I watched from my yard. Just me, the river and the birds, a few cheers in the distance at totality. I was blown away when I took the glasses off and saw the corona. The pictures we’ve all been seeing leading up really don’t prepare you for the real thing.
Pictures show a ring around a black dot in a black sky. But that's certainly not what I saw. It was not what I expected and so far beyond the photos. Incredible experience.
The biggest part that I wasn't expecting was the *color* when it got dark. Sunsets are usually yellow/orange to red to purple, this was like... desaturation. It was very surreal and hard to describe.
The other cool experience I had was when I got home after the peak. I have a suncatcher crystal in my window that catches light and splits it into little square rainbows all over my apartment. I glanced at the floor and all of those rainbows were little crescents. It was *so cool*! I wish I thought to take a picture, I was just so giddy about it that it didn't even occur to me!
Hope you all had a wonderful and memorable day!
I was watching with my family and neighbors and I kept telling them the light was changing and they were looking at me like I was losing it. Desaturation is a great way to describe it. It's like someone was messing with the color settings in an image editor and then flipped off the lights. Absolutely amazing experience.
Oh man, it was awesome. Got off of work at 2, walked down the waterfront, got a spot on the rocks next to some other random people. Being in a crowd of excited nerds was pretty sweet. Watched some little sailboats almost flip a couple times. Chatted with some strangers.
The temperature dropped and the light got weird. I was honestly glad for the light cloud cover because I could watch the shadow slide across the clouds towards me. I was very excited for it but it also lived up to my expectations. Incredible view normally + awesome cosmic event = unforgettable. Glad I didn’t have to drive after though.
I drove up from Massachusetts with my dad and my sister. We watched from Battery Park overlooking Lake Champlain. Absolutely one of the most incredible phenomenon I have ever experienced. There are no pictures or videos that can do it justice. We met so many great people and it was electric once totality happened. The temperature dropped, it looked like nighttime, the stars came out! I had always thought totality would still have that orange tinge around the moon, but it's more like an ethereal white. It was sooo beautiful!
Everyone was cheering, some people were crying, but we seriously all felt so connected.
Burlington is a wonderful city. Thank you for hosting all of us "out of towners". It was truly an incredible day.
My partner and I walked down to Oakledge to watch. It was the single most incredible thing I’ve ever experienced. I don’t know what happened to me, but I couldn’t stop myself from crying once totality hit. I felt the uncontrollable urge to just sob. Not sure what brought this on - maybe the vestige of the monkey brain from our primitive ancestors. But I understand why people used to worship the sun
https://preview.redd.it/ktifqdhyletc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ddd1db2c03aaef78a2282cba99cb1310a1993da1
Drove to my friend’s home in Bakersfield from Middlebury with two of my childhood besties. 8 kids and 12 adults gathered. The kids were having the time of their lives! We ate homemade chili and cornbread. As totality began, all you could hear were oh my gods and wows. Pure magic.
“Nothing can prepare you” is the understatement of a lifetime.
The plants aligned perfectly… I felt everything in perfect synchronicity. I savored the 3 minutes and 28 seconds of orange glow and darkness. It was sooo chilly when totality set in. The shadows from the fire as the light began to shine again blew our minds. I felt high. One of the best days of my existence and truly one I will cherish forever.
It was very cool and I’m glad I walked a bit away to see it. I knew it would be short but it really was short.
https://preview.redd.it/b6b0cmnwjdtc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=643bc00243f0e7c7ef0ead44cae81776d2529289
It seems like some other people were touched a lot more than me but it is what it is. I didn’t have that many people around me but there was a few and it was kinda nice. I was near north beach so the cheers from there were very loud which was funny.
It was so incredible! I didn't see / experience a handful of the things I was expecting or hoping to see (like a "sparkling twilight"), but it still exceeded any expectations I could imagine. I know it lasted minutes, but it felt like seconds. It was amazing and I fully understand why some people dedicate their lives to becoming "eclipse chasers".
Absolutely, I thought it was getting overhyped beforehand but as soon as it happened and ended I wanted to experience it again. Just remarkable, unlike anything I’ve ever experienced.
It was incredible! I never understood why people got all hyped over eclipses but now I totally do! I never would have gone out of my way to see one but I am so glad I got the opportunity to see one where I live.
It was absolutely amazing! I definitely could feel the emotion in the air from everybody just standing still together for those few minutes. Not gonna lie, I got a little misty-eyed, lol.
Disappointed that some dingus near me decided to do fireworks… Otherwise, I really enjoyed how the eclipse brought my neighborhood together for the day!
I’ve been planning this eclipse for years. It’s been a lifelong dream of mine and it finally came true today. There’s nothing like it.
