O) -- ECLIPSE THREAD - Where are you watching the eclipse? % of totality?

[royable]

51. In Casper Wyoming, right smack-dab on the centerline.

My wife and I drove 22 hours from Tucson to get here. Clear skies predicted for the morning.

If you can possibly get to within the path of totality, it is very much worth it. A total eclipse lets you see the solar corona, an astonishing sight, and see the stars and planets appear in the sky around a black hole and glowing ring where the sun should be. You get to see the shadow of totality come sweeping over you at 1500 miles per hour, and away again as totality ends. You get to see Bailely's beads, the last spots of sunlight coming around the edge of the moon where its surface elevation at the limb is lowest.

Being in 99% coverage is like being 99% of the way to the airplane gate for your flight across the Atlantic for a two-week vacation when the gate closes and the plane departs, for lack of a better metaphor.

The normal population of the Casper area, around 65,000, is increasing by about 50% with all the visitors, mostly from Colorado. But things aren't very crowded here by Tucson standards. The city was extremely well-prepared.

Got to get to bed so I can get up in the morning and see the sky show!