SYZYGY - GOING THE
EXTRA MILE |
| Do look up! |
Syzygy (siz-er-jee) is an
astronomical term for an alignment of planets. When the sun, the moon and the
earth align properly there is a total solar eclipse.
You would think this
would happen every month, but because of the elliptical orbit of the Earth a
total solar eclipse is rare. Rarer still was how relatively close the recent path of “totality”
was to us, which crossed upstate New York on April 8.
Early on we decided to travel to Lake
Placid to see this celestial event.
The closer one travels
to the zone of “totality” the darker the sky gets with no sun peaking around
the edges like one observes an annular eclipse when the moon isn’t quite in the
right position to blot out the sun. The time of the total eclipse will vary
depending how far you are from the center of the zone. Those further away from
the “zone” saw a partial eclipse on April 8, while we were rewarded for our
travels to the famous Olympic town with a total eclipse lasting over 3 minutes.
"TOTALLY" INTO IT
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| 1932 arena with curlers! |
Although we didn’t have
to travel all the way to Lake Placid; the totality zone wasn’t that narrow; the
town was very accommodating to visitors. The town’s website offered advice as
to where to park and where to watch the eclipse, and even suggested where to
eat, but our friends in the Saratoga area knew where to go. We stayed with them
for the weekend and drove up to Lake Placid for the day.
We made it a day trip
to Lake Placid, about 100 miles from their house. We had no choice. Because of this rare alignment and total eclipse a lot of people flocked to the town and there were no hotel rooms available. It is a good thing we went the extra mile too, for it turned out that the skies back in Saratoga were cloudy. In Lake Placid we basked in brilliant afternoon sunshine.
DO YOU BELIEVE IN
MIRACLES?
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| final score 1980 |
Even without the celestial display, Lake Placid is a great place to visit. Skiing is popular in the area, including nearby Whiteface Mountain. This little town has hosted two winter Olympics.
In 1932 the podium
for the presentation of gold, silver and bronze medals was first used and later
that same year Los Angeles celebrated the summer Olympics. Curling, my personal
favorite, was a demonstration sport.
Held during the cold war USA defeated the veteran USSR team
4-3 in men's ice hockey and went on to win the Gold Medal vs. Finland. USSR had won Gold in the 4
previous Olympiads, and as their semi-final game against the Soviets counted down, the commentator, Al Michaels,
uttered the memorable line: “Do you believe in miracles?”
Clustered in a very small area are the arenas of both
Olympiads and were open to the public for free. Only the on-site Olympic Museum
had an entrance fee. Even without the total eclipse Lake Placid is worth a
visit.
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| Olympic facilities Lk Placid |
The speed skating oval where Eric Heiden took the Gold in five speed skating events in 1980, the only winter Olympian to accomplish this, is literally next door to the Olympic arenas. The rink was open to the public for the eclipse and this is where we went for the main event.
We left early to avoid traffic and had enough time to tour the Olympic facilities, stroll through town and get a snack before the eclipse. We heard that traffic got very bad as the day progressed.
Mirror Lake is the smaller of the two lakes in Lake Placid, but it is right in town. All around Mirror Lake people had staked their spot to witness the eclipse. A lot of people had traveled to the area, but it never felt crowded.
THE MAIN EVENT
Nothing will prepare
you for a total solar eclipse. You have to see it for yourself!
As the moon slowly covered the sun we watched its progress through
our eclipse glasses, which were given out in several rest stops on the NY Thruway
and at Lake Placid businesses.  |
| our friend's pic |
We had met up with friends in the famed speed skating rink, the snow slowly melting in the warm sunshine forming puddles. Slowly the moon crept into the path of the sun and a hushed reverence settled on the crowd here to
witness this cosmic occurrence, but when the moon finally covered the sun fully
and a shadow descended across the land as the brilliant afternoon sun
disappeared exposing stars and planets the crowd erupted in tumultuous cheering. Suddenly it got cold, and for what seemed like an eternity, there was a black orb in the sky, with an
array of light edging from the edges of the moon! Nothing will prepare you for
this sight. If you get a chance….go!
I tried taking pictures of the eclipse through my glasses, with limited success. One of our friends successfully captured the eclipse. Here is her picture.
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| eclipse in a puddle |
I did take an interesting picture of the total eclipse reflected in the puddle:
If you're interested in seeing the next total eclipse it's in 2026 over Iceland. This will help you plan for the next eclipse.
PUB CRAWL
Our friends have
traveled to Lake Placid several times and they led us around town for food and
drink before the eclipse and afterwards. Here are the places we visited.
The Cottage at Mirror
Lake Inn
A youth curling
practice was going on at the 1932 arena and it was hard to pry me away, but we
strolled along Main Street and made our way to The Cottage, with tables
overlooking Mirror Lake. We stopped in for snacks and some great beer from the
area. Cozy, with Olympic posters plastered over the walls and ceiling. The
Cottage is part of the Mirror Lake Inn across the street. Later we would return
for drinks at the very posh Inn before returning home that evening.
Lake Placid Pub and
Brewery
On the way back from the
Cottage we walked along Mirror Lake and passed a lot of people already settled
in their places for the eclipse. We did not pass the Lake Placid Pub though. We
all bellied up to the bar and had some very good beer.
I had a Foeder Belgian Quad
that had me yodeling in tongues for a while.
The Great Adirondack Brewing
Company
We stopped for a quick
bite after the eclipse. Overpriced, with beers that were not that good, we chalked
it up to tourism. I would not recommend going.
We delayed leaving Lake
Placid until 8:30 pm, thinking that was enough time for traffic to dissipate.
Boy, were we wrong. Normally a two-hour trek took us over three hours. Along
the way we stopped at a rest stop and there were several carloads of people settling
in for a night in their cars.
Thanks for reading.
Love Janet and greg
© 2024 by Gregory Dunaj
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| the eclipse as seen by the James Webb telescope |
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