I agree with this Destin fellow that I also subscribe too, We are all techy inclined and I'm sure you'll find quite the overlap between topics you like and that us the audience will also like. This video was fantastic. (also a fellow ham radio operator)
The advice is the thing that keeps me working towards being capable of making TH-cam content. I have been trying to get well enough to make content for 15 years (I have what Physics Girl has) And thanks to both of you for the videos you make. I watch all your channels, thankyou for enriching my life!
I ended up going to VT to see totality, we had 95% where I live but I figure it would be cool. I really didnt expect it to be so crazy, it was definitely a spiritual experience. After totality the rest of the eclipse felt like a shadow puppets show
In both 2017 and 2024 I was amazed how friendly everyone was. I got so many “safe travels” from people I never even spoke to. The eclipse just put anyone in a great mood. I loved the human interaction just as much as the actual eclipse.
Dear Jeff, my voice will be lost in the thousands of comments ... but we like and respect you, most of us have aligned interests to yours. I know the algoritm, the views, etc are important. But we will pretty much will enjoy ANYTHING you find interesting, like singing hotdogs, and if we don't click with one subject there's always the next video coming soon.
Heh, it's crazy too-that hot dog video's metrics are off the charts... but since it's shorter, and TH-cam looooves watch time, it is buried compared to normal videos with high CTR and watch time percentage. It seems like the algorithm currently strongly favors and promotes longer videos :( I kinda hate that, because I try to make my videos concise. Why waste 30 minutes on a topic that you can condense better into 15?
People like yourself and Destin are the reason I made sure I saw this in person, and I'm glad I did, it was an experience I won't forget, and I will probably see more in the future.
Heh! Well, let that be a warning to all who stare at the sun with no eye protection! Dr. Glaucomflecken had a fun little sketch about eye damage in the ER this week :)
Nice. We were in the western Austin area. Up until just before totality we had mostly overcast skies. But 5 minutes before, the skies cleared, and we had a completely clear view. The temperatures dropped like a rock and the darkness activated the lights around the pool. All the birds went silent. And the only thing we could hear was the gardener down the street running his lawnmower. I guess he needed the money bad, because he missed a great show right above his head.
Thanks for the shoutout on the Dark Mode shirt! Great video! I too am fascinated by the Sun. Those explosions on the Sun sometimes create CMEs that create beautiful auroras (something I chase!).
@@JeffGeerling They are hard to predict (created an app to help) and you only have a few days notice at most, then you have to deal with clouds, light pollution, and all of the things you had to deal with for the eclipse. I'd love to chase one with you!
Oh, this could be an interesting collaboration! A nice night of Northern Lights can be almost as cool as an eclipse (if you're lucky) and they last longer! 😎✌️
Witnessed totality in UK with the August 1990 eclipse , it was predicted about 97% where we live , thought that would be good enough but after watching Patrick Moore explaining you need to experience Totality , we travelled 300miles to experience it Was bit of cloud cover but well worth traveling to experience , luckily my sister lived right in path of totality , now looking at going to Spain for the 2026 Ellipse Came here Jeff from Smarter every day
Just wish we had even more time! I would've loved a few hours of totality, ha! At least I knew enough to just let my camera roll and take in more of the experience this time around. I took a total of about 12 photos during totality-in 2017 I took over 100, lol... I was doing the 'spray and pray' method of photography.
Such a great video, I had a similar reaction sharing the eclipse with my ever-getting-older parents reminding me that this might be the last time we get to do this together. Agree with that sentiment from Destin, make the videos you love, because I loved this one too
I saw the total eclipse from Essex Junction VT (just outside of Burlington). There were very thin high clouds that didn't get in the way. As we got close to totality it actually got cooler outside. Then the streetlights came on, and all the dogs in the neighborhood started barking! Red Necks shot off fireworks! I've seen many photos of total eclipses over the years, and they showed more than I could see naked eye. BUT watching it live outdoors is something else! Certainly an item crossed off my bucket list!
I love the doctor setting out experiments and making them accessible too, its really cool to have educators like that. and also, big props for keeping your children out of the video like that, its something i wish more people did, rather than posting pictures of them everywhere from the day theyre born
We were camping in the Georgia mountains for the last full eclipse and it was really something to witness. There were about 25 of us that got together and brought food and drinks. We all had the eclipse sun glasses and it was one of the best times of our lives as no one else ever got involved in solar eclipses prior to that one. The interesting thing was watching all the night lighting around and on the RV's that came on almost at the same time and how there was not a bird to be seen or heard. The K9's were all so confused and not enjoying it. All in all it was a GREAT time. Loved the video. I need to down load your picture if you do not mind for my office. I love it and the original one. Thanks Oh, you need to get some LARGE prints made and put them up for sale on your webpage!
Heh, there were about 6 dogs around where we were, and they all seemed a bit confused, they were napping, then barking, then a few were doing a scared whimper, then they were all playful once it was all over.
I was lucky enough to experience this eclipse at the college (Dallas College) where I teach. It was so cool to experience the total eclipse alongside my colleagues and members of the community. This eclipse felt different than the 2017 eclipse. Maybe it was the longer time in totality. Maybe it was the wider path of totality. Whatever it was, it seemed darker and more eerie during the 3+ minute of totality. There's also something powerful about the shared community experience of witnessing such an event. Essentially the entire DFW region shut down while millions of people watched the eclipse. Thank you for sharing your experience on your channel.
I vowed to watch the 2024 total eclipse after my 2017 total eclipse got cloud covered very quickly after the first diamond ring effect. Last time was still an incredible experience, but this year was stunning seeing totality uninterrupted.
Jeff, this is INCREDIBLE! I am so thankful you did this. We went to Texas to view the eclipse, and I just wanted to say that where we were, it was super windy, we were flying kites with the kids -- and just to confirm what you said -- the wind absolutely died down during totality. Thank you again! I'm going to be chasing these things wherever I can, and maybe you can come out here to Colorado for the 2045 eclipse when we're both old dudes :)
Great video. Note many of the airborne particles flying by after 3rd contact are not bugs, they are plant seeds (e.g. dandelion). You'll notice that most of them are going in the same general direction as the local wind.
Ah, that could definitely be the case, as the field around us wasn't cut too recently, and my allergies were a little bit higher than average. So definitely a lot in the air!
Wow, I was on the other side of that same park! I'm so glad I convinced my parents to come along with me to see it. Even seeing these images gives me goosebumps just remembering how awesome it was.
Wow amazing video! I agree there is almost no other way to put it than a spiritual experience. We were able to see the 2017 eclipse but not this one. But I feel like I was almost there with how well you covered everything!
Excellent photos and videos, Jeff. I agree about your mention of those shared precious moments. My dad and I had a similar interest in tech as you and your dad, and I miss him dearly. For that reason, I really enjoy seeing your dad and son videos.
