Six reasons to be excited for the solar eclipse, from someone freaking out about it

I’m so stinking excited for Monday’s solar eclipse that I’ve started asking everyone I see what their plans are, hoping we can geek out about it together.

But I’ve been surprised to find that not everybody shares my Buddy-the-Elf-like anticipation over this celestial spectacle. Many people I know don’t have the necessary protective glasses to view the eclipse and some don’t even have plans to walk outside yet — or at all — to see it.

Meanwhile, I’ve been planning a trip into the path of totality for more than two years, ever since I realized it will go through the Adirondacks in upstate New York, where I have family.

I know that astronomy doesn’t get everyone as hyped as it gets me, and that’s OK. But when I’m excited about something I want to get other people pumped about it too (Philly sports fans know what I’m talking about).

I’ve read plenty of articles that have tried to temper or squash my excitement leading up to this eclipse. The Albany Times Union had a story that warned there could be 12-hour gridlock, widespread cellular outages, dry gas pumps, and “police distributing military rations to stranded travelers” in the Adirondacks because so many people are expected. New York state even had the Buffalo Bills film an eclipse PSA.

PennDot is also preparing for heavy traffic in Northwestern Pennsylvania, where the path of totality will go through Erie, Crawford, Mercer, and Warren Counties. A heads up for those thinking of day tripping out that way: a PennDot news release said people gathered at highway rest stops “will be directed to view the eclipse elsewhere.”

And then there’s the weather. People keep telling me storms and cloud coverage could obscure views of the eclipse, in the path of totality and outside of it. Philadelphia is expected to get a partial solar eclipse, with 90% totality between 2:08 and 4:35 p.m., with the highest coverage occurring at 3:23 p.m.

The last time Philadelphia had that much coverage was on May 30, 1984, when the region saw 95% totality — or at least it was supposed to. Cloud coverage prevented viewing of the eclipse in Philly and managed to tick off a nun who brought students to the Franklin Institute for a watch party.

“We saw nothing,” Sister Mary Agnes told the Daily News. “The eclipse could have gone over a hundred times and we never saw it.”

Subsequent partial eclipses in Philly happened in 1994 (87% coverage) and in 2017 (75%). During those, people did see darkening skies and “a little bite” out of the sun, according to Inquirer reports. A partial eclipse with 25% coverage happened in Philly last October, but it was rainy.

A total eclipse hasn’t happened in Philadelphia since 1478, before the city was founded, and the next one won’t happen here until 2079 (though there will be a total eclipse in the southern U.S. in 2045).

To push away any worries, get myself even more pumped than I already am, and try to get others excited for this astral event too, I spoke with Deborah Skapik, an adjunct physics professor at St. Joseph’s University and a NASA eclipse ambassador who’s been studying eclipses for decades.

Skapik saw a 99.8% partial eclipse in St. Kitts in 1998, a total eclipse in South Carolina in 2017, and she’s taking a group of students to Vermont to be in the path of totality on Monday. She’s what’s known as an umbraphile, or eclipse chaser, and she told me after viewing my first total eclipse, I may become one too.

“It’s exhilarating and wonderful and once you see one you’ve got to see more,” Skapik said. “I wish more people would find the joy in this because it’s so bizarre.”

Whether you’re watching the partial eclipse in Philly or traveling into the path of totality, here are six experiences you can have during the eclipse, all of them worth getting excited about.

When I asked Skapik what it’s like to see a total solar eclipse, she called it “an indescribable experience.”

“If someone asked you to describe falling in love what would you say? It’s an out-of-body emotional experience,” she said. “Like any other emotional experience, it is unique and personal. It’s the kind of thing even the memory of it will make the hairs on your arm stand up.”

The hairs on my arms stood up as she said that, and they’re standing up now as I write this to you. We get such a short time on this planet, yet we often become mired in routine. Moments like this break us out of the everyday and remind us of the awe our universe holds and the wonder that is the human experience.

As Albert Einstein said:

“The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion that stands at the cradle of true art and true science. Whoever does not know it and can no longer wonder, no longer marvel, is as good as dead, and his eyes are dimmed.”

In the Philadelphia area, which will experience a deep partial eclipse, Skapik said the skies will darken and when you look through certified eclipse glasses or a projection device, you’ll see a small sliver of the sun remaining in the sky.

“It’s really just eerie to see the sun looking like that,” she said. “It’s possible you could be able to see planets too. In the upper left you might see Jupiter and in the lower right you might see Venus. They will look like bright stars.”

If you’re in the path of totality, as the moon is covering the sun ”the light is going to drop like a rock” and “it suddenly becomes completely dark.”

About 15 seconds before totality Skapik said you can see an effect called Baily’s Beads, which happens when the moon’s rugged surface allows sunlight to pass through in places.

“As the moon moves over the sun, in the last five seconds the last bead on the necklace turns into a diamond ring, that’s when you can remove your glasses and take a look,” she said. “Then you’ll see the corona, the outer atmosphere of the sun we usually don’t get to see.”

The process reverses after totality ends, so you can look for the diamond ring and Baily’s Beads then too, Skapik said.

As the skies darken, temperatures could drop. According to the National Weather Service, in the path of totality during the 2017 eclipse, temperatures dropped as much as 10 degrees.

Believing the sun is setting, wildlife could start to act strange too, Skapik said.

“When I saw the one in St. Kitts, the monkeys were going berserk,” she said.

Birds may stop singing, bees may get louder, bats and owls could wake up, and farm animals may walk back to the barn to go to bed, according to NASA’s Eclipse Soundscape Project.

The nationwide project, which Skapik is participating in with her students, is a citizen-based initiative that asks people in the path of totality to record audio in an area before, during, and after the eclipse to hear how the environment changes.

I’ll be watching the eclipse with my husband and my immediate family, who I don’t get to see often because they’re an eight-hour drive away. My dad will be grilling hamburgers, my nephews will be running around, and all of us — from ages 2 to 70 — will be experiencing something new together for the first time.

Here in Philly, there’s a host of viewing parties where you can watch the eclipse with other awesome Philadelphians. From 1:30 to 5 p.m. on the front steps of the Franklin Institute, chief astronomer Derrick Pitts will host a free community-wide viewing party with solar viewing stations and eclipse glasses. There will be a DJ, Federal Donuts & Chicken will be on hand, and a beer garden will be serving brews.

There are also watch parties at the Liberty View terrace at the Independence Visitor Center and at Beury Beach on Temple University’s campus. Visit Philadelphia has a full list of watch parties and other locations to view the eclipse.

Putting on the right music always gets me pumped and the folks over at Space.com have put together an out-of-this-world Spotify playlist for the event that includes songs like “Steal My Sunshine,” “Total Eclipse of the Heart,” “Blinded by the Light,” and “Moonshadow.”

The people at I LOVE NY made an eclipse Spotify playlist too, featuring songs like “Ring of Fire,” “Ain’t No Sunshine,” “Bad Moon Rising,” and “Walkin’ on the Sun.” Of course, it also includes rando songs about New York, so listen at your own risk.

Skapik’s biggest piece of advice is to get where you want to be and stay there from at least 3:15 to 3:45 p.m.

“I’m concerned about kids walking along the road and drivers being distracted. This is not something to be looking at out of the window of a car,” she said. “It’s a spectacle of nature, it’s really cool, let’s all take a breath and stay 30 minutes where we are just to look.”

And when it’s over, don’t rush to get somewhere else.

“Take it easy and sit in the moment,” Skapik said. “We move so fast anymore in this society. This is one moment to slow down and savor.”