Sol-ano Eclipse

We couldn't make it to Oregon for the total solar eclipse, but we wanted to watch from northern California.  At this time of year, we realized it wasn't likely that the coast would be clear, but we hoped that we could watch from an inland site in Sonoma County.  

The weather forecast looked good over the weekend, but when we checked again this morning, the clouds weren't predicted to clear from Sonoma County until after noon!  So we reviewed the hourly forecasts to find the westernmost site that would be clear by mid-morning.  Then we headed to a location in northwestern Solano County.

It turned out to be worth the drive.   We arrived around 10 a.m. (after the eclipse had started) and watched as the moon's silhouette crossed the sun, with the eclipse peak at ~10:15 a.m.  We left to go back to work when the moon's silhouette was just covering the bottom left corner of the sun.  Here's a sequence (read like a book) that spans from 10:05 a.m. to 11:08 a.m. PDT:

 

The top right and the bottom left images bracket the maximum extent of the eclipse in our area.  Coverage at that time was approximately 80%.

It was fun and inspiring to experience the planetary wonder of the Great American Eclipse of 2017.  [See you in Vermont for the total solar eclipse in 2024!]