We got clouded out (in the totality path, north of KC) in 2017. Traveled to Buffalo for this one - multi-goal trip, one of which was the eclipse - and nearly got clouded out (like the poor unfortunates in Niagara Falls) this time as well, but the clouds thinned between us and I managed to get some snaps of Totality through the clouds - and caught the prominences as well.
What I loved about Jeff is the simplicity of explaining complex topics and by the way kudos to him for protecting his kids from wild wild west of online and his respect of his dad. I hope those kids extend that to you someday.
Great video. I went to Poplar Bluff, Missouri for the eclipse. What a great experience. I love the cheers from people reacting. I am glad I thought to record the audio this time since I didn't think of it during the 2017 eclipse.
Nice video. I was in the path of totality in 2017 and this time in 2024 as well. One thing I noticed this time but not prior is that it was dead silent. The very moment that light came back, the birds began to sing.
@@JeffGeerling no moved homes in between. Just happened to be in the total path both times 🤣also a clear day for me both times! I found this one more impressive though!
I only periodically looked up at it with the glasses and decided that I wanted to see my surroundings when it fully happened That last 5-10 seconds before totality is pretty wild What's interesting is that when I took a picture of the totality, I just got a solid white circle.
We drove to the other side of Texas, and got super blessed with the weather. My first total eclipse I've gotten to see, at 41 years old. I'm not sure I'd call it spiritual. But it was amazingly moving. Surprisingly so. It's a weird comparison, but it reminded me of seeing a space-x launch in person, in that pictures and videos can't convey the visceral experience properly. What amazed me was the actual difference in ambient lighting on us, between darkness of totality, and that tiniest sliver of the diamond ring.
Egypt or Morocco in 2027... (If money was no object I'd go to Easter Island in October of THIS year, because now I want to see an Annular eclipse also. But I live in the real world, so 2027 is the goal.)
this was the first eclipse ive ever seen. it was amazing, but another thing was the amount of people in the middle of the adirondack mountains in northern new york. i never seen so many people in those areas. it was surreal and totally worth taking the day off to experience it
My wife and I took our 8 week old son to the 2017 eclipse in Southern Illinois and, like you, we immediately started planning for 2024. This time we went to Indianapolis with our son and two daughters (a lot can change in 6.5 years. You couldn't have asked for better weather and I think totality was even more amazing this time. The prominence at the bottom of the eclipse was so bright and beautiful, the corona was even more active... just overall an amazing experience. I'm so glad that I was able to experience totality twice in my life and hope go to Montana/ND/SD for the 2044 totality with my adult kids. Maybe we will see you there :)
Your 2017 experience was my 2024 experience. I was working from home and initially thought, I’ll just go and get a quick video of the totality in my backyard. But as the time got closer to the start of the eclipse, I found myself getting my camcorder gear, tripod, and setting up my own totality recording station on my patio. Call it the videographer itch. In those moments, I learned more about celestial recording than I ever thought I’d learn, even sacrifice one of my glasses lenses so I can tape it onto my camera lens. I’m happy not only to have captured such an event, but capture my experience. I was even blessed to have my toddler experience it with me. I wish I remembered to increase the fstop to underexpose as I wanted to capture the prominences better (thanks B&H for the advice). But I did get a great shot of corona during totality and most phases of the eclipse. Your video is inspiring me to make one of my own, and “do something I love”. I just don’t have as much great B Roll as you do. Thanks for sharing your well planned and executed 2024 eclipse story. I hope my next eclipse experience is as good as this one!
@@JeffGeerling Thank you! I’ve found it’s the most impactful learning. Thanks to your video, I’ll definitely know to get a Celestron pop on filter for next time 😎.
Jeff, I concur. Experiencing it was wonderful. I took my my daughter and her boyfriend up to the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont. Small town park. Our experience was similar to yours. Everyone was kind. The boyfriend called it "the best 3 minutes of his life".
This was my first time seeing a total eclipse. I watched on my own land in Texas and was glad to avoid crowds. We also had an annular eclipse here a few months earlier but this one was way better. It felt like when the last bit of sun was covered someone flicked a light switch off. I was able to see Jupiter and Venus, and there were several flocks of birds flying around wildly. One thing I was surprised about was our chicken flock didn't roost. I was expecting them to since they always put themselves up at dusk but I guess they know the difference.
Ha! I used to have three chickens but got them after the 2017 eclipse-it would've been interesting to have a camera on them and see what they got up to!
We lucked out in the Cleveland area. Usually Cleveland in early April is cloudy. Got a ton of pictures, looking for software to stitch them together now. Good luck with the next one!
Just another great reason to be following your content after I discovered it a few months ago. I'm a bit of an amateur astronomer. I drove 2 hours to northern Maine with my family to experience the eclipse. My mom told me later how much of a spiritual experience it was for her. That made me happy. This was my 2nd eclipse and dare I say much better than 2017. The solar activity was great even naked eye. I also don't remember seeing the corona in 2017. One note, if you have a Ha solar telescope, you can sometimes see solar prominences depending on the activity of the Sun. Lunt Telescopes is one such manufacturer. Not cheap, but a fun hobby to dive into.
It indeed was a surreal experience! People came from the Netherlands, Spain, and California and other states to witness it here in Dallas and it was awesome! Such a good experience getting to share the binoculars and telescope views with solar filters with other people ❤
thanks for this. I saw my first eclipse this week in NY and I can't stop thinking about it. Seeing others express the joy and wonder I felt makes me happy.
I kind of want to just get this off of my chest; this seems like a safe place to do so without getting fans of this team upset. In my 32 years of life, in my state, I have personally witnessed a (partial) solar eclipse twice. In that time, I have witnessed the Minnesota Vikings only win once. I'm not claiming they have only won once in 32 years, but I have only actually seen it happen once while spectating. I feel better now. Thank you for listening.
Another great video Jeff, I admire your family and the connection you all have, it's so comforting to see on camera and lovely to see your shared passions on the Engineering channel with your dad too, something that I unfortunately never got to experience myself (I didn't know my dad growing up, I traced him as an adult but he passed away before I really got to know him)
your words captured my feelings almost exactly... so different being there... definitely made me feel things. Glad you were able to see it without the clouds. What a gift!
It’s great that you got to experience it with your family. My youngest sibling asked me like a week before if I wanted to go to Vermont (basically the closest spot for us) to see the totality. I didn’t bring any equipment, not even my drone. But it was an amazing experience live. My only regret was forgetting what I told myself beforehand, “take some photos of your surroundings during totality.” Oh, and dealing with traffic after. But I was glad I got to go. Even if it was only said sibling and my mom that went.
I drove down to the southern tip of Illinois on my way back to Georgia. Only 33 miles away from the spot I witnessed the 2017 eclipse. It was spiritual indeed, and I had both my children with me. I too, hope they remember it for the rest of their lives.
