Solar Eclipse 21-Aug-2017 & Lizard Brain Surprise

Solar Eclipse 21-Aug-2017?  Only 61% Occultation?

Ho-Humm: I was slow to become excited about today's solar eclipse across the USA. After all -- what was the great mystery in a shadow crossing the earth?

But sometimes it is the little things that wake up a child like wonder and thrills.  And trigger surprise emotions & non-verbal brain signals from my Lizard Brain

Hours before the predicted solar eclipse max -- I did spend 25 mins building a shoebox "telescope" -- a miniature Camera Obscura for indirect observation of the 61% max solar eclipse shadowing south Texas.  

Camera Obscura Woodcut from Wikipedia

And I was enjoying eclipse 2017 geographical progress via video coverage on NASA TV Live via YouTube.  

One Possible NASA TV Live Logo

SURPRISE and AWE: But my interest and child like wonder -- and my Lizard Brain "triggers" -- these really peaked when I first stepped outside to test my shoe box "telescope" -- and looking down -- realized there was something really different: Countless magical Solar Crescents: Every sunbeam thru the trees was transformed into a little wonder of nature! Perhaps a photo to illustrate.

Stepping out to test shoebox "telescope and seeing

every sunbeam transformed into a Solar Crescent

INTELLECT vs LIZARD BRAIN: Yes, a solar eclipse seems trivial from an intellectual viewpoint. But your lizard brain is kinda surprised & startled when you realized something is very different about every sunbeam thru the trees.  This surprise emotion suggest why solar eclipses are so emotional for some -- and were great sources of terror in the past: Every part of our being is "hard-wired" to expect & assume the Sun is daily round -- and reliable.  When the Sun is not round & reliable -- the Lizard brain starts talking in brain signals -- under the surface of our conscious minds -- where words rarely traverse.  

Lizard Brain?  Perhaps an vehicle driving example.  On long road trips with little traffic -- your mind gets bored. Soon you are observing the passing scenery or listening to an interest radio program. 45 mins later -- you "wake up" and realize you have been driving -- with success -- no wrecks -- yet you cannot recall any specific driving details of the last 40-60 miles.  No specific conscious decisions about curves or speed or lane changes.  In essence -- the Lizard Brain "took over" the driving from your conscious mind -- a biological "autopilot."   Your conscious mind is only "called up" by the Lizard Brain -- if some driving problem manifest that was "too difficult" for the routine auto-pilot decision loops of the Lizard Brain.

MORE VAGUE LEARNING: Your Lizard Brain can and does learn many thinks -- often without specific, conscious instruction. Example? Do you recall learning how to crawl or walk or drink?  You did learn -- but now these skills are "just in there" -- "hard wired" -- deep into your Lizard Brain and body.

Solar Eclipse and Your Lizard Brain?  And your Lizard Brain is learning thousands of other daily details that almost never "boil up" to your conscious mind.  Many are "environmental triggers" for what is "normal" and "odd" -- environmental details that often keep us out of trouble & alive.  This included an unconscious "awareness" of how the Sun & Moon and stars "should be" on a regular basis.  And an unconscious awareness of what are "normal" sun shadows -- and when this normal is "broken" -- by what might be a danger or predator above us in the sky.

UPSHOT:  I was surprised by my internal emotional reaction to the crescent sunbeams thru the trees.  My Lizard Brain communicated -- not in words -- but via unspoken emotional triggers -- that something was "spooky different."  These emotional signals were BEYOND words and independent of my intellectual understand of the solar eclipse event.

As I reviewed my Solar Eclipse 2017 videos -- I caught myself "giddy" in my voice dialog.  As I thought back the many total eclipse sites covered on NASA TV and other TV networks -- and mixed reactions of folks on the ground -- their emotional reactions were surprisingly genuine and unforced.  Some just fell silent in the total eclipse darkness:

CBS News from Jackson Hole Wyoming,

On camera talent's genuine loss for words in

almost 100% total darkness.

(3 min 22 sec clip)

Some became giddy or child like in verbal expressions.  Based upon my experience -- I would bet that deep wired Lizards Brain reactions to the Sun going dark affect everyone -- in ways that surprise even the most careful & controlled internal conscious observer.

Below are a few simple videos from today.  Those who know me well can judge for themselves if my Lizard Brain was over stimulated.

