Day 312: Several factors led up to a situation in which Mount Rainier National Park only received a handful (literally five or six) Junior Ranger Eclipse Explorer badges and books. I think it was the "sad puppy-dog" face I wore for Marc Blackburn, but whatever the reason, I shall be eternally grateful that he let me have one of them. I hope my eclipse photo sequence fills the requirements for earning it.
I watched the eclipse almost from beginning to end through my 4.5" Orion Star-Blast telescope, employing a solar filter designed expressly for viewing sunspots. I noticed a little grouping of them near the limb of the sun as the Moon's shadow darkened the solar disk, although I did not see any prominences. The temperature dropped substantially and the crows kept cawing throughout the event, but the cats were unfazed, and my two neighbours never even came outside.
