An eclipse of the sun is the most obvious astronomical
effect visible from the earth's surface. It occurs when the shadow of the moon
passes across the earth. They are actually not rare; one occurs at least every
eighteen months, however they don't always appear in the same place. Actually a
spot on the earth's surface can only expect to experience a total solar eclipse
about once every three to four hundred years. As a result they are an event of
curiosity and wonder for the people who live where one occurs. Often people
will have a festival of some kind and eclipses are also connected to numerous
superstitions in all cultures. During a total eclipse the location becomes
almost as dark as night for a few minutes, usually about four to seven,
although in 1973 some people aboard a Concorde supersonic airliner enjoyed
totality for seventy-four minutes as the plane chased the moon's shadow at mach
two, see:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzwwofB5_Nc.
Eclipses are generally harmless. They can be alarming for some people and for
more intelligent animals like dogs and horses; but after the moon's shadow
moves on things just return to normal. The only real danger involved in an
eclipse is if people try to look at the sun. This can cause serious eye injury,
possibly resulting in permanent blindness. It is important never to look at the
sun without special observation sunglasses; normal sunglasses are not good
enough. Next Monday there will be a total eclipse over
North America;
here is a good guide for watching it:
https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/how-to-watch-a-solar-eclipse-safely/.
As I said, a solar eclipse is a completely normal and
natural event with a very simple cause; it is a part of the earth's
relationship to other bodies in the solar system. It can also do no harm so
long as the people in its locale are sensible and take basic precautions.
Therefore I have to wonder why the hell the government have declared a state of
emergency. When I first heard of about this on Monday I assumed it was an April
Fool, but it wasn't. The Ontario Niagara Region and the
US
state of
Indiana will both be
under police and military lockdown throughout Monday. Why? Because large
numbers of people from areas close to the eclipse path are planning to travel
to the locale to witness totality and the authorities are concerned that they
will cause traffic jams and threaten "infrastructure", that all too
commonly used word. Governor Holcomb of
Indiana
said:
"The massive number of people
viewing this event in our state may well stress and/or interfere with first
responder and public safety communications and emergency response systems such
that a technological or other emergency may occur," It is quite normal
for people to travel deliberately to an eclipse locale. When one occurred in
1999 in the
UK several
hundred thousand people flocked to the southwest coast of
England
to enjoy it. I myself stayed in
Oxford,
but we had a 98% partial eclipse here and I went to Port Meadow with some
friends to get a good view. There was no state of emergency needed to cope with
it, except maybe a few extra traffic policemen to clear congestion.
Seaside
resorts such as Torquay,
Penzance, Minehead and St Ives
enjoyed a prosperous late season boom. Everybody had a really good time. So why
all of a sudden are states of emergency necessary? I honestly think that the
government is now just looking for excuses to flex their authoritarian muscles.
When there is no real reason they will just make one up. The "nanny
state" mentality is more than just annoying, it is sinister. It is
reducing the adult population to the level of silly children or even farm
animals. Is that what the government really think we are? I discussed this with
Trevor of Third Rail the other day, see:
https://hpanwo-radio.blogspot.com/2024/04/third-rail-radio-programme-172.html.
On Monday Trevor will be going to the totality path a few miles from his home. In
the programme I compared the relationship between the people and the state as
an unhappy marriage, with the state definitely playing the role of a histrionic
wife. It's time for an amicable divorce.
See here for more
information: https://hpanwo-voice.blogspot.com/2017/08/2017-american-eclipse.html.
And: https://hpanwo-voice.blogspot.com/2015/03/astrology-and-eclipse.html.