We have support today from Vermont Construction Companies, Roofing Division and Norwich Solar.

And let's not pause any longer.

People here want to cheer.

We are in Saint Johnsbury, all of you here today.

Let us know you're here.

There are perhaps 7500 people here in the streets of Saint Johnsbury, maybe more.

I'm at the Fairbanks Museum and Planetarium alongside this crowd and with Mark Breen, who is here for the Sun, Moon and you event.

Mark, it's a pleasure to have you with us.

Planetarium director here.

What are you feeling?

This is absolute excitement.

I mean, there is nothing that will ever compare with this.

We can already feel the light changing all of these thousands of people are looking through their sun, solar glasses.

They, you know, everybody's I don't think I've seen this much excitement anywhere as you can.

Perhaps here in our microphones, there is a breeze.

The breeze has come in this afternoon with it some wispy clouds, but it is a bright, sunny day here in Saint Johnsbury.

Blue skies all day long.

The local streets are shut down and folks have been spending the morning and early afternoon visiting the museum, waiting in line for the diner, visiting the food vendors and the tents.

There is perhaps a baby goat here.

You may hear through the broadcast.

I have not laid eyes on the goat, but I have heard it.

And we're going to spend the next hour with you as this total solar eclipse passes overhead.

We're going to hear from people around our region to learn what kinds of astronomical questions you have for Mark Breen and what you're doing right now during this exciting experience.

And we are going to, of course, take some time to quietly reflect during totality itself.

I'll give you some cues about where totality is starting in different parts of the state.

And after totality, we'll check in with some state officials for all of you in various parts of Vermont and beyond who are thinking about leaving right after the eclipse.

So if you have any questions or want to share what's going on in your community, give us a call.

Our number is one 800 6392211.

That's one 800 6392211.

Or you can send an email to eclipse at Vermont public dot org.

Can you describe where we are in the eclipse right now?

Mark Green.

Right.

So the moon is approximately half covering the sun.

So we have this wonderful crescent sun up there.

Some folks have been looking at it through our solar monitors here, which is great.

You can easily see it through your eclipse glasses.

I've been suggesting to people that you can use very simple ways of viewing it, including using yes, your fingers.

If you simply cross your fingers, you can look down in that shadow.

So not at the sun.

Look at the sun.

Right.

You're looking you're letting the sun come down.

And in the little holes between your fingers, you'll see a little crescent sun's.

Perhaps those of you here today didn't bring your calendars with you.

But if you're listening from home and you have a calendar, you can do the same thing.

It's like a pinhole viewer.

Without having to make a pinhole viewer, you don't look through the calendar at the sun, right?

You look in the shade that the calendar makes and all those little dots of sun become Crescent Suns.

Well, earlier today, at about 207 our time, the eclipse shadow started in Mexico.

And then it took an arc across the United States, hitting Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas.

Right around now, totality, when the moon completely covers the sun, is approaching the Illinois Indiana border and making its way toward Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York and then onto us here in Vermont before it leaves the United States at the northern tip of Maine.

It will have crossed 15 states, although a couple of them just barely.

Barely.

That's right.

The eclipse shadow, as I understand it, Mark travels slower near the equator and then speeds up as it gets closer to the poles.

How fast is it going over this part of the country?

Right over us.

It's moving at about 2300 miles an hour.

It's amazingly fast.

And you're right, it's simply the curve of the earth in terms of how quickly that shadow moves.

If you can think of of a shadow moving on a curved surface, you get to the edge and it's going to move across that edge much quicker.

But where we see it, it looks kind of slow.

It gets it seems kind of slow.

Although if you think about it, that's a pretty large shadow.

It's over a hundred miles in diameter and yet it only lasts for a minute and a half.

You can hear the buzz picking up here in Saint Johnsbury.

We are more than halfway eclipsed.

We have a nice view here.

What are we looking at as well on this monitor?

Yeah.

So one of the things that's kind of interesting to notice is where the moon is covering the sun because it's coming from what appears to be below the sun and then sliding upward.

And that has to do with the actual motion of the moon.

We we usually think, of course, the moon, the sun, they move from east to west, across the sky.

But the moon's actual motion in its orbit is going from west to east.

And so that's what's happening.

It's actually sliding up and will cover the west, little bits of the sun on the top part of the moon, and then the sun reappears on the bottom.

If you have a question for us, even if you're here in Saint Johnsbury, we don't have a microphone for you, but you can write to Eclipse at Vermont public dot org or you can call 800 6392211.

We'd love to know from you in the crowd and anywhere that you're viewing the eclipse, what does it feel like for you?

What are you doing?

What's happening in your community today?

Again, one 863 92211.

And we got a question from Danielle who asks, does the solar eclipse happen all over the world?

Excellent question.

It is not all over the world.

The eclipse path itself ranges from about 110 to 120 miles.

In this particular eclipse, they can be much narrower than that.

It can't get much wider just because of the size of the moon.

But the entire United States will see at least a little bit of an eclipse, a partial eclipse, as we call it.

But no, these actually cover less than 1,000th of 1% of the Earth's surface.

So very few places are seeing this.

We were talking a couple of months ago, Mark, in preparation for this, about how long usually between total solar eclipses as any one place is going to have and some places saw totality in 2017 and are getting it again.

That's right.

Where?

Down in western Kentucky and in parts of Illinois.

In Indiana, there's a little spot right there where the two lines crossed.

And so these people have seen now they're second total solar eclipse in just seven years.

And just by contrast, Burlington's last total solar eclipse, 1569.

