Com'c #204

It's nice to see the vote button covered by your pointer.

Commentary Transcript

- Today's solar eclipse (article with video from Svalbard)

Today I got the opportunity to watch a solar eclipse - the largest one in inhabited Norwegian territory since 1954. It's a simple, yet amazing sight.

The str'p has a couple of breaks from reality. Most notably, I didn't actually have eclipse shades. Instead, I held a plate of black welding glass in front of my eyes. The sun was clearly visible through it, but green and far dimmer than the usual literally eye-searing sight. (It also looked considerably smaller through the glass, perhaps because I usually don't have the opportunity to properly judge its apparent size.) I decided to go with eclipse shades instead because 1) they are far more recognizable, and 2) I wouldn't have to draw my arm and hand holding the welding glass.

The other break from reality is the lack of anything indicating clouds in the str'p, a change I've made for the sake of the joke. The reality was very different. At the peak, when the sun was about 95% covered where I live, it was actually snowing heavily. Even so, the sun was still clearly visible, which speaks volumes about how much of its light actually gets through the snow clouds.

Also, I was not wearing my hat.