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SvennoJ on 22 August 2017
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Hedra42 said:

There are usually 2 eclipses per calendar year somewhere in the world, but you'll only get a total eclipse every 2-3 years. Most of the paths run over difficult-to-get-to areas of the world which means that sometimes you have to wait decades for one to appear over a convenient location. Even then you're at the mercy of the weather.

Totality for some eclipses can last for up to 6 minutes, but most go total for about 1-2 minutes, and there's so much to look for during that time.

This is Argentina 2010, and it's special because the sun is very close to the horizon. Things to watch for:

0:30 Eclipse shadow coming in from the left 1:20 totality begins. 1:50 notice the shape of the shadow - the sky is light either side. 1:58 close-up of the corona 3:45 see how daylight is coming in from the left 4:02 totality ends with the 'diamond ring' effect 4:30 - 5:00 showing how the eclipse shadow is rushing off to the right 5:15 zooming in on one of the  planets (could be Mercury) 5:53 filter over the lens shows over 90% of the sun is still covered, and it is already daylight.

It's just one of those things that the power of the internet / tv has diminished for real life experiences, just like the northern lights or looking at the night sky nowadays. The real thing feels kinda meh compared to the countless enhanced close up pictures and HD/4K slow motion or timelapse videos. Overhyped!

In 7 years I'll be in 99% of totality at 6pm, a short drive should be sufficient to get in the middle of the path. It's in April though so high chance of showers or still snow. It will be the fourth time in my lifespan. First time I drove a long way to see it and it was overcast lol. I watched it outside yesterday while my kids had the coverage on on tv. One looked much more exciting than the other...

The best experiences sky watching I've had was when I was young, in remote higher up areas, watching the stars. Actually being able to clearly see the whole milky way with your own eyes is pretty awesome. And that was before the countless hi-res pictures you have of it now. Nowadays there's so much light pollution I can count the stars in the sky and better views are just 1 click away.