In The Shadow of The Moon

“The Moon got loose last night, and slid down and fell out of the scheme—a very great loss; it breaks my heart to think of it. There isn’t another thing among the ornaments and decorations that is comparable to it for beauty and finish. It should have been fastened better. If we can only get it back again...For I do love Moons, they are so pretty and so romantic. I wish we had five of six; I would never go to bed; I should never get tired lying on the moss-bank and looking up at them.” ―Eve’s Diary, Mark Twain

 Columbia Missouri, 8/20/2017―Up at 4 a.m. to catch 7:45 a.m. Southwest to Nashville, switch seats to the bulkhead; then to St. Louis; landing: Wonderfully attractive flight attendant croons “Happy Trails”; then get a Hertz for drive over to Mizzou where engineer Jake is in this third year, Cody soon his first.

 Helios/Sol

 Note and point of reference: Anthropomorphizing the Sun and Moon for our purposes employs the Sun as male, the Moon female.

 Lyle Lovette writes and sings in I’ve Been to Memphis: “The Sun” (containing 98% of our total solar system mass; able to fit 109 Earth’s across its disk; and 1.3 million Earths inside) “comes up in a coffee cup….”

 You get up in the morning, the Sun’s there, (has been for the past 4.6 billion years) you presume it always will be (but won’t since it has fuel left for only another five billion at which time it will fuse helium into heavier elements, swell up, engulf the Earth, spend a billion years as a red giant, collapse into a white dwarf and take a trillion years to cool off). Nothing’s forever.

 Oddly enough, far inside the Sun is dark and colder than the outside. The furthest visible inside the Sun are electromagnetic sunspots, the darkest and coldest places on the Sun’s surface. The further out, the hotter the Sun gets. The deeper into the atmosphere, the cooler it gets.

 The Sun, from interior out: Inner Core (15,000,000° C; 27,000,000° F) and pressure (340 billion times Earth's air pressure at sea level; nuclear reactions here), Radiative Zone, Convection Zone, Subsurface Flows, Photosphere (where are Sunspots, the dark depressions with temperatures of 4,000°C (7,000°F)), Chromosphere (where are seen faculae (bright luminous hydrogen clouds forming above emerging Sunspots) and flares)), and then the glorious Corona.

 The corona (crown) extends millions of kilometers into space and is 200 times hotter than the Sun’s surface topping out at 103 million degrees K. Here are where prominences, clouds of glowing gas, erupt out of the chromosphere; particles are thrown off into space.

 In the core, nuclear reactions fuse four protons, or hydrogen nuclei forming one alpha particle, a helium nucleus. The alpha particle has a .7 percent less mass than the proton quartet. The mass difference is thrown off as energy, through the process of convection, taking millions of years getting to the Sun’s surface as heat and light. Seven hundred million tons of hydrogen are converted into helium ashes every second, the process releasing 5 million tons of pure energy making the Sun lighter.

 Aarush, Addae, Aditeya, Akeno, Alfrothul, Appollo, Arun, Aten, Ciro, Cyrus, Dagobert, Dayton, Delbert, Dinesh, Divakar, Equzki, Esh-Ban, Etu, Gisli, Helaku, Helios, Heru, Jamshid, Khenan, Khnurn, Misae, Naolin, Naranbaatar, Ramsis, Sampson, Solaris, Vadden, Wehinahpay, Yang’s first atmospheric region is 500 km above the photosphere (its outer visible layer with a temperature of 6,000°C (11,000°F)) that measures some 4,000K where it is cool enough to detect water and carbon monoxide.

 Now, Bobo the peasant is out one day tending the fields just finishing up what we refer to as the Stone Age, running sheep, whatever, blue bird day, not a cloud in the sky, day no different than the string of days as far as he can remember over the past 25 years (nobody lived very long back in Bobo’s day). Then, suddenly, something, from Bobo’s limited cosmological perspective, goes really wrong: The Sun goes out.

 Bobo looks up and can’t believe his eyes; the Sun has gone corona. Bobo panics, what to do? Resorting to cave-man reflexes, he grabs a nearby wooly, dispatches same with a rock, and lo, in a couple of minutes, there’s the diamond ring, and Helios is reborn. And so is created Bobo’s Church of the Black Sunday.

 Not too far away in Woah I Be Sew Phat’s typically oppressive Kingdom of the Typically Sinister, Woah I Be Sew Phat commands that his Wizard of Heaven is now king pending the current Sun going dark crisis and lo, a couple of minutes pass, there’s the diamond ring, Cyrus is back, and the Wizard Heaven loses his head in Woah I Be Sew Phat’s thanksgiving gesture. And so is born the ancient national tradition of the Eclipsing King Scapegoating Festival.

