This was my first solar eclipse since May 10th, 1994. And that one didn't add up to much of squat for me, given the mid afternoon time of day, how it didn't go total where I was working in Garland, and my age that kept me from really appreciating the scale of it all. Not to mention I was looking at it against the parking lot as it shined through a hole in a piece of cardboard. No real show there.
But this one was at my favorite time of day -- sunset. The sky was orange. The size of the moon and sun were magnified as they crossed paths at the horizon. My digital camera had a big enough screen on it to be able to safely watch it all come together. And this time, I was way old enough to appreciate what I was seeing.
Good times
Looking west from the roadside of FM455 west of Sanger, the eclipse starts.
The moon is just slightly infringing on bottom right of the setting Sun.
Closeup of the eclipse penumbra as it slowly covers the Sun from bottom right to top left
A dragon fly buzzing by at the right time
The moon is slowly becoming more visible
Sun is maybe about 15% eclipsed at this point
Now around 20%
Kinda reminds me of a giant PacMan
Now at about 25%
With the magnification of the sun through the atmosphere at sunset, the eclipse gives a false impression of speeding up now
Now around 30%
Having the sun appear to come down and eat the cel/radio tower was an unintentional bit of photo serendipity
Getting close to 40%
Maybe 45% now.
I really like how it its all coming together with the clouds and tower
Some egrets were aparently waiting for their cue to fly through
Lotsa goodness going on here. Quoting the wife "It looks like something from Star Wars"
Maybe 50% now
Getting close to 60%
Around 65%
Almost over the horizon, at 70%
Now 80%
The end, at what I'm guessing was 85%.
Next stop -- August 21st, 2017
