[Friends_of_SSASTROS] On S&T .com Today

[Mike McCabe]

Experiencing Totality: S&T’s Eclipse Stories

Here's the most relevant to us portion of the article;
CLOUDED OUT IN CANANDAIGUA, NEW YORK
After a beautiful sunny Sunday and clear forecasts for thefollowing day here at our campsite in Canandaigua, New York, we woke to grayclouds and a dismal outlook. The Sun started peeking out here and there as weapproached the start of the eclipse, so with one eye on the forecasts, wedecided to break out the telescopes just in case the sky opened up. At firstcontact, we managed to snatch a few glimpses of the Moon beginning to moveacross the face of the Sun, but it quickly dove behind cloud cover againshortly after. We anxiously watched the forecasts for the next hour as theclouds were still moving quite quickly, but unfortunately, the Sun did notreappear. As we approached totality, the sky slowly darkened, and the drop intemperature sent us diving for our coats. Full darkness settled in shortlyafter, but we never saw the Moon cover the Sun. However, we did get to see theswath of darkness approaching us from the west and then heading east. My cousinsaid it was like “fast-forwarding through the day-night cycle in a video game.”The solar-powered lights turned on, and the birds, who had been cheery andtalkative up until that point, had gone silent. A frightened pair of doves werefrantically flopping through the air above our RV, startled by the suddenmidday darkness. They weren’t sure where to find their nest, and they remainedperched in a nearby tree well after totality had ended, likely afraid to leave.Shortly after third contact, light bathed the campground again, and it began torain. So, disappointed, we hurried our equipment back inside.


Three generations ofthe Greeley family watching cloudy skies as totality hit in Canandaigua, NewYork.
Sabrina Garvin / Sky & Telescope



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