Eclipses

Why are we so fascinated with eclipses?

It's just light, and solid objects moving around and creating shadows or blocking out the light source for a few minutes.

Every time it happens we get all excited and it's headline news again, as if we had never seen such a thing before. I don't get it.

I know, you don't need to say it!
take it to the science forum spanky! ----->

No, it belongs in Spirituality. 🙂 It's one of those things that primitive people feared because they thought they'd upset the gods or something.

Originally posted by mwmiller
Why are we so fascinated with eclipses?

It's just light, and solid objects moving around and creating shadows or blocking out the light source for a few minutes.

Every time it happens we get all excited and it's headline news again, as if we had never seen such a thing before. I don't get it.

[b]I know, you don't need to say it!
take it to the science forum spanky! -----> [/b]

I presume you have never seen a full solar eclipse.

Originally posted by wolfgang59
I presume you have never seen a full solar eclipse.

No, but I figure if it's really any good they will make a movie about it!

Is it anything like sitting in a room and turning out all the lights for a few minutes then turning them back on?

Originally posted by mwmiller
No, but I figure if it's really any good they will make a movie about it!

Is it anything like sitting in a room and turning out all the lights for a few minutes then turning them back on?

No.

I witnessed a full eclipse in Germany August 11th 1999 around noon. There is still a lot of light at this time of day. But it is an eerie atmosphere

Originally posted by Ponderable
No.

I witnessed a full eclipse in Germany August 11th 1999 around noon. There is still a lot of light at this time of day. But it is an eerie atmosphere

All the birds went quiet during the eclipse (1999). It was indeed eerie.

Originally posted by Ponderable
No.

I witnessed a full eclipse in Germany August 11th 1999 around noon. There is still a lot of light at this time of day. But it is an eerie atmosphere

That was a full eclipse in Cornwall, England too. We had planned for it for
two years (B&Bs were fully booked). Even though it wa s cloudy and we
didn't see the "diamond ring" it was an awesome experience. Everyone
there agreed that it was much more emotional than they had imagined.

Originally posted by Kegge
All the birds went quiet during the eclipse (1999). It was indeed eerie.

The birds do exactly the same thing here too! Every day. Right after sunset. 🙂

Originally posted by mwmiller
Why are we so fascinated with eclipses?

It's just light, and solid objects moving around and creating shadows or blocking out the light source for a few minutes.

Every time it happens we get all excited and it's headline news again, as if we had never seen such a thing before. I don't get it.

[b]I know, you don't need to say it!
take it to the science forum spanky! -----> [/b]

The sun and the moon are especially fascinating sources of light, to humans. The idea of the stars and the heavens can be frightening, moving and beautiful. So when eclipses happen, it's an awesome thing.

Though if eclipses happened frequently like sunrises and sunset, I'm pretty sure most people wouldn't really care.

Originally posted by mwmiller
The birds do exactly the same thing here too! Every day. Right after sunset. 🙂

Sigh.

Originally posted by mwmiller
The birds do exactly the same thing here too! Every day. Right after sunset. 🙂

During a full eclipse the transition from light to dark is more profound and quicker
than at sunset (there is no "twilight"😉 which means the birds return home 'en masse'
and not in dribs and drabs. Shortly after, the reverse is true, as the daylight dramatically
returns and the birds all leave their nests. From where we were on the Cornish
coast the hundreds or maybe thousands of seagulls returning to the cliffs
and then leaving again was quite a spectacle.

I cannot imagine anyone not being moved in some way by a solar eclipse.

Originally posted by mwmiller
The birds do exactly the same thing here too! Every day. Right after sunset. 🙂

You could imganine a planet moon System wiotha daily occurence of an eclipse on the equator. It would be an interesting question how life would adapt to that.

Originally posted by Ponderable
You could imganine a planet moon System wiotha daily occurence of an eclipse on the equator. It would be an interesting question how life would adapt to that.

There are youtube "flatearthers" who site the lack of monthly solar
eclipses as "proof" that the heliocentric/globe-earth model is false!

Originally posted by mwmiller
The birds do exactly the same thing here too! Every day. Right after sunset. 🙂

Not here, stupid things are still tweeting at 2am in complete darkness. Well as dark as a city can get. Is tweeting the right word for the sound a bird makes?

Originally posted by Trev33
Not here, stupid things are still tweeting at 2am in complete darkness. Well as dark as a city can get. Is tweeting the right word for the sound a bird makes?

Twits tweet.
Birds cheep.
Surrounded by birds here but don't seem to get a dawn chorus .... I wonder
if NZ birds are quieter in the mornings or is it just my imagination? I think
North London was noisier!