If you have witnessed an eclipse, send us an e-mail (lewis@mail630.gsfc.nasa.gov )with a short story of your account in 500 words or less. If chosen, we will feature your story on our site! Be sure to include your name and where you saw the event. Photos with permission are welcome!
"...As the shadow increased the change in the appearance of the country was most curious. The light became pale; our shadows were sharply cut, as by moonlight, but the light was more yellow. A deep gray twilight seemed to come on. Perhaps two minutes before the totality a dark, thick shade appeared over the west and north-west mountains, which drew nearer, till, when the eclipse became total, it entirely surrounded us, though it was paler or less dense towards the east. But on the instant that we were in complete shade, a bright orange streak of light appeared on the horizon to the north-west, spreading west and south."
During totality, the horizon is illuminated in a narrow band of light, because an observer is seeing distant localities not under the direct umbra of the Moon's shadow.