And if you live in Los Angeles, you're in the middle of a 1500 year drought between total solar eclipses.

Yeah.

So it it is truly a once in a lifetime opportunity.

What parts of Vermont are going to see the most totality today?

Yes.

So the centerline of the eclipse, in other words, the longest period of the eclipse runs through St Albans and it cuts right across near Highgate Falls.

And then it goes into the eastern townships of near Ayres.

Cliff and in some communities in Vermont.

The line is so distinct.

If you're in Middlebury, for example, or bury, some parts of the community have totality and some don't.

That's right.

And and it's not an exact line.

So, in other words, you know, NASA can do all the calculations.

It can, but we're still actually finding that there are these very slight variations.

It may make a difference of a thousand or even 2000 feet, which may not sound like much, but it'll place one house in totality and one outside totality.

Again, if you'd like to call in with your questions, our number is 800 6392211.

Tom is calling in from Connecticut.

Hi, Tom.

Go right ahead.

Good afternoon.

How are you?

Well, I'm down in Connecticut.

We're pretty much cloudy here right now.

It seems to be getting a little darker.

And I was wondering, I was listening to you saying that a thousand feet could make a difference.

Eclipse, I was wondering, what time do I see it around here?

And when would the next one be?

Maybe.

Well, I certainly know that in terms of the timing, it should be very similar to to what it is here maybe a few minutes earlier.

But the speed of that shadow is so great that it doesn't make more than about a five minute difference.

So I would say, you know, in your location in Connecticut, probably between 315 and 330 would be the maximum amount of eclipse.

But note.

Not totality.

Not totality there.

No, about 95%.

So totality, what's the difference between 99% and totality?

Yes, that's one of those.

It sounds like 99%.

That's probably good enough.

But it really is completely different because there are things that happen during totality that don't happen during any other partial phase of the eclipse.

The only thing, only time that you can see what we call the sun's corona is the sun's atmosphere is only when the sun is completely obscured.

And so it does really make it a very special moment.

And that's why I even you know, today people literally chase eclipses.

They go around the world finding those locations for that really short.

I mean, it's only a couple of minutes for the most part, but it's that special to find those locations.

How many of you listening here within the sounds of our voices are chasing this eclipse came here to Vermont, to Saint Johnsbury.

Just for the eclipse.

Well, wow, that's a lot of I mean, presumably everybody here came for the eclipse.

But we've been hearing from people from Georgia, we've been hearing from people from all over who drove here, drove up because they want to see this.

This is really a special thing for people.

Oh, very much so.

And so there's the unique qualities.

It's I think it's fascinating that there is the science end of things where there are things that scientists, for example, can study only during total solar eclipses.

There are discoveries that were made like what?

Well, for example, the sun's corona because it is only visible during a total eclipse.

Scientists early on in the 1800s actually discovered what the sun specifically was made out of, but it happened during total solar eclipses.

Later on, Einstein's theory of relativity was actually proven during a total solar eclipse.

So so these are really, you know, significant events.

And yet it's also just fascinating.

And I've heard from a lot of people, this is my first total solar eclipse I've never experienced well before.

But there is also the experience of it.

It's how it feels.

It's how a shared experience feels.

There is nothing else like it.

Well, we're going to get to experience in about maybe 20 minutes here, a little bit less than that.

John is calling in from New Haven, Connecticut.

Hi, John.

Go ahead.

Hello.

Hi.

Hello.

Hi, Joe.

Hello.

Yes, we can hear you.

Go right ahead.

John, can you hear me?

I lived in Lyndonville in the sixties and I saw an eclipse, but I don't remember what year.

And we used a pinhole to watch it.

Yeah.

Joan, that is so cool.

Thank you for bringing that up.

And I am glad to hear that you're thinking of Vermont here from your home now in Connecticut.

Mark, tell us a little bit.

You told us about how to do this with your hands or a calendar, why and what people can do if they don't have solar eclipse glasses right now to make their own pinholes.

Right.

So so pinholes are basically something that we've known about for over a thousand years.

And the idea is that when you get just a little bit of sunlight through a very small hole, it actually essentially creates a small, focused camera.

And we call it a pinhole camera.

And so as a result, you can create that with your hands.

You can also use a colander like just a spaghetti strainer, and you'll see little crescents.

But if you do want to make a pinhole box, you use just a small piece of foil.

You cut two holes in the box, one for you to look through.

And in that pinhole, you put a little foil over the whole it, poke a hole in it, you get a little bit of light that goes through and you get an image of the sun in the back of the box.

And you can do that right now wherever you are.

If you don't have a box, you can also just pop a hole using a pencil or something in a piece of paper.

And again, look down at the ground.

Let the sunlight shine through the paper and you'll see the sun on the shadow.

And if you are watching this eclipse, you want to make sure you are doing so safely.

You should never look at a partially eclipse sun with your bare eyes.

The sun's rays are intensified and actually can cause permanent eye damage.

And you won't necessarily know what's happening because it can take hours for those spots to appear.

So please do not look at the sun with your bare eyes.

With the exception of those few moments of totality, when it is safe to take off your eclipse glasses only for totality.

That's right.

And why can you do that in totality, given the fact that there is still a ring that we are going to see around that shadow of the moon?

Right.

So what we are seeing, the sun's corona, its atmosphere is about 1 million times fainter than the surface of the sun.

And so it is not not at all bright enough to create any damage as far as your eyes are concerned.

And it is kind of simple when you are looking through your eclipse glasses, you'll see little tiny hints of sunlight.

