All was quiet at Periwinkle's house this morning. Even though it was Tuesday, the Teleportation Tunnel was silent. Why, you ask? Well, Periwinkle had a very special Adventure planned for this week but it had to happen yesterday so that's when Stinky arrived! Here's what happened...
Periwinkle woke up early and spent time grooming her furs. She was a little tired but really excited for her Adventure with Stinky that day. They never met on Mondays but this was a special Adventure.
Suddenly the Teleportation Tunnel started to shake and out popped Stinky into her waiting paws. He was a bit surprised when she handed him something and quickly whisker kissed him and headed back into the Tunnel. He knew what they were doing with one peek at what she handed him.
Paw in paw they made their way to their destination. Even though it was early, they decided to wear their special eclipse glasses to be safe.
Stinky asked Periwinkle why she chose this location for their Adventure. Periwinkle replied "The major cities inside the path are Mazatlan, Torreon, San Antonio, Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, Indianapolis, Cleveland, Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, and Montreal. I just figured San Antonio would be fun since it's the first big city in the US." Stinky asked her about their special (but cool) glasses. Periwinkle explained "Looking at the sun with a naked eye is always dangerous, but normally its brightness triggers a pain response that prevents you from doing so. An eclipse temporarily blocks the wavelengths that trigger pain, but it doesn’t stop damage to the eye." Stinky said he liked the glasses and he was glad they were protecting their eyes because he always loved seeing Perwinkle's sweet face. Periwinkle blushed but was secretly pleased by his comment.
Having done her research, Periwinkle continued "During a total solar eclipse, the moon passes between the Earth and the Sun, blocking out the Sun's light and casting a shadow on the Earth. This creates a surreal experience where the sky darkens during the day, stars become visible, and the Sun's corona—a halo of plasma surrounding the Sun—becomes visible to the naked eye."
The tabbies found a crowd that had gathered and joined them to watch the eclipse.
Periwinkle pulled up a diagram on her phone to explain the stages of the eclipse. "The stages of the eclipse are very interesting. As the Moon passes between the Sun and Earth, at first it does not completely cover the Sun. The Sun appears to have a crescent shape. The leading edge of the Moon begins to cover the side of the Sun. A partial eclipse begins.
Shadow bands are rapidly moving, long, dark bands separated by white spaces that can be seen on the sides of buildings or the ground just before and after totality, though they can be very faint and difficult to photograph. Earth’s upper atmosphere contains turbulent cells of air that distort the sharp-edged light from the solar surface, the same way it distorts starlight and causes stars to twinkle. As the Moon continues to move across the Sun, several points of light shine around the Moon’s edges. Known as Baily's Beads, these are light rays from the Sun streaming through the valleys along the Moon's horizon and may not last long enough to be noticeable to all observers of the total solar eclipse. Baily’s Beads will begin to disappear until eventually, only a single bright spot will remain along the edge of the Moon’s shadow. This bright spot resembles the diamond in a giant diamond ring formed by the rest of the Sun’s atmosphere. Totality is almost here. This moment is also called second contact. During totality, viewers may be able to see the chromosphere (a region of the solar atmosphere, appearing as the thin circle of pink around the Moon) and the corona (the outer solar atmosphere, appearing as streams of white light). Totality may last only a minute or two.
We might be able to see a 360-degree sunset and also some particularly bright stars or planets in the darkened sky. The air temperature will drop and often an eerie silence will settle around us. It is also worth stealing a peek at the people around us since many people have a deep emotional response when the Sun goes into totality.
As the Moon continues to move across the face of the Sun, we will begin to see brightening on the opposite side from where the diamond ring shone at the beginning. This is the Sun's lower atmosphere, beginning to peek out from behind the Moon and it is your signal to stop looking directly at the eclipse. Make sure your eclipse glasses are back on before the first flash of sunlight appears around the edges of the Moon. This moment is also called third contact"
Stinky was impurressed by how much information she had. The two spent the rest of their time paw-in-paw watching in awe.
When the eclipse was over, they headed to the Teleportation Tunnel to return to Periwinkle's house. Both tabbies had rumbling tummies so they headed to the back deck for a snack. They kept their glasses on because they thought they were pawsome and you could never be too safe.
After a quick nap and some snuggle time, Stinky got into the Tunnel to return home (still wearing his glasses). Periwinkle found her fursibs to tell them about the fun time she had with her boyfriend.
Did you watch the eclipse? How much did you see???