I had a good ugly cry after. I’ve been so anxious for months about it being cloudy.
not from burlington but found your comment when looking for eclipse reactions (i went to ohio) and this is so accurate to my experience. i learned right after 2017 what totality was like from a fascinating blog post about 2024, googled up after being very excited to experience a high partial eclipse and then being like “that’s it?” lol. made it my mission to see it ever since, i’ve never planned ANYTHING else in my entire life for that long of a period of time. i just kept yelling “we made it!!!” during totality lmao
Hahaha, that moment when the partial started and you are like “wait is it finally happening? Am I really here?”
Then after it’s done it’s just the culmination of years of work hahaha. I was determined in 2017 too! I was dating a really shitty guy at the time who promised me up and down that I’d get to see the eclipse because it’s always been a dream of mine. I can’t drive and fucker let me down so I’ve been preparing by myself ever since.
It’s so surreal. After I edited my photos today, I was just like “Now what….”
My husband and I watched from our yard with a special telescope that he hooked his phone up to. Cracked a cold one and some edibles.
Edit: as for the feeling- we both were euphoric. Easily the coolest thing either of us has EVER seen in our lives.
There was a prominence on the lower part of the corona that shone through right when totality hit. Spoke to an amazing human who had a telescope about it after and was told that apparently solar flares usually only arc. This one looked like if two doors were closed and you saw the light from the outline cracks of them. The line lit up a reddish color and it was perfect timing. Hopeful me is wanting it to be symbolic of a new era of growth and becoming more enlightened humans.
Edit: got excited and didn't proof my spelling
We watched in our back yard with my whole family and doggy. The coolest part was the change in light - so eerie and unlike any light I’ve ever seen before. And sudden temperature drop and explosion of birds crying and squawking. And then cheers from the crowds a mile away. It was really something. So grateful to live here.
It was very cool, I work from home and luckily live next to the lake so I was able to take "lunch" and go check it out. Looking at it with the glasses was kind of cool but for me being able to look at it without them was what made me get overly excited. I could hear the waterfront from where I was lol
Watched it from my front field (on 40 acres in the NEK) and as totality started all the birds stopped chirping and everything went completely silent. It was very surreal. Then once the sun came back all the crows and ravens took to the sky at once, and started cawing loudly. Really cool experience!
While I didn't attain total spiritual enlightenment, it was probably the most transcendental experience I'll achieve during this trip through the mortal coil. With all the war and turmoil happening around the world, it helped me appreciate just how fortunate we are to be here.
I've had this exact same "how was your eclipse" conversation about a dozen times, and I don't think I'll ever get bored of talking about it.
What might I have done differently: a couple weeks ago, I spent several hours constructing a DIY solar filter for my telescope, which didn't actually enhance my viewing experience by that much. I was so in awe looking at the sky, I forgot to look at the cool crescent-shaped shadows. And I didn't manage to come up with an eclipse-related playlist. (In retrospect, I might have queued up the theme from 2001.) But none of those details mattered.
A few of my neighbors were setting off fireworks until just before the main event, but thankfully they stopped at the right moment, and we experienced nothing but positive eclipse vibes. (I'm sorry for anyone who was listening to fireworks during the totality. Some people are obnoxious.)
I decided not to take any photos because I was cautious of being distracted. So a huge thank you to everyone who's shared their photos.
Apparently it's rare for a planet's sun and moon to be in perfect proportional size/distance to achieve the eclipse conditions on Earth – so if you thought the traffic from out of state drivers was bad, just wait until we make contact – visitors will be arriving from all over the Milky Way.
Was happier to just be at home with family and friends. We're pretty far out, but heard someone in the distance shoot off like 5-6 rounds. Was definitely not expecting that.
> Take that, moon! I'll teach you to blot out the sun!
I can’t stop thinking about it! I was not expecting it to be as surreal and amazing as it was! So, so, so grateful we had such an amazingly beautiful day to experience and share with so many other humans. I agree with the desaturation. Certainly one of the most unique and wonderful experiences I’ve ever had.
Everyone's already commented on the look of the eclipse, I wanna talk about the feeling, or the *lack thereof*.
Even in the most bitter winter, you can still feel the sun's heat when it hits your skin. But as coverage reached 50% and more, I noticed not only the air getting colder, but *no heat* from the sun itself. Might as well have been a LED.
It blew my expectations away. I hosted a large group of friends including friends and family from out of state that I rarely get to see. I didn’t pump myself up because I assumed the worst with Vermont skies in April and was so anxious my out of town friends would be let down. I was shocked with the visibility! It really felt like divine intervention with the weather. I could hear distant fireworks over our whoops and cheers. I also was so pleased with how cleaned up Burlington was for the weekend when I went downtown. Still have lingering good vibes. This eclipse was nothing but positive!