And when they completely disappear, that's when it is safe to take your eclipse glasses off.

And in the case today, with the moon sliding up into the left, the the sun will reappear on the bottom edge.

So the minute you see just a little speck of sunlight, you put your glasses back on.

As we approach 315 right now, totality is hitting Ohio, Akron and Cleveland approaching totality right now.

Let's go to Anika who's calling in from South Burlington.

Hi, Annika.

Hi, Onaga, you're on the air.

Go right ahead.

Do you have a question?

All right.

We can't hear Anika right now.

We'll see if we can come back to Anika.

Let's go to Max, who's calling in from Duxbury.

Hi, Max.

Go ahead.

What about this total eclipse using it on a. Oh, good question.

Are there total eclipses in Antarctica?

Yes, there are.

And because it's on the bottom edge of the earth, they actually can cover a larger area just because the shadow is going to be spread out on the edge of the earth like that.

So they do have eclipses both in the Arctic and the Antarctic.

Do you think we can get 7500 people quickly to Antarctica to see the next one?

Not quickly, but I could start taking reservations.

Let's go to Diane, who's calling in from South Carolina.

Hi, Diane.

Go right ahead.

Hi.

I just want to say thank you for this because I grew up in Vermont.

I miss Vermont.

My brother just goes up to Vermont to watch the clip in person and I don't get the do you clip from Maine run down on Vermont public north and loving it.

Thank you.

Oh, Diane, I'm glad that we could give you a taste of Vermont from South Carolina.

And we're all wishing you well from back in home again.

If you'd like to call in and ask a question or tell us how you are experiencing the eclipse.

Our number, even if you're here in Saint Johnsbury, you can call it one 800 6392211.

Or you can email eclipse at Vermont Public dot org.

Let's go to Ella who's calling in from Wisconsin.

Hi, Ella.

Hi.

I was wondering, I was like, what about this?

This makes like your eyes, like, live relatively.

I've heard if you look at it.

Yeah, good question.

So more about safety here, Marc.

Why when you look at the eclipse, does it make your eyes hurt?

Right.

So our eyes are designed so that when the sun is full, it's really bright.

It hurts to look at it.

But when the eclipse is taking place, we're seeing less and less of the sun.

What our eyes don't understand what they're not designed to detect is that little sliver of sun is just as intense as the entire surface of the sun.

And so that intensity creates the damage in your eye and you don't even feel it.

Your eye doesn't have any nerves, so you wouldn't feel any particular problem, but you would notice it afterward.

Here in Saint Johnsbury, it's still pretty bright out.

We're very close to totality.

It still doesn't seem very dark or getting very cold yet.

No, although I think the quality of the light is very different.

It feels a little thinner.

I think one of the things that people will tend to notice as we get closer and closer to totality is that the light almost seems sharper so that we have a smaller source of light, and so our shadows become a little bit more crisp.

And so you notice differences like that that otherwise you would never have that experience.

Dick wrote in to ask, Is it just a coincidence that the moon fits perfectly across the sun?

Why is the moon the right size?

That is in some ways absolutely a happy coincidence.

The moon is actually moving away from the earth and has been since it was formed, you know, over 4 billion years ago.

What's happening is, though, it only moves away by about an inch and a half per year.

So during essentially human civilization, the moon is at the right distance that it is just about the same size as the sun, which also is one of the reasons that eclipses are so rare.

It has to be perfectly lined up if it's even slightly off.

We don't get a total eclipse, right?

We have annular eclipse right to where the when the moon is a little bit not quite at the exact distance that it needs to be to fully cover the sun.

Right.

The moon's orbit is slightly oval or elliptical, and so when it's closer, we get a larger, longer eclipse.

When it is farther away, it's actually far enough away that you end up with a ring of light around the sun.

It's something you can't ever look at it without eclipse glasses.

But it's another fascinating event.

We had one here 30 years ago.

If you're getting text alerts from the state, you may have just realized the state telling drivers who are on the roads right now during eclipse turn on your headlights during totality.

It is going to get dark.

It's going to get dark during totality.

You will need headlights.

It will look a little bit like we're in nighttime.

We may even be able to see some celestial objects.

That's right.

A few of the planets are visible.

And so above the sun, we would be looking for the planet Jupiter.

Below the sun would be the planet Venus.

And if it is clear enough or even spots of clear skies, you may see a few of the brighter stars, including some of the stars in Orion and almost overhead a star named Capella Totality right near hitting Buffalo, New York and Niagara Falls, moving ever closer to Vermont.

Laurel is calling in from Danville.

Hi, Laurel.

Who?

Really?

Hi.

Um, I. I'm have a question.

You can hear me?

Yes, we can help you.

Okay.

Um, Mark, you did address this, but I just don't understand.

The moon moving from the west to the east.

We.

I thought the sun must be going behind the moon, and the moon was more stationary.

So can you explain in more detail?

Sure.

So?

So the earth is spinning.

We spin around once every 24 hours, and it makes it look like the sun goes across the sky.

And so that motion is what we're used to.

In fact, even at night when we watched the moon or the stars, they appear to go from east to west.

But the moon's actual movement around the earth, which of course takes 29 and a half days.

And so it's much slower than the 24 hours.

We don't notice that it's actually moving from west to east.

And so that's the motion that you're seeing.

And that kind of motion actually will shift the moon to the other side of the sun.

So just think of it this way in a few more days, you will see a crescent moon over in the west.

Nicole is with us from San Francisco, California.

Hi, Nicole.

Go right ahead.

Hi.

Can you hear me?

We can you can.