 The Church of the Black Sunday (CBS) and Eclipsing King Scapegoating Sinister Wing Festival (EKSSW) will, downstream, consolidate as the Black Sunday of the Sinister Wing (BSSW).

 Any “bad thing” following an eclipse is scapegoated automatically: hydrogen bomb testing by insane generals and little fat weird haircut despots; a string of hurricanes wiping out habitats during hurricane season; you name it.

 Howling in DaylightNotQuiteLunalight

 She didn't quite know what the relationship was between lunatics and the Moon, but it must be a strong one, if they used a word like that to describe the insane.” ― Paulo Coelho, Veronika Decides to Die

 The bride and I are embraced comfortably in Walmart $5.99 unfolding blue canvas chairs; your scrivener up and down checking on transit progress through Celestron 10x42 Solar Eclipse binoculars; scrivener ruminating/chafing upon the theft of a Coronado 90mm solar telescope and how much more incredible would have been the view in lieu of theft, but still the binos are quite good, certainly better than just Celestron solar glasses.

 “Them regular or special binoculars?” a beer belly eclipse T-shirt asks brightly.

 It is explained: “Them are special designed for lookin’ at the Sun.”

 “No kidding. Can I look? Damn, what’s that speck?”

 “Sun spot.”

 “How you know?”

 “Did a year-long study of the Sun, watched go out of the east from north to south; drew every Sun spot that showed up that year. Had a special telescope that I could see flames coming off the edge, big flames; this scope made the Sun red; it was something. Some son-of-a-bitch stole it. Dumb peckerwood didn’t even know what it was; stole it anyway.”

 “You call the pole-lease?”

 “Sure. There’s some much stealing going on nobody cares about chasing anything down unless they stumble on a house full of stolen stuff like they did up in Plano north of me while they were doing a street drug peddler arrest. My telescope wasn’t there. Really miss that telescope.”

 “You know what I believe? The Moon’s a woman whose talks like Barbara Jordan.”

 “That’s disturbing.”

 “Yep, can hear her now, jest like Barbara Jordan.”

 “You from Texas?”

 “Minnesota.”

 “That’s comforting. How you know about Barbara Jordan beings she’s been dead since ’96 and you not being from Texas and all?”

 “Just believe it. Listened to her talk once on the teevee.”

 “Yep, that’ll do it.”

 “Who does the Sun talk like?”

 “Never thought about that.”

 “Pity.”

 “Can I take a picture of you and your T-shirt? the bride asks. “I’m doing a collection of T-shirt pictures with my phone; got 20 so far!”

 “Sure.”

 An animated conversation ensues; the scrivener works diligently to ignore same.

 From Moonlit place to place, The sacred Moon overhead Has taken a new phase.― W.B. Yeats The Cat and the Moon

  July 20, 1969, 20:18 UTC— Neil Armstrong, on the Moon with Buzz Aldren, transmits to Mission Control that they are being watched by entities sitting on the edge of a nearby crater where the Lunar Module has landed; a report said to have been quashed by NASA.

 Arianrhod, the Silver Wheel goddess, Owl, the Oar Wheel boat that carried dead warriors to Emania; Hilargi, Basque for “Moonlight”; Jyotsana, “Moonlight; Selene (Σελ?νη), the Greek’s moon goddess; Tsukikot (月子), “Moon child”; where rumor has it there are “constructions” on the dark side.

The Moon: a sacred place gone profane.

 So, armed with history, preparations are made for the 2017 eclipse.

 “For all of you in totality.

 Just got back from my ophthalmologist.

 Once in totality, you can “glance” at the corona at maximum eclipse. Make sure you are in totality and keep track of the elapsed time until totality ends, glasses back on 25+ seconds before end of totality.

 Also, even with solar glass protection, look briefly and look away, don’t just “stare”; look and give it a rest and revisit.

 Here’s eclipse update times:

 DALLAS

75.44% Coverage solar glasses on for entire event

Start of Partial: 11:40:31 a.m.

Maximum: 1:10:06

End of Partial: 2:39:30

 NASHVILLE TENN

Total Eclipse Duration: 1m 34.9s

Start of Partial: 11:58:33 solar glasses

Start of Total: 1:27:32 solar glasses

Maximum: 1:28:27 ensure at maximum, glance with glasses off and pay attention to time through 1:28:21; note drop in temperature

End of Total: 1:29:21 solar glasses

End of Partial: 2:54:05 solar glasses

 COLUMBIA MO.