Solar Eclipse at 61% & Shoebox 

"Camera Obscura" in Operation

Ad Hoc "Colander Telescope" and a

Solar Crescent from every hole.

Solar Eclipse 2017 at 61% Max Occultation

and countless Solar Crescents in every shadow

Enjoy!

Solar Eclipse 1918 Vestigial Memory vs 2017 Internet

Here is an odd three generation Syzygy -- an astronomical "connection" across three generations.  Cross Generational "memory" -- in an odd way: The Solar Eclipse of 08-June-1918 vs 21-Aug-2017

08-June-1918 Solar Eclipse painting by Howard

Russell Butler (from Wikipedia)

Take notice -- you genealogy searching fiends -- even astronomical events can "index" generational "knowledge" -- of time, place and perspectives.  Transcend living memory -- in and odd ways.

MOON ATE THE SUN in 1918?   As early teen -- back in the 1970s -- on a long road trip -- my maternal grandfather described how scared he was -- as a small child in Arkansas -- when the Sun began to go dark -- and the air grew cold on a full summer June day -- the wind shifted -- a few bright stars came out -- and the chickens began to goto roost -- and the cows drifted to the barn for milking.

My grandfather described how he was playing in the fields -- and ran home in a panic -- only to find his mother -- my great grandmother -- calmly standing on the porch of their simple wood cabin -- with two chunks of paper board -- one with a center pin hole -- and another unmolested -- watching a small bright dot shape shift.

My grandfather asked "What's going on Momma?" -- and she replied that the Moon was "eating" the Sun -- words that my grandfather could understand at the tender age of 8 or 9.  The Moon was casting a shadow across rural Arkansas. This was very rare.  My great-grandmother had read about the upcoming 1918 Solar Eclipse event in the local newspapers -- and constructed a crude "telescope" -- as described in one of the newspapers.

My favorite 1918 solar eclipse find, published in

Denver Post (from GreatAmericanEclipse.Com )

Key map detail? In 1918 my grandfather lived just 

south of "A" in ARKANSAS label - near line of totality.

How so?  How could old paper newspapers "know" that a solar eclipse would unfold?  Short answer:  Solar eclipse events are "hand calculable" -- centuries into the future -- and into the past.  Such is the stability of the Moon's orbit about the Earth -- and when the Moon will block the Sun.  Number crunching nerds have been "predicting" solar & lunar eclipse events since before the ancient Sumerians and Aztecs.

REAL or TALL TALE Memory?  For years -- my grandfather's verbal description of his childhood solar eclipse bugged me -- especially since my grandfather was such a big story teller -- and tended to blow things out of proportion -- just for humor & mischief.

THE INTERNET and SEARCH ENGINES -- One day it dawned on me -- "Hey, I can search for any full -- or partial -- solar eclipse across Arkansas in early 20th Century!" -- in a few mins of searching -- the following links -- with glorious "back calculated" pixs and maps -- came up.  How do I know this is "the eclipse"??  My maternal grandfather was born -- as he said "In 1909 -- way out back in the woods!" -- so a 1918 eclipse would make my grandfather a child of 8 or 9 -- mentally old enough to record a solar event.

80 Sec Video, very good Photo-Realistic simulation of

21-Aug-2017 solar eclipse. Note how stars come out.

STRANGE?  There is something odd -- for me -- looking at these 1918 solar eclipse maps:  I can pin-point -- both in time and map space -- where my grandfather was in June 1918 -- almost to the minute.  Kinda like having a Mr Peabody "way-back" machine -- where we can set the dials -- and go see the past.

Fun additional fact?  The 1918 Solar eclipsed was used to test for gravitational deviation of star light -- by the Sun -- as proposed in Albert Einstien and his theory of general relative.

NOW in 2017: In the lower 48 states -- we have opportunity to experience a very similar eclipse -- on 21-Aug-2017.  A chance to anchor some memories -- and share an immutable event with those that follow.   A few links follow -- with kewl graphics and charts -- to "tickle" your fancy.

Very kewl predictive map for 21-Aug-2017

Solar Eclipse (click for larger, from website

StaryNightEducation.Com )

UPSHOT?  Even poor white trash from Arkansas can "anchor" history -- with not-so-tall tales -- and a little ex-post-facto astronomical research.

Useful links and videos:

[1] NASA Count Down Timer to Live Eclipse 21-Aug-2017

[2] Wiki maps & pixs for 21-Aug-2017 Solar Eclipse