Okay, good.

Thank you.

Hi, I'm in San Francisco.

I have no questions because I don't actually understand the eclipse, other than it's beautiful and spiritual.

But I wanted to just thank you for being lied with this.

Vermont is basically my second home and my good friends in Essex are having a big party out on their, uh, their land to watch it.

And I can't be there.

So, just so excited that so many people are there.

And, um, we can do this coast to coast.

Not that we're not seeing much of it here.

Yeah.

Thank you.

I'm sorry to hear you're not seeing much of it, Nicole.

I hope it's not too cloudy and too foggy where you are and that you at least get that partiality.

But it's such a wonderful thing here in Saint Johnsbury to be with all these people live and then to think about how many people are listening to the stream or watching the stream and feeling a connection to Vermont through this event.

There's that connection that you have with your community in person, and then there's a bonding and a connection that people who may be very far away still feel with these communities.

Right.

I think that's one of the marvelous things about this eclipse, which really does cover at least in some fashion, all of the country.

It kind of brings us all together that way.

Joel is with us from Charlotte, North Carolina.

Vermont's at Charlotte, North Carolina.

You can tell I'm in Vermont or Charlotte, North Carolina.

Hi, Joel.

You're on the air.

Can you hear me okay?

Absolutely.

Right now.

Go right ahead, Joel.

We lost Joel.

One of the questions that Joel I think was going to prompt us here for is a little bit about what happens during totality that you can see or do.

That's cool.

We have a note from Robert who wants to know, are there any cool experiments you can actually do as a layperson in totality?

I'm not aware of a specific experiment, although one of the things that is certainly helpful to understand is the exact timing of that.

So if you have the right equipment and you can time out exactly when the sun completely disappears or when it reappears.

That information actually is very helpful in terms of if you can compile all of that data, you can get a little better sense of exactly where that shadow was because one of the things that we don't think about is the Earth's surface is not even we have higher spots and lower spots, and that's going to actually change the shape of the shadow as well.

We are getting closer and closer here.

You can really sense a difference in the light for me.

I keep thinking I should take off my sunglasses and then I realize I don't have them on.

It looks like you're wearing som Everybody here in Saint Johnsbury is turning away from us to look at the moon.

Yeah, it's.

And it is tempting to look up at it with your bare eyes again.

Please do not do that until you're in totality.

Will tell you when some spots in Vermont are reaching and nearing totality.

But what can we expect?

I think one of the things that you'll notice is you may actually feel the temperature drop.

I mean, we are losing energy from the sun.

So during this period of time and I actually if you had to say I would say the temperatures probably dropped two or three degrees already.

We have one of our meteorologists here at the museum measuring this all the way through the eclipse.

So we'll have that information.

So that's one of the things that you'll be able to experience.

Also, if you happen to see any birds nearby or perhaps you have some chickens, you may notice that they actually will go to roost.

This is a very strange thing for them.

They don't particularly or they're not aware of eclipses, but they know, oh, it's getting dark time to go to roost.

And so that's a very common thing to notice.

People have observed this over centuries.

Well, what are you most excited for, given that this is something you have waited a whole lifetime to see?

Well, one, I was excited about this kind of event with thousands of people to share it with.

But just like everybody that's never seen a total eclipse, I can't wait until that moment when there is no sun out there at all.

When you can see a couple of stars or planets, when you can see the sun's corona and you can just feel the change in the atmosphere.

And I don't mean just the physical atmosphere, I mean just how everybody is feeling.

I can sense a difference here in the atmosphere.

In St Johnsbury.

It does feel like people are really anticipating this moment and it is getting darker by the second.

We are really getting close here.

The eclipse should now be approaching or hitting Plattsburgh.

It's going to make its way very quickly then toward the Champlain Islands.

As I said, I'm going to give you some updates as we move through totality, because this is a pretty wonderful and amazing experience to share with all of you who are listening and watching, as well as those who are here with us in Saint Johnsbury.

And so we are going to give you some updates as this moves.

But I do want to offer everybody an opportunity here as it gets so dark to just experience this eclipse.

So we're going to have some music, we're going to listen together.

We're going to quietly, maybe not so quietly do whatever it hits you, but we're going to experience this as we move forward.

We are less than a minute now to totality in St Albans and Burlington.

So let's listen to this music and let it wash over us as we move through and towards totality.

Totality is starting in Burlington and St Albans.

St Albans will get 3 minutes and 30 seconds of totality.

Burlington will get 3 minutes and 10 seconds.

The sun is covered by the moon, darkness falling now in those communities.

We have about 2 minutes until totality hits us here in Saint Johnsbury.

Wow.

It's getting very, very dark in Saint John's, very noticeable.

And you perhaps with your eclipse glasses on, still look, start looking good in just moments for little tiny specks of light along the edge of the sun.

That's sunlight coming through the moon's mountain values.

Wow.

They're called Bailey's beads.

We may also see a bright spark of sunlight with a curved that's known as the diamond ring effect.

It.

We'll see that both just before totality and again just after totality.

You are still in totality in Burlington and St Albans.

We have about 30 seconds to totality in Saint Johnsbury.

It is dark as night lights are coming on, the street lights are on, the last little bits are disappearing.

Mark We can see maybe a celestial object in the sky.

Yes, yes.

Oh, my.

Oh, my goodness.

That is Venus.

We are in totality.

Are in totality in Saint Johnsbury.

You can see the red edges.

See the red spots?

Yes.

Those are solar flares.

Oh, wow.

And if you'd like, take a quick look.

