ at SFO with everyone escaping Portland on the 22nd, so I'm rolling with it. I'll also visit the Museum of Flight and Boeing factory in Seattle.
Sounds like a great trip! Just be aware that the weather in the Pacific NW is generally cloudy...I spent some time in Seattle a few years back, beautiful city, if you get the time take a day trip out to Mt Rainier, up to Snoqualmie to see the falls featured in Twin Peaks, there used to be the cherry pie shop there too The view from the top of the Space Needle on a clear day is breathtaking, and ride the ferry out to one of the islands and back for the classic view of Seattle from the Sound. The Columbia river valley is stunning too, and the contrast in landscapes on the opposing sides of the Cascade range couldn't be more stark. If you're into aviation, you might want to take a trip to the Evergreen museum while you're in the Portland area.

I never made it to Portland, but both SFO and SEA are very hilly...you should get plenty of cardio cycling around there
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Old 14-08-2017, 01:43 PM
Protiotype (Ray)
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Not sure what the weather is like in April (apart from colder) but for what it's worth it was beautiful and clear on the two days I was there.
Yeah I'll have to weigh up poor weather statistics versus that of Texas. It will be nice to visit Canada though and since the duration will be longer, I may well gamble that way. Just around 6 so years to save up and decide...

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Sounds like a great trip! Just be aware that the weather in the Pacific NW is generally cloudy...I spent some time in Seattle a few years back, beautiful city, if you get the time take a day trip out to Mt Rainier, up to Snoqualmie to see the falls featured in Twin Peaks, there used to be the cherry pie shop there too The view from the top of the Space Needle on a clear day is breathtaking, and ride the ferry out to one of the islands and back for the classic view of Seattle from the Sound. The Columbia river valley is stunning too, and the contrast in landscapes on the opposing sides of the Cascade range couldn't be more stark. If you're into aviation, you might want to take a trip to the Evergreen museum while you're in the Portland area.

I never made it to Portland, but both SFO and SEA are very hilly...you should get plenty of cardio cycling around there

Yeah the coast in the path isn't very good but Madras should hopefully be the best in the country.

The passenger in seat 11D (great eclipse chat; Joe will head to Idaho) of my Alaska/Horizon Airlines Embraer 175 actually pointed out a snowed up Mt Rainier to me! I won't be able to fit it in this time but will see if I can sight it with my binocular if I get a clear vantage point. I'm actually thinking of going to the Sky View Observatory instead of the Space Needle, based on reviews comparing the two.

I'll definitely get some "biking" in - from what I observed from the sidewalk today (and the previous night after finally arriving at my destination at close to 23:30 PDT)), it seems a friendlier place than Brisbane but I'll still need to try it from the saddle. Some of that is actually enshrined in the language of the road rules (amazing what small differences can make).

For Seattle, I originally had plans to see both the Future of Flight (Boeing) tour as well as the Museum of Flight; but right now I need to keep my schedule flexible and easy so we'll see how much I put in.
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Old 14-08-2017, 08:01 PM
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Yeah the coast in the path isn't very good but Madras should hopefully be the best in the country.

The passenger in seat 11D (great eclipse chat; Joe will head to Idaho) of my Alaska/Horizon Airlines Embraer 175 actually pointed out a snowed up Mt Rainier to me! I won't be able to fit it in this time but will see if I can sight it with my binocular if I get a clear vantage point. I'm actually thinking of going to the Sky View Observatory instead of the Space Needle, based on reviews comparing the two.

I'll definitely get some "biking" in - from what I observed from the sidewalk today (and the previous night after finally arriving at my destination at close to 23:30 PDT)), it seems a friendlier place than Brisbane but I'll still need to try it from the saddle. Some of that is actually enshrined in the language of the road rules (amazing what small differences can make).
Good luck :thumbs up:

I recall sliding down the side of snowy Rainier on my backside after walking into the snow line from the Paradise visitor centre...at the end of June! Weather was beautiful, and I consequently got badly sunburned. The view along the Cascades spying the other volcanoes in the distance is worth the trip.

I don't recall the Sky View, maybe it's more recent than my last trip. The food at the Space Needle restaurant is pretty decent IIRC, but that was 10-15 years ago.

Brisbane reminds me of Seattle in a lot of ways, well, besides the weather
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