Difference between revisions of "Talk:2914: Eclipse Coolness"

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::::I agree that we ''shouldn't'' be compering cool sunsets with all eclipses, but that is what Randall has done. Even so, if you just  compare cool sunsets and cool eclipses, for me, I think the sunsets win in terms of coolness. It's more repeatable, but that has no bearing on its coolness.[[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.20|172.70.162.20]] 17:14, 2 April 2024 (UTC)
 
::::I agree that we ''shouldn't'' be compering cool sunsets with all eclipses, but that is what Randall has done. Even so, if you just  compare cool sunsets and cool eclipses, for me, I think the sunsets win in terms of coolness. It's more repeatable, but that has no bearing on its coolness.[[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.20|172.70.162.20]] 17:14, 2 April 2024 (UTC)
 
:::::Randall is saying that a cool sunset is nothing like a full eclipse, of course. My car is nothing like the Enterprise ({{w|USS Enterprise|''any'' of them}}), and there's really no comparison. Even if my car happens to be a Batmobile, Delorean, General Lee or Knight Industries Two-Thousand. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.131|141.101.99.131]] 18:44, 2 April 2024 (UTC)
 
:::::Randall is saying that a cool sunset is nothing like a full eclipse, of course. My car is nothing like the Enterprise ({{w|USS Enterprise|''any'' of them}}), and there's really no comparison. Even if my car happens to be a Batmobile, Delorean, General Lee or Knight Industries Two-Thousand. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.131|141.101.99.131]] 18:44, 2 April 2024 (UTC)
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:::::What Randall is saying is "Partial eclipse : total eclipse :: Cool sunset :: broken sky". The point is the comparison between two experiences in each pair, not equivalence between experiences. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 18:57, 2 April 2024 (UTC)

Revision as of 18:57, 2 April 2024

Awww :(. --162.158.222.143 03:39, 2 April 2024 (UTC)

Awww :(? Yeaa :)! I _despise_ the Fool. It's hard enough for me to tell when people are serious as is.
i agree. youtu.be/miLcaqq2Zpk 07:18, 2 April 2024 (UTC)

This comic is contributing to the extremes of eclipse tourism, by telling people only the total eclipse counts. Now, a week before the eclipse it will be very hard, and expensive, to secure transportation and accommodation in the path of total eclipse. They are recurring phenomena, don't fall for it. --172.71.122.215 05:42, 2 April 2024 (UTC)

I'm in my 60's, this could be the last one for me, since the next one in the continental US will be in 20 years. It's going to be 93% here in eastern Mass, and they're predicting clear skies. I could drive 7 hours to Buffalo, but they're currently forecasting 40% cloud cover. Barmar (talk) 14:34, 2 April 2024 (UTC)
I'd have to wait until 2090 for another 'local' one (and, like you, age is an issue, but also the effective footprint size of the country doesn't help). I don't know what the weather is going to be like, yet, so fingers crossed it's better in ⅔rds of a century than it was ¼ of one ago... ;) 141.101.99.131 18:44, 2 April 2024 (UTC)

I don't think "along the path" is correct, doesn't the x-axis show the distance "away from the path?" 172.70.114.131

Totally agree.

What? No April Fool's? Why? B for brain (talk) (youtube channel wobsite (supposed to be a blag) 08:47, 2 April 2024 (UTC)

Randall's title text overstates the coolness of both total and partial eclipses. A cool sunset is way cooler than a partial eclipse, and probably cooler than a total eclipse, especially if the eclipse happens on a day that's cloudy to start with.172.70.163.30 09:22, 2 April 2024 (UTC)