Mark is handing me binoculars.

Oh, my goodness.

Oh, you can see the red.

Yes.

Coming out.

Jupiter is almost overhead.

You see it?

Totality is now ending in Burlington.

If you're in the Champlain Valley, you should already have or be putting on your safety eyewear.

Still another few seconds of totality in St Albans.

People there are getting the longest view of the eclipse over totality, now nearly ending in St Albans and then still a few more seconds here in St Johnsbury, but totality ending in Saint Johnsbury.

Wow.

That's the diamond ring.

And immediately the light starts coming back.

It's almost like daybreak here in Saint Johnsbury.

Oh, that light immediately coming back into the sky right now, you can still feel the awe and wonder.

I am certainly still feeling it.

I got really teary.

Yeah.

Still, some parts of Vermont have a little bit of totality left if you are east of Saint Johnsbury, totality is approaching or you are perhaps in it already of a little breathless.

We're going to just give it a couple more minutes.

I think we all need a few minutes to a few seconds to collect ourselves at this point, eclipse totality will have passed for all of Vermont.

It is now headed for parts of northern New Hampshire and Quebec.

Oh, wow.

Mark your second, but what did that feel like to you?

But I can't necessarily describe it except in some ways it's exactly what I expected, just based on people's experience, that it was a surreal and otherworldly experience of you.

There is nothing I've ever experienced like it before.

No, there really isn't.

Seeing that ring.

Yes.

Is something else.

Yeah, that was stunning.

And I was surprised, actually, that you could see those bright pink orange spots on the edges of the of the eclipse, because really you're seeing solar flares, which ordinarily you only see in some special photography that's done by NASA and so forth.

But you could easily see them.

And I was reading a description and this goes back to the 1800s.

He was they didn't know about solar flares just yet, but they were describing that there were these red protuberances.

And it was so amazing that Francis Baily, who saw this in 1836, actually traveled to Venice six years later to see so to kind of check what was it that I was seeing, we have more time for phone calls.

In a few minutes, we're going to be hearing from the director of Vermont Emergency Management.

So if you are wondering about when you have a good window to leave, I would suggest not doing it right now.

Don't get in your car and drive away.

Oh, there is a lot of traffic on the road.

We're going to get more from VM in a minute.

But we're also we would love to know how you experienced the eclipse.

What did that feel like to you if you were in totality?

Our number is 800 6392211.

You can also email eclipse at Vermont public dot org.

Our number again 800 6392211.

We have people listening from all over.

Mike is calling in now from California.

Hi, Mike.

You're on the air.

Hi.

Thanks for taking my call.

I just wanted to say I'm here in Costa mesa, California.

My wife, Lindsey and I are really good friends, moved to Saint John's very few minutes a few years ago, and it's wonderful to be able to share this with them.

It makes us miss them a little bit less.

So Gretchen, Pete, Arlo and Brian.

Hi, Mike.

Thank you so much for sharing this experience with us and for calling in.

It's a pretty amazing thing to be able to witness this eclipse of what's happening now.

That's just sort of the other side of what we just experienced.

And in the really don't want to lose that opportunity.

So once again, we have these opportunities to see the crescent sun again through your eclipse glasses, or you can try to create that same thing through your fingers, through a calendar, through some kind of pinhole.

So there are a lot of fascinating new moments still ahead of us, just in terms of and watching the lights slowly come back into the area.

I think I actually one of the things that I noticed be as we were getting just moments from totality, is it really it almost fear appeared like this inky black shadow was coming towards us.

I was surprised to notice that.

I was surprised at how quickly the light came back.

It felt like the light reappeared more quickly than it had disappeared.

Yes.

And I think the one I think that really it's maybe gay people, the the idea, the understanding of why we have to wear these eclipse glasses, even when there's just a sliver of sunlight up there.

It was intense when it came back out.

John is calling in now from Woodbury, Vermont.

Jon, I'd love to hear your thoughts on what you experienced.

Our experience was yesterday and we had to snowshoe into our camp as well.

Well, we're back boarded up the trees, both wires without electricity.

And we got past all that.

And I mean, it has become the dream that we've been looking for two weeks to get our cabin to open and experiencing experience of this.

But, John, was it everything you had hoped for and more expectations?

That's wonderful.

And by the way, you folks at Vermont Public have an excellent job.

We appreciate it.

Oh, thank you very much for that, John.

Appreciate it.

So glad you got to experience it.

Oh, we see the baby goat.

You may be right now.

Is this a baby or a pygmy?

Wow.

It is tiny.

This is the goat's first eclipse.

Imagine that.

It is the baby goats.

Very first eclipse.

So wonderful that we could share it with this goat.

Thank you very much for coming out to the stage and letting us see.

We we are hearing from so many people who have experienced this, like Ellen in Brattleboro.

And Ellen has a question for us as well.

Hi, Ellen.

Go right ahead.

How.

Hi.

I was wondering the I was glasses say not to wear me, you know, not to view the sun with the glasses.

If if you've had recent eye surgery.

And the other is if you have an eye disease.

I have macular degeneration.

And I'm assuming that that would be considered a disease.

But I would love to be able to see some of it, but.

Well, I would certainly suggest to to.

Yeah, well, but perhaps you can see some of the footage that that has been collected and it will continue to be collected and sent out.

But the other thing is, you know, obviously, you need to check with your eye care professional in terms of the safety aspects of that.

I would also let you know, Ellen, that we are broadcasting we have a view as well.

If you go to Vermont public talk and watch our live stream, you will be able to see this solar scope and be able to see this eclipse a lot more closely than you would with your glasses.