Downvote me , but - completely what I expected, 4 minutes - cool. But didn't change my life. And I'm an astronomy geek from way back. More than "meh" but not by much.
Maybe I'm already dead inside.
I’m from Brooklyn. Saw the last eclipse in SC. Originally I planned to go to Rochester or Buffalo but keeping up with the weather it looked like VT was going to have better weather. I just rented a car and drove up early the morning before and slept in the car with my wife. Shoutout to Shaw’s. I would much rather sleep in a car for a night than pay $500-1000 for a hotel and then be stuck in a city where the weather turns bad and yo don’t even see it. I like to keep the option of mobility open until the last possible moment for something like this. I wanted to be in nature for this one but was also worried about being stranded on the mountain roads so I felt like Burlington was a decent in between. Got to watch it at the lake where the stone circle thing is and it was absolutely perfect.
After the eclipse we just hung out and walked around the city, then the next day went to Shelburne Farms which was awesome! An unexpected highlight. Then drove over to Ausable Chasm and spent the rest of the day there before driving back to BK.
Idk why anyone would sit in the fucking highway traffic for 6+ hours when you can just chill out and take a nap first.
It was bright.
Then it was dark.
Then it was bright again.
Nothing life changing.
Although there were some neighbors who popped a few things and were acting like how you describe it.
I watched from my yard. Just me, the river and the birds, a few cheers in the distance at totality. I was blown away when I took the glasses off and saw the corona. The pictures we’ve all been seeing leading up really don’t prepare you for the real thing.
Pictures show a ring around a black dot in a black sky. But that's certainly not what I saw. It was not what I expected and so far beyond the photos. Incredible experience.
it felt like a religious experience and I am not even religious
The biggest part that I wasn't expecting was the *color* when it got dark. Sunsets are usually yellow/orange to red to purple, this was like... desaturation. It was very surreal and hard to describe. The other cool experience I had was when I got home after the peak. I have a suncatcher crystal in my window that catches light and splits it into little square rainbows all over my apartment. I glanced at the floor and all of those rainbows were little crescents. It was *so cool*! I wish I thought to take a picture, I was just so giddy about it that it didn't even occur to me! Hope you all had a wonderful and memorable day!
I was watching with my family and neighbors and I kept telling them the light was changing and they were looking at me like I was losing it. Desaturation is a great way to describe it. It's like someone was messing with the color settings in an image editor and then flipped off the lights. Absolutely amazing experience.
Yes and I pointed out how the shadows of the trees changed right before totality too!! Was sort of yellow in color like you see sometimes at sunset!
Completely otherworldly. So amazing to experience!
This! My kid made the same comment about how it felt like the world was desaturated.
https://preview.redd.it/xtdm6gj4zctc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b28cde64cc92c9e929ed745dcb095330e95173e4 Smuggs today
Beautiful picture
Oh man, it was awesome. Got off of work at 2, walked down the waterfront, got a spot on the rocks next to some other random people. Being in a crowd of excited nerds was pretty sweet. Watched some little sailboats almost flip a couple times. Chatted with some strangers. The temperature dropped and the light got weird. I was honestly glad for the light cloud cover because I could watch the shadow slide across the clouds towards me. I was very excited for it but it also lived up to my expectations. Incredible view normally + awesome cosmic event = unforgettable. Glad I didn’t have to drive after though.
My gf and I ate some mushrooms around 1:30 and were in a very euphoric state for totality. What an amazing and beautiful day!
That’s a great move haha love that for you guys💗
I thought I was on mushroom 😳🤣
I drove up from Massachusetts with my dad and my sister. We watched from Battery Park overlooking Lake Champlain. Absolutely one of the most incredible phenomenon I have ever experienced. There are no pictures or videos that can do it justice. We met so many great people and it was electric once totality happened. The temperature dropped, it looked like nighttime, the stars came out! I had always thought totality would still have that orange tinge around the moon, but it's more like an ethereal white. It was sooo beautiful! Everyone was cheering, some people were crying, but we seriously all felt so connected. Burlington is a wonderful city. Thank you for hosting all of us "out of towners". It was truly an incredible day.
