Ningaloo Eclipse Writeup

I saw a total eclipse and I need to share

oh my god I know I need to write this but what can you possibly say?

the past few days have been eventful, that's a safe way to describe them.

i saw a total eclipse.

i'd known about the one in exmouth for years, but only booked it in january. booked accomodation in Carnarvon, 3.5h each way to see the eclipse itself.

Totally worth it.

Arrived at 8, sat down, waited until the eclipse started around 10.30. Was fun to stare at the sun through the safety glasses and be around people who were varied levels of excited. Food was good, and it was a great value experience (I don't want to think about how much the fuel cost).

I remember when it was getting bigger a guy with a colander and a sheet got a smallish crowd around him

I remember before it started seeing a journalist interview an astronomer who explained the whole deal to us

but the eclipse , god

it was intense

i remember seeing this black patch cover the sun. it didn't affect me much at first - just the moon doing its thing. i expected it. interesting but nothing more. not worth the drive

but when it was mostly covered, there was - a sense of deep uncanniness. like there was something *wrong* with the world. that's the sun. it's the most constant constant any of us have ever had in our lives. your loving family? forget about it. the sun has been there for billions of years. fine, quibble about its changing output over that lifetime, the sunspot cycle, whatever you like, but for all of human existence there has been a bright orb in the sky. before humans were humans. before we were even fucking tiktaaliks

so this feeling of unease, of mild panic starts coming over me. i find myself gasping. there's a family with children sitting next to me and the kids don't get it. i remember on the left the kids there were beginning to make a commotion and the dad with an expensive-looking camera setup said, in a happily exasperated voice, something like "can you not cause a commotion in this minute", or something.

we stood back abotu 5-10m, near the fence, staring at the star through our glasses. I started sobbing. I have this vivid memory of this big black spot with a tiny, tiny, tiny little crescent of sunshine that disappeared, was completely gone, and then my solar filter glasses went COMPLETELY BLACK and people cheered and i was like "is that it?"

i took them off and i figured, to heck with it, you are not meant to look at the corona - YOU ARE NOT MEANT TO LOOK AT THE CORONA - it can BLIND YOU JUST LIKE TH SUN BUT IT DOESN'T HURT

but fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck. the sky was dark, like twilight, and there was a deadass BLACK CIRCLE IN THE CENTRE OF IT, and all around it there was this - hair, this corona, this stuff that looked so thin and small and big and reminded me of those black and blue and white pictures of the mandelbrot set that you see whenever an article needs a fractal??? someone took a photo of the corona from the same place and IT DID NOT LOOK ANYTHING LIKE THAT

it was like the eye of god, or some shit. satan. something so unnerving, something that shouldn't exist that CAN"T EXIST something that defies all logic and explanation and oh my god something that EXISTS, that's what blows my mind, IT EXISTS, it's UP THERE, THAT IS W HAT THE SUN LOOKS LIKE, just WE DON'T SEE IT BECAUSE WE CAN'T, GOD

I was sobbing and wailing. I looked around me. It wasn't dark like night. It was twilight, like the astronomer in the interview said. But THERE WAS A STAR. Venus I assume? Has to be venus? The experience was so beautiful that the goddess of beauty is as good a star as any to assume it was. I HADN"T EXPECTED TO SEE A STAR

the ocean was black.

and after 61 seconds it was over. the sun came back. the shadow of the moon moved away. people started leaving, going home. i was still shaking, still sobbing, still absolutely confused and amazed and grateful, god was i GRATEFUL for this experience, for this opportunity, for the privilege to take the time off and to be able to borrow my parents' car (better suited for a long drive than my corrola) and most of all for the people i love who were there with me to share in the experience in some way.

i think i'm addicted. i need to see it again, to feel it again.

fuck.