The Total Eclipse of the Sun - Cascade, ID - August 21, 2017

Bedsheet to look for shadow bands. It was a brand-new set of queen-sized bed sheets. In retrospect, I wish I had ironed it in advance, since the shadow bands were subtle.

Here is a video of Shadow Bands from the Total Eclipse of the Sun in Cascade, ID, on August 21, 2017 (1:20 & 3:25).

The shadow bands appeared to be subtle - perhaps a function of elevation above sea level.

The view is looking north, at about 11:26-11:28 Mountain Daylight Time. The location is Kelly's Whitewater Park, East Mill Street, Cascade, Idaho, USA, 83611. The location in NAD 83 coordinates as obtained from Google Earth: (44.512510°, -116.033214°) at 4,754 feet above sea level.

The folks in our corner of Idaho were surprised at how small the crowds were. They were expecting something apocalyptic, but it was nice. The rafters were shocked at how small the crowds were at the Cabarton launch site into the Payette River - the smallest they had ever seen. I understand crowds were much bigger, however, near Idaho Falls - the closest place for Salt Lake City crowds to go.

The party next to us on the lawn brought a colander with which to monitor the eclipse.

There were several osprey nests nearby, with nestlings, and osprey. We vowed to try and watch them for any unusual behavior, but in the end we were too distracted by the eclipse to do so.

Camp Buzzell.

The Payette River ran past Kelly's Whitewater Park.

Volunteer models for the gear offered by Idaho Shirts (which I promptly ordered online).

My understanding was that it was better to underexpose photos of the total eclipse. I underexposed the shots so much that even with digital enhancement, you can barely see the Sun. Oh well. Maybe next time....

Interestingly, it never got completely dark. It was twilight, but a very strange twilight, where it was nearly-dark near the Sun, but light on the horizon in a 360-degree circle. It must have been an amazing jetliner flight there. Streetlights came on and Venus appeared in a completely-unexpected part of the sky. It got really chilly, and the eclipse was followed by the most rapid "sunrise" ever!

Photo by Janice Mathews.

What impressed me most about the eclipse was its brilliant, luminous silver color. Pictures of the solar corona are often portrayed as golden. I expected gold. Instead, I got this beautiful silver!

Most beautiful spectacle ever!