4/8/24 solar eclipse epiphenomena

during totality, there is a twilight horizon for 360 degrees.  it's not pitch black, but approximates the darkness an hour after sunset.  you can still see things, though the colors are muted. 

twilight horizon during totality
13:52:11 local, max eclipse
russellville arkansas

fuzzy shadows:

shadows get a bit odd during the advanced partial phases.  note that the shadow of the right edge is sharp while the bottom edge is indistinct 

pin hole projection of partially eclipsed sun
right edge (parallel to crescent) sharp
bottom edge (perpendicular to crescent) fuzzy
1:41 PM, 11 minutes before totality

Inflicting the ritz cracker trick on neighboring families:

pinhole projection of partially eclipsed sun
through ritz cracker onto sky chart
(click image for full size)

i handed out packets of ritz and made friends with my "eclipse neighbors"

pinhole projection through pizza box
courtesy of neighboring family
(click image for full size)

eclipse neighbors
ritz crackers in hand
(click image for full size)

As you can see above, i had a white sheet set up for shadow bands, but did not see any.  though, for the last 30 seconds prior to totality i was tending to the camera, removing the solar filter etc. so may not have noticed.  

Wildlife

The mid-day darkness of an eclipse has been known to confuse local wild life.  while this video clip shortly after totality doesn't show much, you can hear crickets still chirping at darkness, while  young birds begin calling for food as they did at sunrise. (4/8/24 2:06:11 PM local--approximately 2 minutes after totality)

the cows did not moo

At first, i didn't think the cows did much, but on review of my pictures over the course of the day, it appears as though they started over to the left, perhaps by a barn or something, then moved out to the field to graze, later moving into the shade of trees during the midday sun.  during thinning crescent phases as the daylight faded and reddened, they seemed to move back to the left...maybe just random.

moo

i'm definitely not a cloud expert

the nature of cloud formation during a total eclipse gets fairly complex.  not sure i noticed any eclipse specific clouds, other than the thin line going right across the sun during totality :(

but i did notice an unusual difference after totality.  the sun moved across the sky from left to right.  the "pre-eclipse" clouds to the right look like typical poofy things, while the "post-eclipse" clouds to the left have a linear pattern.  This article suggests low level cumulus clouds dissipate during an eclipse due to altered convection, while thin high level clouds persist.

panorama
40 minutes after totality

Imaging details:

4/8/24 

Russellville, AR

35 deg 18.366 min N

93 deg 7.962  min W

solar transit 1:13:38 PM

totality ~1:50-1:54 PM local, alt 61 degrees

first contact 12:30:10 PM local

second contact (totality) 1:50:08 PM local,

third contact (end of totality) 1:54:15 PM local

fourth contact 3:10:50 PM local

samsung galaxy S22 ultra