The only eclipse I was under totality for (in '99), I was also unfortunate enough to put myself on a hill that found itself under cloud at the time. But it was still atmospheric, much moreso than the partials that I subsequently happened to be near. Even not seeing the Sun being entirely not visible (I had caught glimpses of 'on the way' partiality, before, and again after) was more profound than seeing (safely, of course) the partial effects that were as good as I could get on later occasions.
Sunsets (and -rises, especially with the right weather) are indeed visually stunning. But I'd argue that, barring perhaps the fleetingly transient 'green flash' or rather specific landscape effects, the novelty is smeared around. Both during the event and, unless you're only rarely at the time and place (and awake/attentive) these things happen, across all possible occasions.
Being on the Moon (once you get over "I'm on the Mooon!!") would make fortnights between sunrises/-sets, no weather getting in the way (no weather to give it any special differences!), and probably psychological effects that become mundane/depressing (for a long enough residence there). Solar eclipses (our Lunar Eclipses) will be probably be at least twice a year, won't feature a Diamond Ring, will be Moon-wide (well, just the near-face half/bits of 'rim', or significant parts of that in the case of partial LEs). What would be the relative wonder of an SE-from-Moon and a Lunar sunset? It'd be a tricky equation. But I think we'd lose a lot from the eclipse not being with two 'similarly-sized' bodies. And an 'Earth eclipse' from the Moon (looking for the tiny dot of travelling umbra, as it traces across the Earth's disc) probably wouldn't be worth it at all. (But you're "On the Mooon!", so that might be the biggest excitement, still, until it isn't (spoilers! ...if you haven't seen it yet).) 172.70.162.19 12:43, 2 April 2024 (UTC)
While some sunsets are incredibly cool, they happen often enough that it's not as thrilling. Partial eclipses have some unique features, like all the crescent-shaped shadows of tree leaves. Barmar (talk) 14:34, 2 April 2024 (UTC)
Well that would be the 'NFT Theory' of coolness, where a thing's coolness is proportional to it's rarity. I'd subscribe much more to an 'Inherence Theory' of coolness, and found that the experience of an eclipse (both partial and totality), while certainly more novel than sunsets, wasn't as cool. Especially when he specified 'a cool sunset' - so not just any sunset, but the top few percent - as compared against any old eclipse, regardless of conditions.141.101.99.214 15:36, 2 April 2024 (UTC)
We shouldn't be comparing just the 'cool sunsets' (presumably just the right amount of clouds to be 'cool') with all the eclipse experiences, regardless of cloud cover. Like-for-like, most sunsets are rather unspectacular. It's quite easy to go "has the Sun actually set yet? I'll check the app... Wait, what's 'civil twilight', again?", but of course it's been a dim and overcast day and it's been dark enough to need lights for maybe an hour so the precise optical interaction between the Sun and horizon is just a minor detail, with nothing to see.
'Cool sunsets' are rare enough. A west-facing oceanic shoreline might be helpful (though a few bits of land-bound geography might also work), but you really need 'big skies' (without being totally free of cloud, just having enough in the right place to add to the effect). But you can find your tropical beach-hut (or prairie cabin, or mountain refuge) where perhaps they do happen reasonably often, and enjoy them frequently, or at least anticipate one the next evening or one so soon after.
Eclipses are so hard to be part of, and can be ruined at least as easily, but a 'cool one' has something you can't really expect to see again in any equivalent manner unless you make a lot more effort to do so.
And sunsets are probably best to be seen with the one (or few) closest people to you (if not alone, by preference). Eclipses (unless, again, you prepare to make your sole claim on a spot of your own choosing) are very much expected to be a communal event, congregating with total strangers (or, if 'lucky', many fellow members of your own eclipsed community) hoping to witness a suitable climax to the hopeful and festive event. 172.71.242.71 16:30, 2 April 2024 (UTC)
I agree that we shouldn't be compering cool sunsets with all eclipses, but that is what Randall has done. Even so, if you just compare cool sunsets and cool eclipses, for me, I think the sunsets win in terms of coolness. It's more repeatable, but that has no bearing on its coolness.172.70.162.20 17:14, 2 April 2024 (UTC)
Randall is saying that a cool sunset is nothing like a full eclipse, of course. My car is nothing like the Enterprise (any of them), and there's really no comparison. Even if my car happens to be a Batmobile, Delorean, General Lee or Knight Industries Two-Thousand. 141.101.99.131 18:44, 2 April 2024 (UTC)
What Randall is saying is "Partial eclipse : total eclipse :: Cool sunset :: broken sky". The point is the comparison between two experiences in each pair, not equivalence between experiences. Barmar (talk) 18:57, 2 April 2024 (UTC)