I was able to watch the 2017 Eclipse with my Father, and this year I drove all the way from Rapid City, SD to Dallas Texas 16 Hours over a day round trip. It was and always will be the most important things ive experienced in my life. It is always impossible to describe what an eclipse truly feels like. It grounds me to my life and the people I love, it reminds me not massive the universe is, how amazing every single moment we share with the people we live around really is. its an amazing experience.
In 2017, I took mine and my younger brother's families to the Smoky Mountains to see that eclipse, and like you, we were in awe. Last October, my brother and I traveled to Valley of the Gods, Utah to watch the Annular Eclipse which was spectacular but a little less awe inspiring than the 2017 event. I live directly east of Lake Ontario which was within the path of totality and became extremely disappointed with the clouds that were expected during the Eclipse. Early Monday morning (3:30), I headed 250 miles to the middle line of totality in northern Vermont (one mile from the Canadian border). It was clear, I met amazing people, and took great pictures, video, and time-lapse video. Thank you for this video, it brought back the emotions of that day.
I took my kids a few hours west to Syracuse, NY. It was terribly cloudy but right when it was go-time, the clouds broke up just enough for us to all witness. It was definitely something special and glad I got to share that moment with my kids.
We had the clouds here in South Central Texas. I did get to see the eclipse in bursts and glimpses, and even grabbed a few shots with my phone. I let the phone do the direct looking at the sun, not my eyes. The clouds blocked most of it, but still a bad idea to look directly at the sun without proper protection. We did get to experience everything getting dark. We were on the outskirts of totality and got about a minute's worth. We had a thinning in the clouds just before max coverage - but the clouds got thick again before it got the dark of maximum coverage. Still an eerie thing watching all the birds fly to their night time roost and the quiet (other than sirens and fireworks).
Great video Jeff. I was down by Farmington for the eclipse. I heard 2 out of 5 people would cry during totality. Yep, 3 people broke out in tears around me. It's crazy what effect this had on people. Great that you guys were doing some ham radio with that Wolf River Coils antenna.
Yes! My dad was listening in on the local net too; it sounded like only a couple guys were talking through the partial phases, they went quiet during totality, probably fascinated like everyone else.
#Nice, for a whole bunch of reasons. I love it when Tubers cross pollinate (I got Practical Engineering from Tom Scott, when he was on summer vacation, and Grady did the KC Hyatt collapse... with pics of a lobby I was *in* in 2009 for the Heinlein Centennial), and I hang out in broadcast contexts, and a lot of those engineers were also looking into the propagation changes. My contribution was to put NASAtv coverage of the entire track, pretty well produced, up on Frank's 2000" TV at the college theatre where I work; didn't get quite as many wandering students this time as last, but still a couple dozen over the 90 minute window...
I finely got to see a total eclipse this year with my daughter. We were in Van Buren MO along the Current River. It was incredible experience. I really enjoy your content. Thanks!
Jeff, you echoed all my feelings about the Eclipse, I wish I'd known you were just a handful of miles down the road from me at the time. Watching your footage brings back all the amazing feelings of the day and I still get goosebumps thinking about it. Truly an amazing experience. Thank you for posting this video.
I traveled from southern Minnesota to southern Illinois to see it. The drive was brutal because my friends and I didn't have much time to take off in our schedules but it was worth it. I took pictures with a Cannon 20D I got off eBay for $50, a 200mm lens that I got for free as a hand me down from my grandma, and an old beat up tripod from my other grandma. The lens was meant for an old Cannon film camera so I had to adjust everything manually which was fun. I also took a Timelapse with my iPhone which turned out better than I expected. I also took one photo of the sun with my QuickTake 150. It just appears as a tiny 5 pixel dot but I was amazed it worked at all. I hope one of the people who have modded Gameboy cameras took pictures of it with that because I would love to see that.
Honestly a manual lens can be a blessing for astrophotography. Too many people had ruined photos because the camera's autofocus got confused! Awesome that you got a QuickTake shot, that sounds fun! Someday I'd love to find one and try it out... first digital camera I had was a Canon PowerShot S40, it wasn't great, wasn't terrible-but it was a few generations newer than the QuickTake!
As a fellow St. Louisian, I felt the same way you did after the 2017 eclipse. I had this date on my calendar ever since, and booked a pavilion in a Cape Girardeau park as soon as I was able. 2024 was totally worth it, even considering the 5.5 hour drive home that should have taken 1.5 hours.
I was next to a pond near Cleveland. During totality, there was a chorus of frogs and crickets joining all the hooting and hollering of the humans. It was very cool.
We had a pond with a bunch of frogs nearby, but the location we sat in was close enough to the hotel's HVAC system that we didn't hear the frogs as much. Definitely more chatter from the crickets though!
Half the reason I made the video was it felt like only a minute or so while we were there. I wanted to make sure I had a way to relive some of the experience while it was fresh (I wrote most of the script that night, as the kids were falling asleep).
I wish we would have known you were set up there. We were driving down to a friends house in Bloomfield. The rest stop was closed on I-55 so we just happended to stop at the gas station shown in your video. Would have been a great opportunity to meet you. It was a great event and we enjoyed it immensely.
I live in north county and having the eclipse in 2017 in our general backyard last time was nice. We ended up viewing it from a parking lot on Watson and Lindbergh. This year, we had some friends from out of town and made an event of it. Left in the morning hoping to make it around where you ended up. Then hit 55 and the parking lot it became on Monday in Jefferson county. I seriously underestimated the traffic. We ended up making it to Bloomsdale and pulled off about 15 minutes before the eclipse in a field along the interstate, which gave us about 2 minutes of darkness. The drive was absolutely worth it. Not being in the middle of buildings in suburbia really made me appreciate the event a lot more then in 2017. You could feel the wind as the eclipse approached, hear the insects react as it grew darker. The view of sunset all around you was incredible. It was amazing and glad that we made the effort and were able to get into an area of darkness before the eclipse happened.
My parents lives a few km outside of Totality in Montreal, so I convinced them to drive out to the side of a mountain 90min out. We had close to 3min of Totality and my mother, who wasn't that excited about the whole experience, has talked about nothing else since. It really is a spiritual experience.
Thanks for the info about that prominence! We didn't use any instruments and didn't know why that bright spot was there visible to the unaided eye. As for the experience, the 360-degree sunset (or sunrise) was really something to witness that I never hear mentioned.
7:46 Oh wow! There are loads of pictures online of the moments before and after totality, but I don't think I'd ever seen the the moment when the moon completely obscures the sun such that there is *no visible portion of the sun whatsoever!* That was *so cool! Thank you for this! It lasted about 2.5 seconds. 😊❤
Technically if I had popped off the filter earlier, you'd see a little bit of the start of totality, with bailey's beads and a dimmer halo around the sun, which gets a LOT brighter once the full disc is covered. It's a crazy event!
