There are wonderful scientific studies going on about today’s solar eclipse, so I thought I’d bring it down to Earth (as it were) by showing what it did in my own backyard.
In my part of Eastern Canada, the solar shadow raced at 2,400 kms an hour across a slice of Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and PEI before exiting at Bonavista on the east coast of Newfoundland.
The solar panels in our backyard produce about 70 kWh of power daily at this time of year.
You can see from the drop in production that the solar event was real and impactful,
I’d say it cost me about $1.00 in power generation.
I’m wondering who I can bill for that…does the Federal Government cover eclipses or is that provincial?
Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Governor of Arkansas, set aside $100,000 to deal with solar eclipse emergencies. A few observers warned not to scoff at that, because she wants to protect smaller towns from the effects of massive tourism.
I’d be more inclined to go along with it if she hadn’t also set aside $20,000 once for a friend to go to France, and when she was challenged, she said it was to buy a podium. Called on to produce it, she showed one from Amazon for $700.
No, I think she’s just weird.
In any event, more North Americans saw this eclipse than any other… 34-million were in the solar path. There were touching parties all over, and loud cheers, and heartfelt silences for the two to three minutes of the eclipse itself. Each person was moved in their own way; it was unforgettable. Many people drove for six hours to be in the shadow, and others waited for days.
The skies were clear; the sentiment soared.
We were privileged to have shared the shadow, and to live in a time when we knew what it was, and could grasp the enormity of distance and planets. In another few million years, there will be no full eclipse, because the moon is moving away from Earth, and a full eclipse will not happen. More like a ring effect.
Folks then will have to look at Your photo album to see what a Real eclipse looked like!
One of the first scientifically-observed eclipses in North America happened some ten years before the American Revolution.
British cartographer Capt. James Cook experienced a partial eclipse of the sun in 1766 on a small island just off Newfoundland’s coast. Cook was so taken with the experience, he named the isle Eclipse Island. Now a fishing village, the folks in Burgeo had a special celebration today as the shadow slipped by. They unveiled a solar-powered beacon to celebrate Cook’s experience.
The island was the last spot in North America where people today were able to view the total eclipse.
The next total eclipse visible from Newfoundland won't be until 2070.
Book now. Accommodation is limited.
I hope you had a good eclipse!
Your viewing site seems grander than ours. We parked in a half-deserted Costco parking lot, five miles west of Dublin, Ohio. The total eclipse was terrific and I learned something worthy of sharing with others for the next total eclipse: The one hour periods before and after an eclipse are ideal times to shop at Costco. There were plenty of convenient parking spots, and absolutely no lines at the checkout!