i grew up in southern illinois. the weather in april is dodgy at best, and i had honestly written off any chance of actually seeing it there years ago. that meant i was probably not going to see it at all. i had experienced the madhouse associated with the 2017 eclipse, and i was very hesitant to find a viewing site and lodgings among the crowds in an area i was totally unfamiliar with. so when the weather suggested southern illinois would be one of the few places with mostly clear skies along the path of totality, i just had to make the 13 hour drive from dc.

On this eclipse day I let my eldest daughter’s three suitors choose between a golden telescope, a silver telescope, and a humble wooden telescope with tinted lenses. The wisest shall marry her and inherit my throne, and the others shall return home blinded and disgraced!

do you tbink a radio astronomer and an electrical engineer could make out sloppy on a telescope dish

Thanks to generous social programs and the attitude towards the collective good here in Sweden, we experienced NO daytime interruption in sun service recently. The US needs to get its political act together and ensure it can meet the needs of its people without this political brinkmanship.