Eclipse Day 2024

We woke up to a cloudy sky.  It did not look good for seeing any of the Eclipse.

Science warning:

There are almost always two to five eclipses each year somewhere but total eclipses occur about every 18 months.  Two total lunar eclipse, or Blood Moon, will happen each year.

A few other moon facts. 
The moon is just close enough to create tides that help the oceans water circulate but not so close as to cause tides that would be destructive.  

At its furthest distance between earth and the moon, all the planets of the solar system will fit between them. 

Each year the moon moves about 1.4 inches further away from earth.  Don't worry because over 2000 years that adds up to less than 250 feet.  It will be thousands of years before any change to our tides will be noticed.

The moon is locked in orbit to the earth. As the moon orbits the earth, it rotates perfectly to keep the same side of the moon to always face earth. In the thousands of years, we have documented the moon, this has not changed at all.

The fact that we EVER have a TOTAL solar eclipse anywhere on earth is amazing and many believe this by itself is proof of God.  I agree. 

The moon had to be EXACTLY the right size and distance from earth. 

If the moon remained the same distance from the earth but was smaller by just 5%, we would never see a total eclipse.  If it was the same size but further away, we would never see a total eclipse.

If the Sun was not exactly 400 times the size of the Moon and exactly 400 times farther away that the Moon is from us, we would never see a total eclipse.  Because of this, they both seem to be the same size in our sky even if at times they don't appear to be.

It also had to have a path in its orbit that regularly matched the sun.  If our moons orbit were to be at a higher angle, as most moons are, a total eclipse would never happen or be extremely rare. 

Just random and accidental... I don't think so.  Back to our blog.

An two hours before the eclipse was to happen, we were not seeing a very encouraging sky.

Everyone gathered for the big event and hoping for clear weather.  

As the moon started to cover the sun, any clearing of the sky was spotty.

We only had an occasional hole for the sun to poke through as you see below.

With a firm resolve, we waited.

As we got to 30 minutes of the full eclipse, it looked pretty bad for us. Over the microphone someone called out for us all to have positive thoughts or prayer and then they played "Here comes the sun" by the Beatles.

With only 8 minutes before full eclipse, we caught short views of the moon mostly covering the sun.  Everyone hoping for more of those but not knowing the blessing we would soon experience.

As we approached 5 minutes total eclipse, we saw very cloudy and only rare glimpses of the sun through holes in the thick clouds. 

At ONE MINUTE to the total eclipse the sky cleared, COMPELETLY, and stayed that way until well after the eclipse was over.  Woo-Hoo!

Below are pictures  of just before, in the Eclipse, and then after.  

For the next 4 minutes, 20 seconds, we experienced darkness. 

After a quick cheer, we all fell silent in awe.

The temperature dropped quickly.
We felt a breeze. 
Stars were seen. 
Bird and animals reacted. 
Bugs started to make noises like they would after sunset.

Some called out the countdown for us to all put on our glasses back on.
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As we came out of totality, we all cheered.

4 Minutes is longer than you think.  Time yourself while looking at a cloud, not the sun, and you will understand.

Here is one of the best videos I found that gave a day by day explanation of the event.

We all gathered to get a group picture.  Those with their arms crossed are from the Xscapers group.  Shawna and I are in there somewhere.

That evening there was a square dance, karaoke, and a talent show.

Overnight, we got a downpour which totaled 4 inches of rain. 
Tomorrow is going to be a muddy mess.