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  Saturday - July 27th, 2024
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Boulder Eclipse Spectacle: More Than Just a Shadow!

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The solar eclipse viewed from Boulder was truly magnificent. Keeping in mind that the whole show is only possible because of a triple coincidence of planetary and star location. That’s some crazy stuff!

Today’s eclipse had more going on than meets the eye. As the sun was covered, shielded by the moon, the temperature dropped significantly and suddenly.

More unsettling and awesome was the silence! First we noticed that the birds had stopped chirping, and ALL were silent. Then we noticed that we were not hearing highway noise, neighborhood noise, and the other background sound that makes the ‘burbs anything but silent. It was as if our ears were muted. The birds started up again, slowly and quietly, perhaps 10 minutes after our local max of 65% totality.

The sunspot were clearly visible. A large pair of spots was near the center of the sun’s orb, and provided a reference point to see the moon’s shadow moving over the sun.  Another sunspot was visible. The pair was dramatic, and periodically as the air settled we got a crisp look at the sunspots.

65% is enough eclipse to experience a dramatic visual, and enough for the entire gestalt. The air chill was not subtle. The darkening outside, while of course not as extreme as that of the total eclipse, was eye and mind grabbing anyway. Sunspots are always a treat, and some prefer the spots to the eclipse itself. The silent soundtrack was downright weird. It could not have been more silent.

Lenny Lensworth Frieling

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