Awesome video, Jeff! I'm glad you got good enough weather to enjoy the experience. I traveled to Monrovia, IN, to view it from my brother's with his family & my parents. It was definitely the experience of a lifetime! Since I've never seen a total solar eclipse before, I decided to just watch it, and not fiddle with trying to capture it. I did use Dr. Telepun's Eclipse Timer app, and it was awesome & very accurate! If I ever get the opportunity again, I think I would definitely plan to capture it with fully-automated software! I just didn't have the time I needed to practice & attempt it this time. Looking forward to any future videos on the subject...do what you love!!!
Cool video. I have yet to experience a full eclipse. But as your wife pointed out with the grater you can look all over and see mini eclipses everywhere. I am surprised the wind died down, if the temp was dropping I would expect the wind to pickup like the coastal effect. So many cameras, seems like a lot of work. Thanks for sharing.
Great video jeff. Awesome captures of the eclipse. I was in NY with my family and loved what we saw of totality. I didn’t have the equipment to capture the eclipse on camera, but I was able to capture the reaction of my 8 year old son when he took off his glasses. Priceless doesn’t do it justice. Keep up the great work and thank you for sharing.
Yeah each of our kids had their own kind of reaction, which was fun to replay afterwards. One of our younger daughters kept jumping around and watching the dogs, I think she took the 'observe the animals' instruction very seriously!
My backyard was right in the middle of the path of totality, in Watertown, NY. Had high clouds all morning, and unfortunately thicker clouds moved in during the main event. Only saw the first 10 mins of the partial phase, then clouds were too thick to see anything with the glasses on. Nearing totality though, birds started flocking to the trees and chirping. One of the cooler things was a flock of 30+ Red Tailed Hawks that were just lazily circling around the sky. Then totality happened, and it was still amazing despite the clouds! Could make out the fuzzy donut of totality, temp dropped, and it got so still and quiet. Looked like a 360 degree sunset. Was an awesome thing to witness, and I can see why people travel just to see a total eclipse!
Nice work Jeff. My son and I caught it in 2017 in Hopkinsville, KY. This year we headed over to Brown County, IN. Glad we got to experience both together.
If you ever get to see an Eclipse over the Ocean, I would highly recommend it. Those last few seconds before totality are amazing. Watching from high on cliffs, with a clear, unobstructed view out to the horizon, you see a wall of darkness rushing towards you, just wow...
My mom and I flew 4 hours into DFW (that's where we booked 5 months ago) to a weather report that wasn't looking good. So we took our rental car and drove 1100 miles to a small town outside Muncie Indiana. What a trip and what an experience.
My family and I weren't too far away in Jackson Missouri, it was an absolutely amazing experience. Really fortunate to live in eastern Missouri and have access to two eclipses in 7 years.
Saw it out in the middle of nowhere in Idaho 2017, and this past one I saw it out on the water in Dallas. Amazing pictures with my phone even though it ilwasnt super high quality.
Fully agreed Jeff, Totality is an amazing experience you just have to have. I'm so happy I was able to get to experience it this year up here in Canada, though Spain in 2026 does sound quite appealing too. I'm definitely leaning towards being a chaser... Even managed to convince my SO to join the madness as well, and she absolutely loved the experience too.
Great video documenting the experience! I agree with your observation that the wind did calm during totality. It was an amazing event! In addition to photographs, I was recording how wolves and foxes reacted at the animal rescue I was observing from. The wolves got up and began howling. The foxes looked around a bit and went back to sleep. Someday hopefully I’ll get the video put together.
Interesting! Would love to see it; my wife and I were also wondering if anyone observed chickens. I know at least one commenter mentioned they didn't go in to roost, but I wonder if on average flocks would, or wouldn't!
I will likely never see it in my life The last total eclipse here was in 1999, when I wasn't born yet, the next one will happen in 2081, when I'll likely be dead.
Great video, Jeff! I hope to be able to see such a thing with my own eyes one day. Being in the UK, I just watched the live feeds. Still very cool indeed.
I drove to the totality. It was a 5-hour long drive but it was worth it. Im probably necer going to see another eclipse but at least i got to see this one and thanks for the how to photograph the eclipse video it really helped
Just found your video - thanks for sharing your experience! You sum it up well that you just have to be there to see it with your own eyes. I just published my video about my eclipse trip (also with my dad) and we had very similar experiences. You were even luckier to have both your parents, your wife, and your kids with you. I hope to have that happen someday. Great job documenting the experience and that image is something to be proud of!
Pleasure to meet you Jeff! Glad you made the video!
I'm glad too - thanks for your sage words :)
"Make the video's you love"
The most insperation i have had for a long time. Thanks!!
I agree with this Destin fellow that I also subscribe too, We are all techy inclined and I'm sure you'll find quite the overlap between topics you like and that us the audience will also like. This video was fantastic. (also a fellow ham radio operator)
Jeff didn’t know this, but I am also a subscriber of yours. Ofc I’m gonna click on this video!
The advice is the thing that keeps me working towards being capable of making TH-cam content. I have been trying to get well enough to make content for 15 years (I have what Physics Girl has)
And thanks to both of you for the videos you make. I watch all your channels, thankyou for enriching my life!
"Make the videos you love" - A quote all creators should live by.
Audiences both know... and care.
What if you're a serial killer, though?
Well, it'd certainly make it easier to find you.
Love the way you speak about your father, Jeff. The best compliment a son can pay to a parent.
I ended up going to VT to see totality, we had 95% where I live but I figure it would be cool. I really didnt expect it to be so crazy, it was definitely a spiritual experience. After totality the rest of the eclipse felt like a shadow puppets show
at my location , we also had earth in between moon and us
A double eclipse! Heh
Oh the ISS I have seen it very cool to see rise south east set at south west.
@@WilliamHollinger2019
happens for me too every ~24h
Australia will get a couple of chances soon enough.
In both 2017 and 2024 I was amazed how friendly everyone was. I got so many “safe travels” from people I never even spoke to. The eclipse just put anyone in a great mood. I loved the human interaction just as much as the actual eclipse.
it’s such a connecting feeling, to the strangers around you, to the other who saw it the same day from other locations, incredible.
Dear Jeff, my voice will be lost in the thousands of comments ... but we like and respect you, most of us have aligned interests to yours. I know the algoritm, the views, etc are important. But we will pretty much will enjoy ANYTHING you find interesting, like singing hotdogs, and if we don't click with one subject there's always the next video coming soon.
Heh, it's crazy too-that hot dog video's metrics are off the charts... but since it's shorter, and TH-cam looooves watch time, it is buried compared to normal videos with high CTR and watch time percentage.
It seems like the algorithm currently strongly favors and promotes longer videos :(
I kinda hate that, because I try to make my videos concise. Why waste 30 minutes on a topic that you can condense better into 15?
I love that footage at the beginning of the beads peaking out. Excellent work!
Here from Destin’s video. I’ll be back!
Good to have you :)
His joy is infectious!
People like yourself and Destin are the reason I made sure I saw this in person, and I'm glad I did, it was an experience I won't forget, and I will probably see more in the future.