But if you're not able to watch it in person with your glasses or for whatever reason, if you're not in the path of totality, if you're not available to leave where you work or where you live, or if you're not mobile, right?

There are a lot of reasons that people might not be able to witness this eclipse with their eyes in person.

And so I hope you're able to tune to Vermont public dot org or whatever source you have for being able to view this eclipse safely and to be able to share this experience.

Thank you for calling in, Ellen.

We are here now in Saint Johnsbury and seeing so many people packing up.

It's like the eclipse is over, but how much longer do we actually have of partiality?

Right.

So this began back at about 215.

So it takes a little bit more than an hour for the moon to fully cover the sun.

It takes it an equal amount of time, about an hour and 15 minutes to gradually move away.

So the total eclipse is over, but the partial eclipse doesn't end until about 438, I believe, this afternoon.

438.

So we still got a ton of time.

Oh, yeah.

Yeah.

So should people stick around?

We've all seen it.

Well, I again, you know, I think that the partial phase of it, I mean, even what it's doing right now, this is a fairly unique experience.

We'd have to go back seven years to see something like what we have right now.

So this is not something that we see.

You know, ordinarily this is a pretty rare experience and the next time this is going to happen, I think somebody asked earlier, at least in parts of southern Vermont, it won't be until the year 2079.

Wow.

2017 nine.

All right.

So it could be a once in a lifetime experience for many.

That's right.

Deborah and Mitch are calling in from Plainfield.

Hi, Deborah and Mitch, go right ahead.

Horrible thanks to everything we're watching from Plainfield.

And we've been a little puzzled because the appearance of the crescent after totality seems to be around the 7:00 mark on the sun or when it was when the the moon was crossing in front of it seemed to be crossing from roughly the 5:00 angle towards the middle.

So we're a little puzzled as to how that could be.

That's all.

Okay.

We'll keep listening.

Sure.

So not being in the center of the eclipse, what you were seeing is, is if you think about the fact you got this, you know, circular disk that's moving across, you're actually moving it.

So that let's just say that the moon's position was slightly more right than center and so on the left hand side is where that crescent reappeared.

I'm not sure if that quite makes sense.

I can sort of visualize it that you've got this disk.

And again, it's slightly displaced.

It wasn't perfectly centered on the sun from here because we were on the edge of totality.

So being shifted to the right, it's the left hand edge that reappeared first.

I'd love to know from those of you who experienced this, what it felt like, was it inspiring maybe for you?

You had greater expectations and it didn't live to them.

I'd love to hear what you thought it was going to be like and what's happening in your community right now.

If you'd like to share your perspective with us again, you can email eclipse at Vermont Public dot org or you can call 800 6392211.

That's one 800 6392211.

Let's talk with one of our reporters elsewhere in Vermont who's been experiencing this eclipse.

Sabine Fuchs is a Vermont public producer and she's in St Albans.

Hi.

So nice to talk with you.

Hello.

Can you hear me?

Yes.

Hi.

So what's your experience been like?

What is it like in St Albans?

It's very energetic.

It took a while for people to kind of trickle in this morning.

But around noon, 1 p.m., Taylor Park here in town really filled up.

A lot of families, a lot of kids.

And the energy, I think, which is really high here.

Before the eclipse, there was a band and now people are sort of dispersing already.

You know, just sending a couple of minutes ago.

Mm hmm.

So everything, it sounds like, went pretty smoothly in St Albans?

Yes.

I haven't seen anything to, you know, to indicate otherwise.

There was quite a few police here, and I just saw a lot of them kind of walk away.

Everything was pretty peaceful, actually.

Just saw a couple get engaged right after totality was over, which was really sweet and seems to be going very well.

Oh, congratulations to the happy couple.

Such a wonderful memory to be able to have gotten engaged.

So been did.

What did it feel like to you?

Did you get to experience it as a human being at all?

Yes, it definitely made me well up in a way that I was not expecting.

It felt very close to the people around me, which was really lovely and just thinking about all the people I've spoken to throughout the day who were there, sort of watching it with me.

It's kind of personal, you know, I wasn't expecting it was really lovely and I'm glad I got to be here to see it with all the people who came all this way to be here today.

Were there estimates of how many people actually went to St Albans for this?

I have not heard yet a number estimate, but I spoke with the director of the Chamber of Commerce earlier who said that they were sort of expecting big crowds and that those numbers showed up in the way that they had kind of predicted, even though she thought maybe they wouldn't come out in droves that they did.

So I know that, you know, we got we got a big crowd here.

I haven't yet heard how many people, though.

Well, Sabine, thank you very much for spending a little time with us as you're running around.

I know everybody's trying to get ready to make sure that they have things ready for our newscast.

We'll be having live coverage all evening on Vermont Public.

So stay tuned for All Things Considered.

Sabine Puc's, thanks very much.

Thank you.

Let's go to Alan, who's calling in from Saint Johnsbury.

Hi, Allan.

Yeah, um, I have a question for Marc.

I noticed on the calendar it's a new moon.

Is that, in fact, the eclipse at all?

That actually the only time that you could have a solar eclipse.

So a new moon is when the in long, long ago time, you know, they they thought about the moon simply growing and then shrinking.

And so every time it reappeared in the evening skies, that was the beginning of its phase.

And so that's the new part of it.

And so since then, you know, we understand a little bit more about how things move around.

So essentially a new moon occurs when it is passing between the earth and the sun, but it doesn't line up very often.

That's why eclipses are rare.