Total Eclipse Duration: 2m 34.7s

Start of Partial: 11:45:43 solar glasses

Start of Total: 1:12:25 solar glasses

Maximum: 1:13:42 ensure at maximum, glance with glasses off and pay attention to time through 1:28:21 note drop in temperature

End of Total: 1:15:03 solar glasses

End of Partial: 2:40:15 solar glasses”

 Friends and family are successfully instructed.

 In our lovely Columbia Missouri park, I take out a yellow stop watch and punch it on at 11:45:43 Central as the mouse takes a little bite out of the Sun’s at 1 o’clock edge. Bright orange in the special glasses, the black bite growing slowly and then half-way through, the light begins to change, dulling out from yellow to orange; the light beginning to thin toward an olive, you would think you are going blind.

 Thin clouds get wiped out in a heavy cloud cover and so what starts out the day hopefully without a cloud in the sky is going right down the tubes. At 1:15 the cloud cover drifts out, thin high clouds persist but, as Luna makes her cover, the temperature drops helping to thin out the wisps.

 Counting down to 1:13:42 and through the Celestron binos, the last sliver of gold, then beads of light, Bailey’s Beads, and the Sun is gone, a dark mass, the air strangely alive, cocoon like, the light violet, and swimming pale blue-green; blue black clouds in the north when suddenly, with a flip of a celestial switch, the corona magically, out of nowhere, blooms beautifully blue-white, where was the yellow post noon day Sun, dark, dark grey, dead and alive at the same time, the corona angel shining, the air violet, purple, moving, cool, shifting, whispering, a time beyond strange, a time of suspension, an incomprehensible time, violet light shifting from dark pastel to a lighter pastel, floating green photons, corona bride white, the sky dark blue-grey-drifting to black and at 6 o’clock below the corona, Venus blinking in and out of the high thin clouds; voices gasping at the unbelievable sight; you quit paying attention to whether you are breathing or not; it’s all so incomprehensible, so beautiful, so angel-heaven-rapture-myth-come-to-reality like; nothing to compare the glowing bride white corona dress, against the blue-black hole where was the Sun now gone; the head swimming at the colors, your skin prickling at the strangeness, feeling the angel whisperings blowing imperceptibly across your face, over your arms; the hair on the back of the neck standing straight out; you are euphoric; the moment is rushing, you try to hold it, slow it down; keep the moment, the light, the color, just a little longer; and then, the corona, at its 1 o’clock, bursts forth with an intense white light, the diamond, and now the corona is a diamond ring, a heavenly diamond ring; engaging, confirming, validating, solidifying the union of Sun and Moon; a loving gift.

 And too soon, too soon, the heavenly love making is over; the orange Sun crescent flows along the right edge, thin and then thicker and thicker, the violet light still thick but beginning to lose out to the Sun’s rebirth affirmation growing after glow.

 “A flower knows, when its butterfly will return, and if the Moon walks out, the sky will understand; but now it hurts, to watch you leave so soon, when I don't know, if you will ever come back.” ― Sanober Khan

 We sit and watch the violet light slowly fade, this special, incredible loving darkness giving up to the mundane late summertime blazing yellow photon shower, Venus still there but gone, remembered one summer’s day caught in a 90mm Celestron catadioptric telescope riding on an equatorial, engraved setting circle tripod: the gas planet wedding veil white against an electric blue background; the Sun 75 or so hand-spans to the east.

 Now, the Sun half-way back to normal, we gather up our things, fold the picnic blanket, take a final look with the binos and wish for that violet light, just a few moments more; that violet light, that fascinating corona, that sacred whispering singing air.

 Arianrhod, the Silver Wheel goddess, Owl, the Oar Wheel boat that carried dead warriors to Emania; Hilargi, Basque for “Moonlight”; Jyotsana, “Moonlight; Selene (Σελ?νη), the Greek’s Moon goddess; Tsukikot (月子), “Moon child”; where rumor has it there are “constructions” on the dark side.

 Aarush, Addae, Aditeya, Akeno, Alfrothul, Appollo, Arun, Aten, Ciro, Cyrus, Dagobert, Dayton, Delbert, Dinesh, Divakar, Equzki, Esh-Ban, Etu, Gisli, Helaku, Helios, Heru, Jamshid, Khenan, Khnurn, Misae, Naolin, Naranbaatar, Ramsis, Sampson, Solaris, Vadden, Wehinahpay, Yang has returned safely.

 Bobo goes back to plowing.

 “Dario Texana”, ? 2017, J. Larry Nance