Same. It was way cooler than I expected.
misread your title as, "i may never see again"
Heh! Well, let that be a warning to all who stare at the sun with no eye protection! Dr. Glaucomflecken had a fun little sketch about eye damage in the ER this week :)
You didnt wear the glasses did u @colddogs 😂
me too!
Same thing 😂
so happy to know i was not alone
Nice. We were in the western Austin area. Up until just before totality we had mostly overcast skies. But 5 minutes before, the skies cleared, and we had a completely clear view. The temperatures dropped like a rock and the darkness activated the lights around the pool. All the birds went silent. And the only thing we could hear was the gardener down the street running his lawnmower. I guess he needed the money bad, because he missed a great show right above his head.
Ha, can't believe the lawnmower kept going! Or maybe he had a life goal of mowing grass during totality!
@@JeffGeerling mowing grass in totality? His bucket list is definitely different than mine!
Thanks for the shoutout on the Dark Mode shirt! Great video! I too am fascinated by the Sun. Those explosions on the Sun sometimes create CMEs that create beautiful auroras (something I chase!).
I would love to travel up north sometime and see an aurora-only seen them in pictures and video so far!
Also, thanks for making such a comfy shirt.
@@JeffGeerling They are hard to predict (created an app to help) and you only have a few days notice at most, then you have to deal with clouds, light pollution, and all of the things you had to deal with for the eclipse. I'd love to chase one with you!
Oh, this could be an interesting collaboration! A nice night of Northern Lights can be almost as cool as an eclipse (if you're lucky) and they last longer! 😎✌️
Very cool you choose to record your experience and share it with us, thank you for sharing your videos with us, God bless you and your family
No one ever noticed the 360 sunrise.. I did, got a panorama shot too. :)
edit: TechnoTim is the best!!
Witnessed totality in UK with the August 1990 eclipse , it was predicted about 97% where we live , thought that would be good enough but after watching Patrick Moore explaining you need to experience Totality , we travelled 300miles to experience it
Was bit of cloud cover but well worth traveling to experience , luckily my sister lived right in path of totality , now looking at going to Spain for the 2026 Ellipse
Came here Jeff from Smarter every day
There's a chance we'll try flying over to Spain for 2026. It would be fun!
I’m glad you were able to capture it so well, but also enjoy the moment and enjoy the time with your family
Just wish we had even more time! I would've loved a few hours of totality, ha! At least I knew enough to just let my camera roll and take in more of the experience this time around. I took a total of about 12 photos during totality-in 2017 I took over 100, lol... I was doing the 'spray and pray' method of photography.
Such a great video, I had a similar reaction sharing the eclipse with my ever-getting-older parents reminding me that this might be the last time we get to do this together. Agree with that sentiment from Destin, make the videos you love, because I loved this one too
I saw the total eclipse from Essex Junction VT (just outside of Burlington). There were very thin high clouds that didn't get in the way. As we got close to totality it actually got cooler outside. Then the streetlights came on, and all the dogs in the neighborhood started barking! Red Necks shot off fireworks! I've seen many photos of total eclipses over the years, and they showed more than I could see naked eye. BUT watching it live outdoors is something else! Certainly an item crossed off my bucket list!
We set up at Point Au Roche State Park north of Plattsburg NY. Was a beautiful park, and not at all crowded. What a show.
I love the doctor setting out experiments and making them accessible too, its really cool to have educators like that. and also, big props for keeping your children out of the video like that, its something i wish more people did, rather than posting pictures of them everywhere from the day theyre born
Loved the video. Thanks for sharing it to people all around the world to experience it virtually.
We were camping in the Georgia mountains for the last full eclipse and it was really something to witness. There were about 25 of us that got together and brought food and drinks. We all had the eclipse sun glasses and it was one of the best times of our lives as no one else ever got involved in solar eclipses prior to that one. The interesting thing was watching all the night lighting around and on the RV's that came on almost at the same time and how there was not a bird to be seen or heard. The K9's were all so confused and not enjoying it. All in all it was a GREAT time. Loved the video. I need to down load your picture if you do not mind for my office. I love it and the original one. Thanks Oh, you need to get some LARGE prints made and put them up for sale on your webpage!
Heh, there were about 6 dogs around where we were, and they all seemed a bit confused, they were napping, then barking, then a few were doing a scared whimper, then they were all playful once it was all over.
I was lucky enough to experience this eclipse at the college (Dallas College) where I teach. It was so cool to experience the total eclipse alongside my colleagues and members of the community. This eclipse felt different than the 2017 eclipse. Maybe it was the longer time in totality. Maybe it was the wider path of totality. Whatever it was, it seemed darker and more eerie during the 3+ minute of totality. There's also something powerful about the shared community experience of witnessing such an event. Essentially the entire DFW region shut down while millions of people watched the eclipse. Thank you for sharing your experience on your channel.
I vowed to watch the 2024 total eclipse after my 2017 total eclipse got cloud covered very quickly after the first diamond ring effect. Last time was still an incredible experience, but this year was stunning seeing totality uninterrupted.
Jeff, this is INCREDIBLE! I am so thankful you did this. We went to Texas to view the eclipse, and I just wanted to say that where we were, it was super windy, we were flying kites with the kids -- and just to confirm what you said -- the wind absolutely died down during totality.
Thank you again! I'm going to be chasing these things wherever I can, and maybe you can come out here to Colorado for the 2045 eclipse when we're both old dudes :)
That bottom prominence being visible to the naked eye at my location was totally surprising.
Great video. Note many of the airborne particles flying by after 3rd contact are not bugs, they are plant seeds (e.g. dandelion). You'll notice that most of them are going in the same general direction as the local wind.
Ah, that could definitely be the case, as the field around us wasn't cut too recently, and my allergies were a little bit higher than average. So definitely a lot in the air!
Wow, I was on the other side of that same park!
I'm so glad I convinced my parents to come along with me to see it. Even seeing these images gives me goosebumps just remembering how awesome it was.
Thank you for sharing what you love!
I was so happy to travel south to St-Georges, Qc to witness the eclipse in person. As you've mentioned, it's quite spiritual to see it in person.
Wow amazing video! I agree there is almost no other way to put it than a spiritual experience. We were able to see the 2017 eclipse but not this one. But I feel like I was almost there with how well you covered everything!
Glad I could share it then :)
Was waiting for this ever since your post on instagram. Lovely!
Excellent photos and videos, Jeff. I agree about your mention of those shared precious moments. My dad and I had a similar interest in tech as you and your dad, and I miss him dearly. For that reason, I really enjoy seeing your dad and son videos.
We got clouded out (in the totality path, north of KC) in 2017. Traveled to Buffalo for this one - multi-goal trip, one of which was the eclipse - and nearly got clouded out (like the poor unfortunates in Niagara Falls) this time as well, but the clouds thinned between us and I managed to get some snaps of Totality through the clouds - and caught the prominences as well.
