cubinator

Now I'm sure that was the longest, and largest consecutive period of oohing and aahing for a single event in history.

The star Regulus is visible in your own picture though! Several much dimmer stars are also discernible. I was quite surprised when I took off my orange-tinted eclipse glasses to see how white the corona really is.

Yeah, where's the waiting list?

I would have done science, but it is such a quick event and a very special one so I just tried to take it all in as much as possible.

I saw the sun set twice today. The first time was a little quick for my liking, but still 150% worth the trip over here.

I was shivering, partly in awe and partly because it was actually pretty cold. I only saw two planets, Mars and Venus, and a couple of stars (I actually could see all but Mars well before totality started).

It was sunny here for all but two minutes and nineteen seconds this morning.

You don't need a tree shadow, you can just make a ring with your thumb and index finger and it will project a crescent onto the ground! A few notes: -Wow -There's so much stuff going on in such a short time that you simply can't watch everything. -It was getting warmer for a little while as it usually does as the sun comes up I the morning, but soon it actually started getting colder again as the sun was gradually covered up. This effect should be used to raise awareness about global warming, as it clearly demonstrates the fragility of our temperature balance. -During the eclipse, several commercial airliners were flying along the path of the eclipse. One of them I could see actually turning to chase it. -It was weirdly dark for a long time before and after the total eclipse, like twilight but with a blue sky. -Just before and after totality, there were strange ripples like those that make mirages on the ground. -The corona is white, and was too bright to see Regulus next to the sun. -Shortly before totality, it was darker to the west where the shadow would come. Only about two minutes before totality did the really drastic changes start. It got darker by the second, with the shadow looming on the western horizon. Then, just as the sun gets covered, there was instantly a sunset on all sides. The corona, Venus, and Mars were all visible. None of the small planes that had been buzzing around earlier were flying during totality. They started coming out afterwards, though. It's clear why ancient people were so startled by these events because the sun is still too bright to look at before it gets covered, so your only indication that anything is different is that it's a bit darker than usual. About ten minutes before the main event, it's really too dark, and you would know something's up. A few minutes later, the sky begins to darken at a frightening rate, and the shadow moves in from the west. Almost instantly, the sun is gone and in it's place is a crazy white wispy glow that you've never seen anything like before, and the horizon is orange with twilight. That would be really scary if I had no idea what was going on.

I know, right? Technically it's only half over when totality ends! We waited around watching it for a while because it's really cool and nobody's getting bet far in this traffic.

I could see Venus for a long time before and after the total eclipse. Traffic wasn't so bad beforehand because people filtered in slowly, but almost everyone decided to leave right after totality ended and it's probably the biggest traffic jam in Idaho's history. Definitely waiting until tomorrow to drive to Yellowstone.

THAT WAS SO FLIPPING FLAPPING COOL!

Craters of the Moon national park in Idaho was at 4x it's usual traffic today.

"Darn ice cubes overcoming the coefficient of static friction" after spilling some water on myself.

My guess is it would depend on the acceleration and ascent profile of your rocket.

Cars filing into Idaho Falls from the south this afternoon:

I've arrived in the zone!

When I was little I thought the round things on big power lines were buoys to keep the lines afloat if the river underneath flooded. I still don't know what they really do...

Arcades now are more like casinos than proper gaming rooms. Luckily we have emulators and mimic hardware! I've been getting better at Donkey Kong lately.

Papyrus Freeman: I should do another one with Terminal Seven Luigi. But I can't make a template because this suit is drawn to Papyrus' rather disproportionate body type.

5 AM and on the road!

Are towns around the totality zone already filling up?

It is thought that Jool contains a sort of incredibly high pressure liquid hydrogen in it's core, however it is impossible for a spacecraft to visit it because it would be destroyed by intense temperatures and pressures long before getting that deep.

Of course! That would be mind-blowingly cool. But that will inevitably have to come after we build those colonies. As they become established, visiting Grandma on the Moon will become easier and easier. Our job now is not to send a single, or a few kids into low Earth orbit or even to fly by a lifeless Moon, but to kick-start the proper colonization effort so that there will be places that actually can be visited on other worlds.

I hope to build a future where any kid can go to space if they want to. That'd be a lot better than picking just one.