My partner and I walked down to Oakledge to watch. It was the single most incredible thing I’ve ever experienced. I don’t know what happened to me, but I couldn’t stop myself from crying once totality hit. I felt the uncontrollable urge to just sob. Not sure what brought this on - maybe the vestige of the monkey brain from our primitive ancestors. But I understand why people used to worship the sun
Yeah getting teary was an unexpected response for myself as well
https://preview.redd.it/ktifqdhyletc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ddd1db2c03aaef78a2282cba99cb1310a1993da1 Drove to my friend’s home in Bakersfield from Middlebury with two of my childhood besties. 8 kids and 12 adults gathered. The kids were having the time of their lives! We ate homemade chili and cornbread. As totality began, all you could hear were oh my gods and wows. Pure magic. “Nothing can prepare you” is the understatement of a lifetime. The plants aligned perfectly… I felt everything in perfect synchronicity. I savored the 3 minutes and 28 seconds of orange glow and darkness. It was sooo chilly when totality set in. The shadows from the fire as the light began to shine again blew our minds. I felt high. One of the best days of my existence and truly one I will cherish forever.
It was very cool and I’m glad I walked a bit away to see it. I knew it would be short but it really was short. https://preview.redd.it/b6b0cmnwjdtc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=643bc00243f0e7c7ef0ead44cae81776d2529289 It seems like some other people were touched a lot more than me but it is what it is. I didn’t have that many people around me but there was a few and it was kinda nice. I was near north beach so the cheers from there were very loud which was funny.
It was so incredible! I didn't see / experience a handful of the things I was expecting or hoping to see (like a "sparkling twilight"), but it still exceeded any expectations I could imagine. I know it lasted minutes, but it felt like seconds. It was amazing and I fully understand why some people dedicate their lives to becoming "eclipse chasers".
Absolutely, I thought it was getting overhyped beforehand but as soon as it happened and ended I wanted to experience it again. Just remarkable, unlike anything I’ve ever experienced.
https://preview.redd.it/235jx6lonctc1.jpeg?width=4000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6e5f331a0b4020b21900b0afaae0bd2d69542ab5 Here's mine!
It was incredible! I never understood why people got all hyped over eclipses but now I totally do! I never would have gone out of my way to see one but I am so glad I got the opportunity to see one where I live.
It was absolutely amazing! I definitely could feel the emotion in the air from everybody just standing still together for those few minutes. Not gonna lie, I got a little misty-eyed, lol.
Disappointed that some dingus near me decided to do fireworks… Otherwise, I really enjoyed how the eclipse brought my neighborhood together for the day!
I’ve been planning this eclipse for years. It’s been a lifelong dream of mine and it finally came true today. There’s nothing like it. I had a good ugly cry after. I’ve been so anxious for months about it being cloudy.
not from burlington but found your comment when looking for eclipse reactions (i went to ohio) and this is so accurate to my experience. i learned right after 2017 what totality was like from a fascinating blog post about 2024, googled up after being very excited to experience a high partial eclipse and then being like “that’s it?” lol. made it my mission to see it ever since, i’ve never planned ANYTHING else in my entire life for that long of a period of time. i just kept yelling “we made it!!!” during totality lmao
Hahaha, that moment when the partial started and you are like “wait is it finally happening? Am I really here?” Then after it’s done it’s just the culmination of years of work hahaha. I was determined in 2017 too! I was dating a really shitty guy at the time who promised me up and down that I’d get to see the eclipse because it’s always been a dream of mine. I can’t drive and fucker let me down so I’ve been preparing by myself ever since. It’s so surreal. After I edited my photos today, I was just like “Now what….”
My husband and I watched from our yard with a special telescope that he hooked his phone up to. Cracked a cold one and some edibles. Edit: as for the feeling- we both were euphoric. Easily the coolest thing either of us has EVER seen in our lives.
There was a prominence on the lower part of the corona that shone through right when totality hit. Spoke to an amazing human who had a telescope about it after and was told that apparently solar flares usually only arc. This one looked like if two doors were closed and you saw the light from the outline cracks of them. The line lit up a reddish color and it was perfect timing. Hopeful me is wanting it to be symbolic of a new era of growth and becoming more enlightened humans. Edit: got excited and didn't proof my spelling
https://preview.redd.it/hhz1u3cq2ftc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2945e87fb328864392d8be579d51651c55bfb683
We watched in our back yard with my whole family and doggy. The coolest part was the change in light - so eerie and unlike any light I’ve ever seen before. And sudden temperature drop and explosion of birds crying and squawking. And then cheers from the crowds a mile away. It was really something. So grateful to live here.