What I loved about Jeff is the simplicity of explaining complex topics and by the way kudos to him for protecting his kids from wild wild west of online and his respect of his dad. I hope those kids extend that to you someday.
Great video. I went to Poplar Bluff, Missouri for the eclipse. What a great experience. I love the cheers from people reacting. I am glad I thought to record the audio this time since I didn't think of it during the 2017 eclipse.
I drove from Huntsville, AL to Pocahontas, AR and it was so much better in person than my camera could ever do it justice.
Some friends and I stayed overnight ind St. Louis and went to Jackson, MO for totality. It was awesome. Thanks for sharing your experiences!
Nice video. I was in the path of totality in 2017 and this time in 2024 as well.
One thing I noticed this time but not prior is that it was dead silent. The very moment that light came back, the birds began to sing.
Wow! were you in southern IL? What great luck!
@@JeffGeerling no moved homes in between. Just happened to be in the total path both times 🤣also a clear day for me both times! I found this one more impressive though!
@@escapetherace1943 Ha! So you're planning a move to be in the path again for 2045, I take it? :D
@@JeffGeerling No I will likely be passed away by then *bones creak*
I only periodically looked up at it with the glasses and decided that I wanted to see my surroundings when it fully happened
That last 5-10 seconds before totality is pretty wild
What's interesting is that when I took a picture of the totality, I just got a solid white circle.
Yeah getting focus nailed for totality is a little tough-I made sure to lock down manual focus before, trying to get the sunspots in perfect focus!
We drove to the other side of Texas, and got super blessed with the weather. My first total eclipse I've gotten to see, at 41 years old. I'm not sure I'd call it spiritual. But it was amazingly moving. Surprisingly so. It's a weird comparison, but it reminded me of seeing a space-x launch in person, in that pictures and videos can't convey the visceral experience properly. What amazed me was the actual difference in ambient lighting on us, between darkness of totality, and that tiniest sliver of the diamond ring.
Seeing any kind of orbital rocket launch is on my bucket list. Maybe a Starship someday... would love to see that!
Egypt or Morocco in 2027... (If money was no object I'd go to Easter Island in October of THIS year, because now I want to see an Annular eclipse also. But I live in the real world, so 2027 is the goal.)
this was the first eclipse ive ever seen. it was amazing, but another thing was the amount of people in the middle of the adirondack mountains in northern new york. i never seen so many people in those areas. it was surreal and totally worth taking the day off to experience it
My wife and I took our 8 week old son to the 2017 eclipse in Southern Illinois and, like you, we immediately started planning for 2024. This time we went to Indianapolis with our son and two daughters (a lot can change in 6.5 years. You couldn't have asked for better weather and I think totality was even more amazing this time. The prominence at the bottom of the eclipse was so bright and beautiful, the corona was even more active... just overall an amazing experience. I'm so glad that I was able to experience totality twice in my life and hope go to Montana/ND/SD for the 2044 totality with my adult kids.
Maybe we will see you there :)
Your 2017 experience was my 2024 experience. I was working from home and initially thought, I’ll just go and get a quick video of the totality in my backyard. But as the time got closer to the start of the eclipse, I found myself getting my camcorder gear, tripod, and setting up my own totality recording station on my patio. Call it the videographer itch. In those moments, I learned more about celestial recording than I ever thought I’d learn, even sacrifice one of my glasses lenses so I can tape it onto my camera lens.
I’m happy not only to have captured such an event, but capture my experience. I was even blessed to have my toddler experience it with me. I wish I remembered to increase the fstop to underexpose as I wanted to capture the prominences better (thanks B&H for the advice). But I did get a great shot of corona during totality and most phases of the eclipse.
Your video is inspiring me to make one of my own, and “do something I love”. I just don’t have as much great B Roll as you do.
Thanks for sharing your well planned and executed 2024 eclipse story. I hope my next eclipse experience is as good as this one!
Heh, quick learning on the fly!
@@JeffGeerling Thank you! I’ve found it’s the most impactful learning. Thanks to your video, I’ll definitely know to get a Celestron pop on filter for next time 😎.
We drove down (wife and 4 kids) from Minneapolis through St. Louis and ended up in Marble Hill for the viewing. It was marvelous!
Would you say it was even... *marbleous*?
Jeff, I concur. Experiencing it was wonderful. I took my my daughter and her boyfriend up to the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont. Small town park. Our experience was similar to yours. Everyone was kind. The boyfriend called it "the best 3 minutes of his life".
This was my first time seeing a total eclipse. I watched on my own land in Texas and was glad to avoid crowds. We also had an annular eclipse here a few months earlier but this one was way better. It felt like when the last bit of sun was covered someone flicked a light switch off. I was able to see Jupiter and Venus, and there were several flocks of birds flying around wildly.
One thing I was surprised about was our chicken flock didn't roost. I was expecting them to since they always put themselves up at dusk but I guess they know the difference.
Ha! I used to have three chickens but got them after the 2017 eclipse-it would've been interesting to have a camera on them and see what they got up to!
You in hill country or east Texas?
@@tranquil14738 North of the hill country. Middle of nowhere Texas.
@@sandmanxo word
We lucked out in the Cleveland area. Usually Cleveland in early April is cloudy. Got a ton of pictures, looking for software to stitch them together now. Good luck with the next one!
Just another great reason to be following your content after I discovered it a few months ago. I'm a bit of an amateur astronomer. I drove 2 hours to northern Maine with my family to experience the eclipse. My mom told me later how much of a spiritual experience it was for her. That made me happy. This was my 2nd eclipse and dare I say much better than 2017. The solar activity was great even naked eye. I also don't remember seeing the corona in 2017.
One note, if you have a Ha solar telescope, you can sometimes see solar prominences depending on the activity of the Sun. Lunt Telescopes is one such manufacturer. Not cheap, but a fun hobby to dive into.
Ha! I have considered buying an Ha filter... might have to splurge and do it.
It indeed was a surreal experience! People came from the Netherlands, Spain, and California and other states to witness it here in Dallas and it was awesome! Such a good experience getting to share the binoculars and telescope views with solar filters with other people ❤
thanks for this. I saw my first eclipse this week in NY and I can't stop thinking about it. Seeing others express the joy and wonder I felt makes me happy.
I kind of want to just get this off of my chest; this seems like a safe place to do so without getting fans of this team upset.
In my 32 years of life, in my state, I have personally witnessed a (partial) solar eclipse twice. In that time, I have witnessed the Minnesota Vikings only win once. I'm not claiming they have only won once in 32 years, but I have only actually seen it happen once while spectating.
I feel better now. Thank you for listening.
Haha the pain!
Another great video Jeff, I admire your family and the connection you all have, it's so comforting to see on camera and lovely to see your shared passions on the Engineering channel with your dad too, something that I unfortunately never got to experience myself (I didn't know my dad growing up, I traced him as an adult but he passed away before I really got to know him)
your words captured my feelings almost exactly... so different being there... definitely made me feel things. Glad you were able to see it without the clouds. What a gift!
