One of the clips of a movie I like is from Close Encounters of the Third Kind, just before the alien mothership arrives at Bear’s Lodge (aka Devil’s Tower). “Is everything ready here at the Dark Side of the Moon?“

Well, yesterday everything was ready. In 2017 I had taken a bit of a leap of faith and driven all the way to my uncle’s place in South Carolina in order to observe totality. Despite thirteen hours driving southbound and I think close to twenty driving northbound (due to traffic and a nap) I decided it was totally worth it. Totality was unlike anything I had ever experienced before in my life. If you didn’t get to see it then or in 2024 (or any other time) let me tell you that there is a 100% difference between 99.9% coverage and totality.

So, with some last minute planning, Randi, Ian, and I were aboard Amtrak’s Adirondack yesterday, bound for Port Henry, NY. It appears we were far from the only ones who had decided to forgo driving and to risk potential tardiness (though we had a buffer of over an hour) and cloud cover (mitigated by fully refundable tickets). According to the conductor, 130 people were scheduled to get off Port Henry that day. In contrast, it appears on average, Port Henry has 3-4 people get off or on the train day. Amtrak apparently called the town supervisor a few days previous to let them know 150 people were bound there. Suddenly they were planning to do some stuff right near the train station, something they hadn’t planned on before.

Like last time, the build-up was interesting, but also a bit boring. It’s not until you’re at over 50% coverage or so do you start to notice a dullness start to cover the land. It’s sort of like a cloudy day, but different in a way I can’t necessarily describe other than muted. This grows as coverage increase. We spent our time walking around, buying and consuming a pizza made in portable trailer based pizza oven (not bad, but I normally wouldn’t have paid as much for it as I did, but hey, I was hungry and it was supporting local business).

As 99% approached, we could definitely feel the temperature drop and now everything was really simply in dull colors. At that point, my eclipse glasses were basically glued to my eyes (with an occasional peak at the landscape around me).

Then 100%: Totality. Glasses came off. People cheered and shouted. There was a hole in the sky where the Sun should have been. If you’ve never seen it, it’s bizarre. Literally where the Sun should be, is a dark black dot. It’s the darkest thing in the sky. It’s a bit unsettling.

I can’t recall if I saw it last time, but this time I definitely saw the Sun’s corona. When one considers who big the Sun really is, the eclipse drove home how far from it the corona can extend. I also saw, and confirmed with others, that I saw what apparently was a solar prominence. It had a very distinctive red color and for me appeared at about the 7 o’clock position on the Sun.

Then, just minutes after beginning I saw a flash of the “diamond ring” and put my glasses back on. It was over. We waited for our train, boarded, and once my ticket was scanned, I fell asleep. It wasn’t so much because it was anti-climatic as much as because I had just worked my standard 12 hour shift, plus 3 more the night before. (I literally went from work, straight to the train station).

I still can’t really put to words the experience, but I do know Randi and Ian also came away with the belief that the trip was well worth it.

I will just say this, if you ever get the chance to be in totality, do it. This is especially true for the folks I’ve heard about and say things like “well I was at 99.9%, that’s good enough”. No, it’s not. So, if you make plans to see an eclipse, get into totality. Yes, I get it, you might live or work at say 90% and decide “that’s good enough” and logistically it may be, but honestly, the closer you are to totality, the more worth the effort it is to get all the way. It’s not worth travelling from 40% to 60% but it is for 99% to 100%.

And here’s looking forward to the next North American eclipse in 2044, and perhaps ones elsewhere sooner!