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Total Solar Eclipse Trip : April 4-13, 2024

Part 2 - Eclipse and return trip

April 8: Eclipse day!

37°30'55"N 89°29'21"W

I wound up on a levee road on the banks of the Mississippi River, near the town of Wolf Lake, IL (pop. 357). While on the center line, it was off the beaten path and I was surprised there were as many people as there were in the area - not just locals, but even a high school administrator from Florida!

Jonesboro, on the way to my viewing site	Looking south	Looking north	Looking east
Looking west	18:11Z Eclipse underway	18:11Z	18:16Z A helicopter flew in and landed in the field nearby
19:00:01Z Looking south; X marks the flock of birds	19:00:17Z Looking northeast	19:00:44Z Totality with Venus	19:13Z More cirrus moving in after totality
19:23Z The helicopter left...

Eclipse sequences

This eclipse experience was a little different than the one in 2017. The sky was darker, probably due to the larger lunar shadow - about 115 miles wide vs the 63 miles in 2017. What I remember most about 2017 was the contrast of the blackness of the eclipsed sun against the deep cobalt blue sky. This time, what stuck with me was seeing the shadow approaching like a big ominous storm, except without clouds, just dark greyness taking over the sky from the west. In the moments after totality, this same darkness gradually faded away to the northeast. There was a lot to take in during totality - Venus and Jupiter were prominent next to the Sun, but I didn't specifically look for stars; I took some time to enjoy the 360° sunset; some large flocks of birds flew by as well - I couldn't tell what kind.

Partial phases

17:41:39Z Before eclipse start	17:42:22Z 1st contact (at about 4 o'clock position)	17:42:33Z	17:59:57Z (59 min to totality)
18:20:02Z (38 min to totality)	18:40:07Z (18 min to totality)	18:53:55Z (5 min to totality)	18:55:54Z (2m43s to totality)
18:58:32Z The diamond ring (5s to totality)	19:06:13Z (3m27s after totality)	19:19:58Z (17 min after totality)	19:40:05Z (38 min after totality)
19:50:00Z (48 min after totality)	20:05:02Z (63 min after totality)	20:15:06Z (73 min after totality)	20:17:24Z
20:17:36Z Last contact	20:17:47Z after eclipse end

Totality at different exposures

ISO 400 f/5.6 1/8000s EV₁₀₀=16

18:58:23Z (13 sec to totality)	18:58:32Z (5 sec to totality)	18:58:36Z (1 sec to totality)	18:59:11Z
19:01:40Z	19:02:30Z	19:02:33Z The red chromosphere is visible	19:02:47Z (1 sec after totality)

ISO 400 f/5.6 1/2000s EV₁₀₀=14

18:58:32Z	18:59:06Z	18:59:29Z	19:02:30Z
19:02:47Z	19:02:54Z (8 sec after totality)

ISO 400 f/5.6 1/125s EV₁₀₀=10

18:58:32Z	18:58:36Z	18:59:11Z	19:01:40Z
19:02:30Z	19:02:47Z

ISO 400 f/5.6 1/30s EV₁₀₀=8

18:59:06Z

19:01:40Z

19:02:30Z

Eclipse Composite

A composite of the eclipse at 5 minute intervals as the sun moved across the sky.

cIMG_1364_tse_composite.jpg

April 8: After the eclipse...

Sulphur butterfly	Crescentspot	pIMG_1727.JPG	Crescentspot
Black swallowtail	pIMG_1739.JPG	Turtles	pIMG_1745.JPG
cIMG_1746.JPG	Star-of-Bethlehem	pIMG_1750.JPG	pIMG_1752.JPG
pIMG_1754.JPG	Eastern Tailed Blue	pIMG_1764.JPG	Red-eared Sliders
pIMG_1772.JPG	pIMG_1774.JPG	American Kestrel	pIMG_1782.JPG
pIMG_1784.JPG	Site of one of the Lincoln Douglas debates	pIMG_1793.JPG	Johnson County Courthouse, Vienna IL
pIMG_1802.JPG	pIMG_1803.JPG	cIMG_1805.JPG	pIMG_1806.JPG
Paducah NWS office and Doppler radome

April 11: Tullahoma TN to Russellville AR

After arriving in Russellville, I had enough time to drive through Holla Bend NWR

Departing Tullahoma ahead of a storm	Mississippi River, westbound	cIMG_2601.JPG	White River
pIMG_1813.JPG	cIMG_1814.JPG	cIMG_1818.JPG	Meadowlark

April 12: Lake Dardanelle State Park

Lake Dardanelle (Arkansas River)	Arkansas Nuclear One	cIMG_1828.JPG	Lesser Scaup (?)
pIMG_1835.JPG	Blue Jay	pIMG_1853.JPG	pIMG_1855.JPG
pIMG_1861.JPG	pIMG_1869.JPG	pIMG_1883.JPG	cIMG_1889.JPG

April 12: Russellville AR to Amarillo TX to Belen NM

Arkansas Nuclear One	Lake Dardanelle	Tinker AFB (TIK)	Oklahoma City
Pelicans at 4500'!	Will Rogers Airport (OKC)	pIMG_1923.JPG	A 2000' tower (3497' MSL) near Alfalfa OK
Palo Duro Canyon, near Amarillo TX	Laguna del Perro	Rio Grande	pIMG_2694.JPG

April 13: Belen to San Diego

Rio Puerco

Diamond Point, near Payson

Squaw Creek and Perry Mesa, north of Phoenix