We drove 4 hours one way from MI to Indianapolis to see it. It was amazing!!! Glad you make a video about it! Keep up the good work Jeff!!!
It’s great that you got to experience it with your family. My youngest sibling asked me like a week before if I wanted to go to Vermont (basically the closest spot for us) to see the totality. I didn’t bring any equipment, not even my drone. But it was an amazing experience live. My only regret was forgetting what I told myself beforehand, “take some photos of your surroundings during totality.” Oh, and dealing with traffic after. But I was glad I got to go. Even if it was only said sibling and my mom that went.
I drove down to the southern tip of Illinois on my way back to Georgia. Only 33 miles away from the spot I witnessed the 2017 eclipse. It was spiritual indeed, and I had both my children with me. I too, hope they remember it for the rest of their lives.
I was able to watch the 2017 Eclipse with my Father, and this year I drove all the way from Rapid City, SD to Dallas Texas 16 Hours over a day round trip.
It was and always will be the most important things ive experienced in my life.
It is always impossible to describe what an eclipse truly feels like. It grounds me to my life and the people I love, it reminds me not massive the universe is, how amazing every single moment we share with the people we live around really is. its an amazing experience.
In 2017, I took mine and my younger brother's families to the Smoky Mountains to see that eclipse, and like you, we were in awe. Last October, my brother and I traveled to Valley of the Gods, Utah to watch the Annular Eclipse which was spectacular but a little less awe inspiring than the 2017 event. I live directly east of Lake Ontario which was within the path of totality and became extremely disappointed with the clouds that were expected during the Eclipse. Early Monday morning (3:30), I headed 250 miles to the middle line of totality in northern Vermont (one mile from the Canadian border). It was clear, I met amazing people, and took great pictures, video, and time-lapse video. Thank you for this video, it brought back the emotions of that day.
I took my kids a few hours west to Syracuse, NY. It was terribly cloudy but right when it was go-time, the clouds broke up just enough for us to all witness. It was definitely something special and glad I got to share that moment with my kids.
Thanks for this Jeff. If you know, you know. So very near to how I felt with my wife and son last Monday.
We had the clouds here in South Central Texas. I did get to see the eclipse in bursts and glimpses, and even grabbed a few shots with my phone. I let the phone do the direct looking at the sun, not my eyes. The clouds blocked most of it, but still a bad idea to look directly at the sun without proper protection. We did get to experience everything getting dark. We were on the outskirts of totality and got about a minute's worth. We had a thinning in the clouds just before max coverage - but the clouds got thick again before it got the dark of maximum coverage. Still an eerie thing watching all the birds fly to their night time roost and the quiet (other than sirens and fireworks).
Great video Jeff. I was down by Farmington for the eclipse. I heard 2 out of 5 people would cry during totality. Yep, 3 people broke out in tears around me. It's crazy what effect this had on people. Great that you guys were doing some ham radio with that Wolf River Coils antenna.
Yes! My dad was listening in on the local net too; it sounded like only a couple guys were talking through the partial phases, they went quiet during totality, probably fascinated like everyone else.
#Nice, for a whole bunch of reasons. I love it when Tubers cross pollinate (I got Practical Engineering from Tom Scott, when he was on summer vacation, and Grady did the KC Hyatt collapse... with pics of a lobby I was *in* in 2009 for the Heinlein Centennial), and I hang out in broadcast contexts, and a lot of those engineers were also looking into the propagation changes.
My contribution was to put NASAtv coverage of the entire track, pretty well produced, up on Frank's 2000" TV at the college theatre where I work; didn't get quite as many wandering students this time as last, but still a couple dozen over the 90 minute window...
I finely got to see a total eclipse this year with my daughter. We were in Van Buren MO along the Current River. It was incredible experience. I really enjoy your content. Thanks!
Jeff, you echoed all my feelings about the Eclipse, I wish I'd known you were just a handful of miles down the road from me at the time. Watching your footage brings back all the amazing feelings of the day and I still get goosebumps thinking about it. Truly an amazing experience. Thank you for posting this video.
I traveled from southern Minnesota to southern Illinois to see it. The drive was brutal because my friends and I didn't have much time to take off in our schedules but it was worth it. I took pictures with a Cannon 20D I got off eBay for $50, a 200mm lens that I got for free as a hand me down from my grandma, and an old beat up tripod from my other grandma. The lens was meant for an old Cannon film camera so I had to adjust everything manually which was fun. I also took a Timelapse with my iPhone which turned out better than I expected. I also took one photo of the sun with my QuickTake 150. It just appears as a tiny 5 pixel dot but I was amazed it worked at all. I hope one of the people who have modded Gameboy cameras took pictures of it with that because I would love to see that.
Honestly a manual lens can be a blessing for astrophotography. Too many people had ruined photos because the camera's autofocus got confused!
Awesome that you got a QuickTake shot, that sounds fun! Someday I'd love to find one and try it out... first digital camera I had was a Canon PowerShot S40, it wasn't great, wasn't terrible-but it was a few generations newer than the QuickTake!
As a fellow St. Louisian, I felt the same way you did after the 2017 eclipse. I had this date on my calendar ever since, and booked a pavilion in a Cape Girardeau park as soon as I was able. 2024 was totally worth it, even considering the 5.5 hour drive home that should have taken 1.5 hours.
I was next to a pond near Cleveland. During totality, there was a chorus of frogs and crickets joining all the hooting and hollering of the humans. It was very cool.
We had a pond with a bunch of frogs nearby, but the location we sat in was close enough to the hotel's HVAC system that we didn't hear the frogs as much. Definitely more chatter from the crickets though!
I was just south of you in Clinton AR. Much smaller crowd where I was on a small stream. Great video! It helps solidify my own experience
Half the reason I made the video was it felt like only a minute or so while we were there. I wanted to make sure I had a way to relive some of the experience while it was fresh (I wrote most of the script that night, as the kids were falling asleep).
but if you WERE there, boy howdy does this stir up those emotions all over again. :)
I wish we would have known you were set up there. We were driving down to a friends house in Bloomfield. The rest stop was closed on I-55 so we just happended to stop at the gas station shown in your video. Would have been a great opportunity to meet you. It was a great event and we enjoyed it immensely.
Ha! You might be in one of my timelapses, then. I had one running on that area for a while
I live in north county and having the eclipse in 2017 in our general backyard last time was nice. We ended up viewing it from a parking lot on Watson and Lindbergh.
This year, we had some friends from out of town and made an event of it. Left in the morning hoping to make it around where you ended up. Then hit 55 and the parking lot it became on Monday in Jefferson county. I seriously underestimated the traffic. We ended up making it to Bloomsdale and pulled off about 15 minutes before the eclipse in a field along the interstate, which gave us about 2 minutes of darkness.
