The Great American Eclipse of 2017
Monmouth, Oregon 08/21/17

Mike Ziegler's images
(all eclipse images on this page copyright Mike Ziegler)

Page 3 - If you haven't already, see the start of this story
 

 

 
 

Above, a cropped image of a solar prominance.

We could see the prominances with the naked eye! We also had binoculars and used them during totality (only) to see more detail.

To give you an idea how huge these solar eruptions are, see this image!

There are two great shots of the "diamond ring" effect (above right) as the moon (in this case) exits totality. Seconds after the exiting diamond ring you have to put your solar glasses back on as the sunlight is blinding again.

We saw no need to hang around after totality so as soon as it was "solar glasses" time, we grabbed all our stuff and hoofed it to the car (10:20 am). We were some of the first people on the road. As we drove North, we would see eclipse watchers packing up. We beeped our horn and waved. They always shot a fist in the air or waved back!

Want more? Here are two very good 2017 eclipse videos
1. At Madras, Oregon gets the crowd reaction and eclipse.
2. At Montana capturing the ISS as it transited the sun.


Mike Ziegler at the park in Monmouth, OR
  On Highway 99W, the traffic was moving well for the first 30 minutes then dropped to about half speed but no real gridlock! We used the Waze app on our phone. It directed us many times around heavy traffic in towns with signal lights,like McMinnville. While those on the I-5 sat in gridlock for hours, all in all, it wasn't bad for us. There was really only one clog at 11:50 where two major roads intersected. We covered the 70 miles to Portland and arrived at our hotel at 12:25 (2.5 hours). Got an early check in too, Woooo!
  So, to wrap this up, it was a most excellent adventure and experience! Put "See a total solar eclipse" on your bucket list, you won't be disappointed (well, unless it is overcast). There's one in Chile and Argentina in 2019 (at sunset) and in 2024, another passes through Mexico, Texas and some mideastern states. Look for us!