An Eyewitness Account of the Total Solar Eclipse on August 21, 2017

“For two minutes, we were suspended in this bizarre, truly ethereal state — two minutes that passed much much too quickly. Next thing we knew, the second diamond ring appeared and it was over! All around, people were visibly moved, shocked, blown away.  Some had tears in their eyes. Nobody was untouched” — Astrophysicist Arif Babul

By ARIF BABUL
(Special to Simergphotos)

A dusky picture of the surroundings in the small town of Stanley, Idaho, as the sun goes out. It felt much like deep twilight, like 30 minutes after sunset. Stanley is the gateway to the Sawtooth Mountains, one of the epic mountain ranges in  the USA. August 21, 2017, Stanley, Idaho. Photo: Arif Babul.

The town of Stanley (population 69, in 2016), Idaho, sits in a fantastical landscape facing the incredible Sawtooth mountains, whose only other counterparts are the “fairy castle” mountains in upper Hunza. Stanley and surround area was expected to be overrun by over a thousand eclipse viewers. We were fortunate this crowd did not materialize, much to the chagrin of the local folks who had cooked up everything from black-out cookies to creative t-shirts to cash in on this once-in-a-lifetime event. Still, eclipse fever was in the air, with impromptu parties springing up here and there and electric buzz of excitement in the air.

Sawtooth Moutains, a mountain range of the Rocky Mountains, where 57 peaks reach a height of between 10,000 and 10,752 ft (3,048 to 3,277 m). Photo: Arif Babul.

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Dappled sunlight filtering through a tree. Ordinarily, each speckle is circular but during the eclipse, the disks become crescents. August 21, 2017, Stanley Idaho. Photo: Arif Babul.

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Before describing the eclipse, I should emphasize that a total solar eclipse is probably THE most spectacular celestial phenomenon that earth-based human beings can experience. It is truly a miracle of nature. The sun is hugely larger than the moon and yet, viewed from the earth, one is just far away enough compared to the other that they both subtend exactly the same size  in the sky.

Solar eclipse, August 21, 2017, Stanley, Idaho. Photo: Arif Babul.

When the moon first started to take a nibble out of the sun (see sequence of photos below) cheers went up. It was a cool clear morning — albeit a bit hazy on the horizon due to smoke from forest fires. Over the next hour, we watched — using special glasses — as moon covered an increasing fraction of the sun.  At 80%, the atmosphere started to change. Daylight had dulled and a chill had started to set in.  But the sun was still too bright to look at with naked eyes. We looked out at the mountains, hoping to see the shadow approaching but no such luck — too hazy.  90%, 95%, 98% — excitement was visibly building up but the sun itself was still too bright to look at.

Solar eclipse, August 21, 2017, Stanley, Idaho. Photo: Arif Babul.

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Solar eclipse, August 21, 2017, Stanley, Idaho. Photo: Arif Babul.

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Solar eclipse, August 21, 2017, Stanley, Idaho. Photo: Arif Babul.

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Solar eclipse, August 21, 2017, Stanley, Idaho. Photo: Arif Babul.

And then, pop! All of sudden, the diamond ring appeared (see next photo) and the sky turned dusky.  And in split seconds, the sun was a black — but surrounded by a glowing halo of gas blowing off the sun’s surface. The halo is one millionth the brightness of the sun, and ordinarily invisible. Deep twilight set in. Lights went on. Cheers and disbelief all around.

With the sun’s incredibly bright face fully eclipsed by the moon, its faint, normally invisible, corona of hot gases pops up.   Zooming further reveals red features in two or three places on the dark rim.  These are solar prominences.  August 21, 2017, Stanley, Idaho. Photo: Arif Babul.

And for two minutes, we were suspended in this bizarre, truly ethereal state — two minutes that passed much much too quickly. Next thing we knew, the second diamond ring appeared and it was over! All around, people were visibly moved, shocked, blown away.  Some had tears in their eyes. Nobody was untouched.

The Diamond Ring effect, a breathtaking sparkle of sun’s radiance coming from a tiny exposed sliver of the sun’s surface. This is seen 15 seconds before and again just after totality. August 21, 2017, Stanley, Idaho. Photo: Arif Babul.

In ancient times, solar eclipses universally struck fear into our ancestors.  All sorts of myths abound — celestial dragon is swallowing the sun; Raku the demon has swallowed the sun; etc. And in response, our ancestors made lots of noise to scare the intruder into regurgitating the sun. Freed from such fears, today we can stand back and just take the whole experience in.

One final note: looking back at historical records of eclipses dating back to Babylonian times, astronomers were able to determine that the earth’s rotation has in fact been slowing down over the past 2700 years at a rate of  1.78 milliseconds per century. Read more about this including why.

Date posted: August 23, 2017.
Last updated: March 29, 2024 (reformatting).

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For a profile of Arif Babul, please click Contributors.

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