There's actually a kind of a fascinating idea that the orbit of the moon is tilted at about five degrees, which doesn't sound like a lot, except you have to realize the moon is only one half of one degree, and because it's that small, it actually can vary about 20 moon widths.

That's a big amount.

So that's why it almost never widens up.

Well, on the line with us now is Eric, foreign director of Vermont Emergency Management, to give us a few updates here about how it's been going and what we can expect over the next few hours.

Eric, hi.

Nice to talk with you.

Hi.

Thanks for the invite.

So can you tell us how this has gone from your perspective so far, knowing that we are still far from the end of this eclipse experience in Vermont?

Yeah, well, this morning, one fairly well situation where some traffic backed up as it was coming into the state and some backups that some of the welcome centers.

But they were all taken care of and now they've all moved out.

So everyone got to their destination and now we are doing the reverse.

We're waiting for those individuals.

Once the personal is done to head back home and then we will take care of that and then it should be all paid up.

I mean, you make it sound like no big deal, but there have been a lot of people coming into Vermont today.

What's your estimate?

We haven't even got close to an estimate yet.

We're trying to kind of understand what's going on in the in the moment as opposed to being able to actually understand how many people are here.

So we've had a couple calls from, for example, and Johnsbury ran out of parking spaces.

Newport ran out of parking spaces.

You know, we had some backups on Route seven.

So definitely a lot of people came in today with the nice weather.

They woke up and decided to make the trek or run into the basement.

So that coupled with the fact that individuals through the weekend might be leaving, may mean the exodus is a little bit harder than getting here.

So we're hoping that everyone is safe.

We are looking for everyone to stay out of the breakdown lane so traffic can get through.

But again, it's a nice it's a nice trip out of the state to just enjoy it, relax and take your time.

And if you can stay a little bit longer.

We got an alert from you as well earlier in the day that the bathrooms weren't working at my favorite rest area, the Sharon Rest area, which I believe has the living green machine.

Right.

So you brought in some porta potty.

Sounds like you took care of it.

That is that is correct.

They had some water capacity issues that we had to deal with that morning and that needs crew.

And they did a great job taking care of it and so accomplished.

So in terms of people leaving, I mean, we are certainly seeing people clearing out here in Saint Johnsbury very quickly.

And I know that the the what we've been hearing, if you've been riding on the highways, you have seen the signs, please stay tight.

Sit tight for a little while.

Watch the end of the eclipse, maybe find a place to eat or get some cheese and crackers.

What's your best advice for people who are trying to leave the state or leave where they are and go to somewhere else?

When should they do that and what should we expect?

Yeah, the longer you can delay your purchase, the better.

So going out to dinner, maybe a movie, maybe staying another day would all be fantastic ideas.

If that's a possibility, that will get you past some of the traffic surge.

But again, if you have to leave now, we recommend staying on the on the interstate.

You know, if it weighs or Google going to potentially get you off, but it'll get you off on the side roads.

It may not be any faster, may have other issues.

So the interstate will be slow, but they are there.

The best course of action for both of them.

Oh, so that's interesting because some of the advice we had heard before was that the interstates were going to be crowded and you should stay off them and stay off some of those main thoroughfares, like 15 and to and 100.

But you're saying especially if you are coming from elsewhere and don't know the roads, just stick to those main roads stick to the highways and just prepare to go slow.

Correct.

If you are a local and, you know, a back way to get somewhere and you understand what a muddy road might look like, then, then, okay.

But if you're a visitor to the great state of Vermont, then you should probably stay on the highway and use it and understand that it might take a little bit longer after that and have a snack or, if you will, up but just stay on the interstate with.

That's the best way out of that one.

Have you gotten calls from anybody who's been stuck in the mud or heard about people getting stuck on on muddy back roads?

The state we have not roads are being targeted at the lower municipality levels at this point.

So we haven't heard of any major issues.

But again, the towns have done a great job of preparing for this and what they need to do and getting it done and the resources in that they needed to do take care of these residents that are coming in and the visitors as well.

So hats off to them.

And similarly, any any reports of anything on Vermont trails and mountains, people have been advised to please stay off the trails, not only are they very muddy, but you might have to wait a long while for help if you need any any reports of anything.

Both of those are accurate.

We haven't met at all.

We do know that some individuals are not heeded that warning.

So I believe there might have been a rescue.

And so but we're trying to confirm that because that's Eric Forand, director of Vermont Emergency Management.

I know you're very busy.

Thank you for taking a few minutes to talk with us, Eric.

Thank you.

Enjoy the rest of the eclipse.

Yeah, you too.

Happy eclipse to you.

I hope you got a chance to experience it as well.

We're still live here in Saint Johnsbury for another 10 minutes as we move through, continue to move through the second half of the eclipse.

If you'd like to share with us what your experience has been like, we would love to hear it.

You can call 800 6392211.

We have our first international call.

Jim is calling from Spain.

Hi, Jim.

I think there might be a delay.

Hi, Jim.

Do you hear us from Spain?

Jim, we lost Jim.

Let's go instead to Patrick, who's calling in from much closer Lyndonville.

Hi, Patrick.

Go right ahead.

Hello.

Hi.

Hi, Betty.

Yeah, I work at a diner down Washington for Anthony.

Yeah.

And we had people go, and everybody was.

Everybody was so friendly in person, so it was really nice.

Oh, I'm so glad to hear that Patrick did.

And then I left about 30 and I can't believe how emotional this whole ordeal was.

It was very, very nice.

Patrick, I think I can hear the emotion in your voice, too.