The drive was absolutely worth it. Not being in the middle of buildings in suburbia really made me appreciate the event a lot more then in 2017. You could feel the wind as the eclipse approached, hear the insects react as it grew darker. The view of sunset all around you was incredible. It was amazing and glad that we made the effort and were able to get into an area of darkness before the eclipse happened.
Glad you could make it that far! I had a couple friends who got stuck in traffic just outside the path of totality, that would be such a let down!
My parents lives a few km outside of Totality in Montreal, so I convinced them to drive out to the side of a mountain 90min out. We had close to 3min of Totality and my mother, who wasn't that excited about the whole experience, has talked about nothing else since. It really is a spiritual experience.
Thanks for the info about that prominence! We didn't use any instruments and didn't know why that bright spot was there visible to the unaided eye. As for the experience, the 360-degree sunset (or sunrise) was really something to witness that I never hear mentioned.
True; between that and the odd colors of everything especially right before totality, your brain is just all sorts of off!
7:46 Oh wow! There are loads of pictures online of the moments before and after totality, but I don't think I'd ever seen the the moment when the moon completely obscures the sun such that there is *no visible portion of the sun whatsoever!* That was *so cool! Thank you for this! It lasted about 2.5 seconds. 😊❤
Technically if I had popped off the filter earlier, you'd see a little bit of the start of totality, with bailey's beads and a dimmer halo around the sun, which gets a LOT brighter once the full disc is covered. It's a crazy event!
Awesome video, Jeff! I'm glad you got good enough weather to enjoy the experience. I traveled to Monrovia, IN, to view it from my brother's with his family & my parents. It was definitely the experience of a lifetime! Since I've never seen a total solar eclipse before, I decided to just watch it, and not fiddle with trying to capture it. I did use Dr. Telepun's Eclipse Timer app, and it was awesome & very accurate! If I ever get the opportunity again, I think I would definitely plan to capture it with fully-automated software! I just didn't have the time I needed to practice & attempt it this time. Looking forward to any future videos on the subject...do what you love!!!
Cool video. I have yet to experience a full eclipse. But as your wife pointed out with the grater you can look all over and see mini eclipses everywhere. I am surprised the wind died down, if the temp was dropping I would expect the wind to pickup like the coastal effect. So many cameras, seems like a lot of work. Thanks for sharing.
Great video jeff. Awesome captures of the eclipse.
I was in NY with my family and loved what we saw of totality.
I didn’t have the equipment to capture the eclipse on camera, but I was able to capture the reaction of my 8 year old son when he took off his glasses. Priceless doesn’t do it justice.
Keep up the great work and thank you for sharing.
Yeah each of our kids had their own kind of reaction, which was fun to replay afterwards. One of our younger daughters kept jumping around and watching the dogs, I think she took the 'observe the animals' instruction very seriously!
My backyard was right in the middle of the path of totality, in Watertown, NY. Had high clouds all morning, and unfortunately thicker clouds moved in during the main event. Only saw the first 10 mins of the partial phase, then clouds were too thick to see anything with the glasses on. Nearing totality though, birds started flocking to the trees and chirping. One of the cooler things was a flock of 30+ Red Tailed Hawks that were just lazily circling around the sky. Then totality happened, and it was still amazing despite the clouds! Could make out the fuzzy donut of totality, temp dropped, and it got so still and quiet. Looked like a 360 degree sunset. Was an awesome thing to witness, and I can see why people travel just to see a total eclipse!
Wow, I've only seen hawks in groups of 2-3, never more than that! Neat sight to see, and I'm glad the other effects were still present.
Nice work Jeff. My son and I caught it in 2017 in Hopkinsville, KY. This year we headed over to Brown County, IN. Glad we got to experience both together.
If you ever get to see an Eclipse over the Ocean, I would highly recommend it.
Those last few seconds before totality are amazing. Watching from high on cliffs, with a clear, unobstructed view out to the horizon, you see a wall of darkness rushing towards you, just wow...
My mom and I flew 4 hours into DFW (that's where we booked 5 months ago) to a weather report that wasn't looking good. So we took our rental car and drove 1100 miles to a small town outside Muncie Indiana. What a trip and what an experience.
I was in NH i am so glad you got to see it they had been calling for clouds for most of the path out side of NH and ME
My family and I weren't too far away in Jackson Missouri, it was an absolutely amazing experience. Really fortunate to live in eastern Missouri and have access to two eclipses in 7 years.
I captured it all from 12 miles west of Killeen, TX. It was great. My 3rd Total Solar Eclipse. 1979, 2017, 2024. It never gets old. ❤
Great video Jeff! I got to see it with all my neighbors, and it was a wonderful experience.
Saw it out in the middle of nowhere in Idaho 2017, and this past one I saw it out on the water in Dallas. Amazing pictures with my phone even though it ilwasnt super high quality.
Fully agreed Jeff, Totality is an amazing experience you just have to have. I'm so happy I was able to get to experience it this year up here in Canada, though Spain in 2026 does sound quite appealing too. I'm definitely leaning towards being a chaser... Even managed to convince my SO to join the madness as well, and she absolutely loved the experience too.
Great video documenting the experience!
I agree with your observation that the wind did calm during totality. It was an amazing event!
In addition to photographs, I was recording how wolves and foxes reacted at the animal rescue I was observing from. The wolves got up and began howling. The foxes looked around a bit and went back to sleep. Someday hopefully I’ll get the video put together.
Interesting! Would love to see it; my wife and I were also wondering if anyone observed chickens. I know at least one commenter mentioned they didn't go in to roost, but I wonder if on average flocks would, or wouldn't!
You will see it again 😊
I sure hope so! Probably not Spain 2026, but I may have a few grandkids of my own by the next time it's in the US!
I will likely never see it in my life
The last total eclipse here was in 1999, when I wasn't born yet, the next one will happen in 2081, when I'll likely be dead.
Great video, Jeff! I hope to be able to see such a thing with my own eyes one day. Being in the UK, I just watched the live feeds. Still very cool indeed.
The prominences were really quite something! I guess it's a perk of seeing an eclipse near the peak of a solar cycle!
Yeah how amazing would it have been if a CME was occuring at the same time, ha!
I drove to the totality. It was a 5-hour long drive but it was worth it. Im probably necer going to see another eclipse but at least i got to see this one and thanks for the how to photograph the eclipse video it really helped
Just found your video - thanks for sharing your experience! You sum it up well that you just have to be there to see it with your own eyes. I just published my video about my eclipse trip (also with my dad) and we had very similar experiences. You were even luckier to have both your parents, your wife, and your kids with you. I hope to have that happen someday. Great job documenting the experience and that image is something to be proud of!
I’m here from Smartereveryday.
Welcome!
Great to see you had such a good time. My experience was very similar (with a few more clouds)
❤ Excellent video Jeff! Yes, please report on the wave propagation experiment on Geerling Engineering! What a family memory that trip was! 😎✌️
I love watching the videos you love making.