{"id":29162,"date":"2017-08-25T08:17:45","date_gmt":"2017-08-25T15:17:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/?p=29162"},"modified":"2017-08-25T08:17:45","modified_gmt":"2017-08-25T15:17:45","slug":"friday-fun-totality-was-totally-awesome","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/2017\/08\/25\/friday-fun-totality-was-totally-awesome\/","title":{"rendered":"Friday Fun: Totality Was Totally Awesome!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Maybe a little old-hat by now, but if you think I\u2019m going to pass up a literal once-in-a-lifetime<\/em> chance to revisit last Monday\u2019s total solar eclipse here in KCMO \u2013 well, you\u2019d need another think.\u00a0 But I will try to find a few outlier photos and experiences.<\/p>\n

From here in the KCMO Metro, we were just barely in the \u201cTotality\u201d path \u2013 and it was totally awesome!<\/p>\n

Of course we all prepared for the main event in our own unique ways.<\/p>\n

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Well, at least those of us with IQs above room temperature \u2026<\/p>\n

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(If you\u2019re going to make yourself go blind, folk wisdom would have us believe there\u2019s a more enjoyable way of doing it \u2026)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

But it was well worth it!\u00a0 So let\u2019s enjoy some of those gorgeous composite photos that everyone \u201cOoohhhs\u201d<\/em> \u00a0and \u201cAaahhhs\u201d<\/em> over.<\/p>\n

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And this is the only one I know the location of \u2013 it\u2019s from Nashville:<\/p>\n

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And leave it to NASA to \u201cWOW!\u201d<\/em><\/strong> our socks off.\u00a0 This GIF is taken from the Solar Dynamics Observatory<\/p>\n

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And here\u2019s a composite of the International Space Station crossing the sun during the eclipse \u2013 it\u2019s the \u201clittle H\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

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I shouldn\u2019t say \u201clittle\u201d because the Space Station weighs 450 tons and is about as wide as a football field<\/p>\n

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And thanks to NASA we were actually able to track the shadow of the moon as it crossed over the continental United States<\/p>\n

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Of course you didn\u2019t need to be a rocket scientist to enjoy the solar eclipse \u2013 or even have those special glasses to protect your eyes. \u00a0All you needed was a pinhole projector and a screen.\u00a0 And people were inventive with both.<\/p>\n

Colander<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

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Frying Pan with Water<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

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Binoculars<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

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A set of binoculars is used backwards to project the moon passing in front of the sun onto a piece of paper during a partial solar eclipse on Monday August 21, 2017 in Chelsea, Que. THE CANADIAN PRESS\/Adrian Wyld<\/p><\/div>\n

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Your Hand<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

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Even a Slice of Bread<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

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But one of my favorite effects were the thousands of pinholes provided by the leaves from the woods that abut my backyard creating thousands of crescents.\u00a0 (This is not my video \u2013 it\u2019s from the 2012 eclipse \u2013 but it\u2019s a very good facsimile to what I saw on my patio.)<\/p>\n