What did that feel like to see the eclipse?

Oh, it just a different emotion.

I got very emotional.

Yeah, and it was beautiful.

It's everybody I ran into said they are very glad you came up.

Oh, well, Patrick, I'm so glad you got to experience it.

I'm so glad you got off your shift and that everybody was wonderful at Anthony's Restaurant earlier today in Saint John's.

But thank you for calling in and letting us know.

I think we have Jim back from Spain.

Hi, Jim.

You're on the air.

Hi, Lynn.

Thank you for taking my call.

Yes, we're up on a mountaintop in Spain here.

We live in Vicenza, but we left so much that I'm going to miss this event.

But you represented your coverage and it was just beautiful and moving.

And again, just wanted to chime in with a thank you for your efforts.

Oh, thank you, Jim.

Thanks for calling from Spain.

Are you in partiality or you're just getting like a tiny bit of it right in Spain?

I don't think so.

I think that we get none of it.

We want a beautiful sunset tonight, right?

The same sun that you were watching.

We had a beautiful sunset out ov but it was really quite lovely to watch it on your program.

Oh, thank you.

I'm glad you got to see it.

You're right.

I guess it would be a bit late.

I know some of some folks in some parts of far Western Europe are able to catch just a glimpse of just as the sun was setting.

Yes.

We have a special call coming in from Patricia.

And Patricia has a special connection to Yuma.

Patricia, you're on the air.

Hello there, Mark.

Well, hello.

Hello, Mom.

Hello, Mom.

This is Mark's mother.

Okay.

We're in the main.

Yeah, we just moved into the Cale way, but I've been listening to the radio, but broadcast all along on my phone and it was great.

I was just.

I just have to call in.

Well, thanks, Bob.

Okay, you got me because I think it's wonderful to hear from you.

I'm so glad you got to experience this with Mark, even from Pennsylvania.

It's a pretty unique day.

Thank you very much for calling in.

And everybody here in Saint Johnsbury.

Mark, a beloved figure here and throughout Vermont, as so many people know him.

And what a wonderful thing to experience this with you, Mark.

Oh, and to be here for Jane, this has just been fabulous.

Let's talk to Julia in Tampa, Florida.

Hi, Julia.

Hi.

What question do you have during this solar eclipse?

Why do the shadows become question?

Why do the shadows become crescents?

Thanks for the call.

That's a great question.

And of course, especially places where there are leaves, you get these little crescent suns.

And what's happening is the sunlight.

When it goes to little tiny holes, we call them pinholes.

It actually creates a slight camera kind of effect or a little focus.

And so you can do this on any time.

You can actually see little round of the sun underneath, for example, the tree.

But when the sun is partially covered, you get the image of the sun partially covered.

A crescent sun.

I am so thrilled.

I just have to say, Julia and others, to hear from so many kids calling in.

Maybe some, but why fans out there, but also so many kids getting interested in science, getting interested in the landscape, maybe doing some citizen science on their own and observing what's happening on the landscape and perhaps remembering this experience for the rest of their lives.

Well, there's no doubt an experience like this can can really, you know, lead a young person onto to something they didn't necessarily think anything of, of.

And all of a sudden, this experience will change the path of their life.

Let's go to Diane in Burlington.

Hi, Diane.

Hi.

I just wanted to say this was an incredible experience that made me cry.

But hope and joy, why did it bring hope and joy to you?

Diane, what is it about this experience that that brought that surge of emotion?

Because the world is so fractured and everyone around this country is experiencing the wonder and beauty.

Yeah, Diane, I share that.

Thank you for calling in.

Thank you for sharing that perspective.

I think we have time for one more call here from Alex, who's calling in from Brazil.

Hi, Alex.

Do you have a question?

What is the son made out of and how many people are watching the solar eclipse?

Wow.

Alex, thank you for calling.

Mark.

What is the sun made out of and do we know how many people are watching the eclipse?

Oh, right.

So the sun is made out of mostly hydrogen.

It is a gas, which is a gas normally, but with a lot of gravity and a lot of pressure.

You can squeeze it into something a little bit more solid than that.

And that's exactly what not only the sun is made out of it, but it's what stars are made out of as well.

And they discovered that during eclipses, which is fascinating to know, and there are perhaps at least 30 million people and maybe more that were in the path of this totality to be able to see the eclipse.

So we don't know how many got to watch it, but there were potentially that many or more people who might have had the ability right from Mexico all the way into Canada.

Wow.

Well, thank you to everybody who has called in this afternoon.

Thank you to everybody who has been watching and listening here in Saint Johnsbury and watching and listening on radio, TV and on our streams.

Thank you to Mark Breen Planetarium, director at the Fairbanks and Museum in Saint Johnsbury, for joining us today.

Thank you, Jane.

It was wonderful.

Thank you.

What a joy to have all of you here at the Fairbanks is Sun, moon, and you event.

Our solar eclipse coverage has support from Vermont Construction Companies, Roofing Division and Norwich Solar.

Our program was produced by Melody BODETT and Holt Albee.

Our director was Mary and our call screener was Eric Ford.

Our Vermont public crew included Frank Alwine, Karen Anderson, Riley Cartwright.

Peter English.

Kianna Haskin, Kaylee Mumford, Dave Rice, Brian Stevenson and Joe Tamaki.

Thanks as well to Amy Zielinski and Ana Ruben.

I am Jane Lindholm.

Thank you for joining us for this eclipse coverage.

Safe travels and everybody.

And what a wonderful day to share it with you.

Thanks, everybody.

Now.