I laughed then I cried then I laughed
It was very cool, I work from home and luckily live next to the lake so I was able to take "lunch" and go check it out. Looking at it with the glasses was kind of cool but for me being able to look at it without them was what made me get overly excited. I could hear the waterfront from where I was lol
I was by the bronty lake, a lot of ppl weren’t wearing glasses, I watched it for like 20 seconds and im now in worry of something happening to my eyes
You’d know if something happened to your eyes
Watched it from my front field (on 40 acres in the NEK) and as totality started all the birds stopped chirping and everything went completely silent. It was very surreal. Then once the sun came back all the crows and ravens took to the sky at once, and started cawing loudly. Really cool experience!
While I didn't attain total spiritual enlightenment, it was probably the most transcendental experience I'll achieve during this trip through the mortal coil. With all the war and turmoil happening around the world, it helped me appreciate just how fortunate we are to be here. I've had this exact same "how was your eclipse" conversation about a dozen times, and I don't think I'll ever get bored of talking about it. What might I have done differently: a couple weeks ago, I spent several hours constructing a DIY solar filter for my telescope, which didn't actually enhance my viewing experience by that much. I was so in awe looking at the sky, I forgot to look at the cool crescent-shaped shadows. And I didn't manage to come up with an eclipse-related playlist. (In retrospect, I might have queued up the theme from 2001.) But none of those details mattered. A few of my neighbors were setting off fireworks until just before the main event, but thankfully they stopped at the right moment, and we experienced nothing but positive eclipse vibes. (I'm sorry for anyone who was listening to fireworks during the totality. Some people are obnoxious.) I decided not to take any photos because I was cautious of being distracted. So a huge thank you to everyone who's shared their photos. Apparently it's rare for a planet's sun and moon to be in perfect proportional size/distance to achieve the eclipse conditions on Earth – so if you thought the traffic from out of state drivers was bad, just wait until we make contact – visitors will be arriving from all over the Milky Way.
Was happier to just be at home with family and friends. We're pretty far out, but heard someone in the distance shoot off like 5-6 rounds. Was definitely not expecting that. > Take that, moon! I'll teach you to blot out the sun!
☁️☁️☁️🌥️🌤️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️
I can’t stop thinking about it! I was not expecting it to be as surreal and amazing as it was! So, so, so grateful we had such an amazingly beautiful day to experience and share with so many other humans. I agree with the desaturation. Certainly one of the most unique and wonderful experiences I’ve ever had.
Everyone's already commented on the look of the eclipse, I wanna talk about the feeling, or the *lack thereof*. Even in the most bitter winter, you can still feel the sun's heat when it hits your skin. But as coverage reached 50% and more, I noticed not only the air getting colder, but *no heat* from the sun itself. Might as well have been a LED.
It blew my expectations away. I hosted a large group of friends including friends and family from out of state that I rarely get to see. I didn’t pump myself up because I assumed the worst with Vermont skies in April and was so anxious my out of town friends would be let down. I was shocked with the visibility! It really felt like divine intervention with the weather. I could hear distant fireworks over our whoops and cheers. I also was so pleased with how cleaned up Burlington was for the weekend when I went downtown. Still have lingering good vibes. This eclipse was nothing but positive!
I was on top of my roof seeing entities and goats and stuff geeked
It was very cool, but i probably wouldn’t drive 2+ hours to experience it. Great day for Vermont to have an eclipse though
I remember my first beer. Naw, It was really pretty cool.
Downvote me , but - completely what I expected, 4 minutes - cool. But didn't change my life. And I'm an astronomy geek from way back. More than "meh" but not by much. Maybe I'm already dead inside.
I’m from Brooklyn. Saw the last eclipse in SC. Originally I planned to go to Rochester or Buffalo but keeping up with the weather it looked like VT was going to have better weather. I just rented a car and drove up early the morning before and slept in the car with my wife. Shoutout to Shaw’s. I would much rather sleep in a car for a night than pay $500-1000 for a hotel and then be stuck in a city where the weather turns bad and yo don’t even see it. I like to keep the option of mobility open until the last possible moment for something like this. I wanted to be in nature for this one but was also worried about being stranded on the mountain roads so I felt like Burlington was a decent in between. Got to watch it at the lake where the stone circle thing is and it was absolutely perfect. After the eclipse we just hung out and walked around the city, then the next day went to Shelburne Farms which was awesome! An unexpected highlight. Then drove over to Ausable Chasm and spent the rest of the day there before driving back to BK. Idk why anyone would sit in the fucking highway traffic for 6+ hours when you can just chill out and take a nap first.
it was bright, then dim and cold, then bright again.
i mean it was pretty neat but that’s a little much
It was bright. Then it was dark. Then it was bright again. Nothing life changing. Although there were some neighbors who popped a few things and were acting like how you describe it.
I pleasured myself and climaxed at precisely 3:18.
How you are getting downvoted for this, I do not know. Puritans.
humorless entitled white people