Yes, the Solar Eclipse Is Worth the Hype (Trust Those Who Have Seen One)
Pictures of the sun in total eclipse make it obvious the event is unusual. What is normally a blindingly bright disk is utterly black and crowned with a pearly halo against a dark sky. The eclipsed sun looks, in fact, like a hole punched in the sky.
It is easy to determine if someone has seen a total solar eclipse in person. You just ask. If the response is "I think so" or "maybe," then the real answer is "no." Anyone who has seen totality knows it with certainty and knows the difference between a total eclipse and a partial eclipse, the latter of which many people have observed at one time or another, because partial eclipses are always visible over a much larger area than total eclipses. That difference — even the difference between a total solar eclipse and a partial eclipse that covers 99 percent of the sun's disk — is the difference between night and day. (That said, totality is never as dark as night, and the darkness in every total eclipse is different because it depends on several factors, including your location.)
Those who have not actually been immersed in totality have a hard time understanding what all of the fuss is about. It is, however, the most remarkable event ever delivered by the sky. Only the aurora, a close second, comes near totality in impact on the eye and on the heart. [Total Solar Eclipse 2017: When, Where and How to See It (Safely)]
In a total eclipse, eyewitnesses are awed, exhilarated and inspired. For only a few minutes, everything is suddenly, theatrically and seemingly irrevocably transformed. The sun goes black. The temperature drops. The colors of sunset encircle the entire horizon. Planets pop into view in an oddly darkened sky. And people go a little nuts, thrilled by the grandeur and grateful for the circumstance.
When you witness a total solar eclipse, you first see all of the familiar partial phases leisurely come and go as the moon gradually encroaches on more and more of the sun. (The partial phase before totality lasts nearly 90 minutes in most cases.) Clear sky is never guaranteed, and so every total eclipse is accompanied by uncertainty that sometimes continues to the moment before totality.
The first headliner on the stage of totality is that initial "diamond ring," when a single bead of the sun's disk is visible on the edge of the black moon. Valleys and mountains on the edge of the moon combine to create this one last beam of full sunlight. It's a moment that catches the breath and may seem instantaneous or eternal. The duration and the way the brightness declines are tremendously variable and depend on the exact contours of the moon's edge. It is also still a dangerous time to look at the sun without protection, but once that diamond ring shuts down, you get to remove your Mylar glasses or other approved filter and stare at totality.
Then, at totality, you see a lot in what seems like no time at all. It is a wild, uncanny time. It is short — totality will last less than 3 minutes in 2017 — but packed with events. Totality is like suddenly finding yourself in the middle of a three-ring circus. There is never enough time to see and notice everything, and so the eclipse leaves you with the feeling that you have unfinished business. And finally, whatever you see during the eclipse, it is stunning. It is unique. It is memorable. It is the stuff of both dreams and concrete reality. For a while, it seems like the most important thing there is.
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"And people go a little nuts" part ... based on current events, people already are a little (to a lot) nuts