Eclipses, Transits and the Unluckiest Astronomer Who Ever Lived 

I witnessed the total eclipse in Germany in 1999 pretty much at the small town where I lived back then. The thing that amazed me the most, besides the natural spectacle of the eclipse itself, was the only sound you could hear: The murmur of hundreds of people in awe.

Michael, my astronomer friend, Francis Graham, originally planned on Niagara Falls, but later deferred to his knowledge of the various campuses of his employer, Kent State University. That led the two of us to Ashtabula, Ohio, a pleasant town right by Lake Erie, where the sky was clear and bright. One thing I love about a total eclipse is that it reminds us that the sun is not simply a lamp in the sky, it's a complex gaseous body, and the eclipse filters out its central "disk" and leaves us free to be amazed by its corona. I felt amazed just to witness the moon creeping across the face of the sun at a speed of roughly Mach 3. So much came with it, from that sunset-like redness on all horizons to getting to see Venus as clear as night. I look forward to the 2045 eclipse, if only as an excuse to visit the Bahamas. Best luck with the book!

We were in Harker Heights, Texas, visiting friends who just happened to live in the eclipse track. We too got lucky with clouds parting just enough to see the major events of the eclipse. This is our third time standing in the Moon's shadow, and on Tuesday I got to touch a piece of the Moon in the Johnson Space Center. One very happy astronomy tourist!

I got to see it in Maumelle, Arkansas. We lucked out. It was a beautiful day, and it looked great!

I only got a partial here in Arizona but it's still awe inspiring knowing massive celestial bodies are lining up to give us a rare show. How so many people can not only deny the obvious physics behind such events but the wonder it elicits is baffling and disheartening.

I am lucky enough to live in NH so were close to the path of totality. We drove northeast just over to border to St. Johnsbury VT to be in the path of totality. With traffic is was almost 4 hours to get up there, and 9, yes NINE, to get home. That roughly 100 seconds of the full eclipse though made the whole trip worth it. Unbelievable spectacle.

I was very lucky some years ago in Austria. Found a perfect spot in the mountains, near a sadly closed observatory. It rained for quite some time that day, but right before the eclipse started, the sky cleared up. It was simply perfect, got even to see a diamond light. An hour after the eclipse, it started raining again. So it seems, that the temperature drop did clear the sky.

I’m in Erie and just up the road from where you stayed. It was an amazing experience but the one most memorable part was simply a thought…. ‘Let’s see the flat earthers explain this’ My second favorite moment was the diamond ring. The thin cloud cover made it look like an explosion. Beautiful experience.

Hey Michael, I've actually experienced this slight clearing of the clouds at the 1999 eclipse here in Germany. It was not like suddenly there was a hole torn into the clouds, but I significantly realized that the clouds became less mostly in the direction of the sky where the sun was. I didn't know about that, just noticed it and read about it later.

I had some thin clouds for the 2017 eclipse while in Lincoln Nebraska, which was fine till totality occurred and my pictures were blurry through he cloud layers. I was just a bit south of Dallas for this last one and was worried about the weather as the morning started completely overcast and there was huge banks of clouds throughout the sky when the eclipse started, but about 20 minutes before totality the sky opened up and I got some amazing pictures. I am looking into Iceland for 2026 or maybe Spain. I think this is my new addiction.

I have never seen Venus transit the Sun but I have seen Mercury do it twice using my refractor telescope and solar film.Seen one full solar eclipse and 3 partials.2 Lunar eclipses and 2 partials.

I live in eastern PA. There was heavy cloud cover so of course I did not get to see the eclipse. Typical Pennsylvania.

Lieutenant James Cook of the Royal Navy's visit to Tahiti for the transit of Venus

We had a clearer view just down the road from you on Presque Isle. The beach got really cold at totality. Did you get to see the planets? I got a picture with Jupiter and Venus but the high clouds blocked Mercury and Saturn / Mars were behind the horizon clouds.

Solar eclipse 2024: clouds. Venus transit: clouds. always clouds

Aren't we not supposed to see with the naked eye?

Eclipses is not pronounced like indexes.