"The American Eclipse
in Idaho"
A moment of totality in deep America
Idaho is the state
where one never goes. Stuck between Oregon and Wyoming, it was
long claimed by these two neighbors until it was finally admitted in
1890 as the 43rd state of the US. Even his name is a real hoax. A
certain Willing would have proposed it to Congress around 1860 as
meaning "the precious stone of the mountains" in the language of the
Shoshone Indians who still populated the region. He later admitted that
it was pure invention on his part. It is the deepest America, touching
in its most ancient integrity, that of attachment to the earth. While
all other states have chosen inspired maxims as their emblem, Idaho
simply chose "the potato state".
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The State of Idaho in the Northeastern
United States
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Shoshone Indian Camp in 1870
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To the west of the
Rocky Mountains, narrow valleys wind along the torrents, leading
to successions of small circular plains, real natural encampments. In
discovering them, one can not help but remember that less than 150
years ago, it was still the Indian tribes of the Soshones and the Nez
Percé (a name given by the French Canadian trappers) who were leading
their Mustang horses here and putting up their circular "tipi" tents.
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"Trading Post" in
Idaho
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Today, on the eve of the 2017 eclipse, the rapid Mustangs have
metamorphosed into noisy mechanical horses and it is the characteristic
rumble of the Harley-Davidson motorcycles that resonates in the valley.
Rebellious and forgotten America unreservedly displays here its idea of
nature. Here Americans voted 60% for Trump in the last election and,
against the ecologists of the well-to-do classes, and openly claim to
be "red meat lovers". On the road to the total eclipse area in Garden
Valley, one can pass-by in the plain along the preparation of a rodeo
where very young ten years old cow-boys, with proud and ravishing gait,
practice the difficult balance on the back of spirited horses.
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The Payette river
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America waits for the eclipse
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The small eclipse camp, lodged in a bend of
the river, gathers peaceful American families with children and
animals happily turning around covers spread out on the ground, among
telescopes whose modest sizes surprise in the supposed country of the
immoderation. It is far from the record crowd expected and feared by
the local newspaper, the Idaho World,
whose typography does not seem to have evolved since the 1930s, and
which displays a worried title : "The
eclipse is coming. Will we be prepared for emergencies? "
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The "Idaho World" created in 1863 |
No comment |
Everything seems
natural until the first cry in the crowd that signals the first
contact. The Moon begins its work of undermining the Sun, a tiny black
shard has just begun to mark the upper right edge of the solar disk.
From that moment on, the crowd witness a reversal of time. It is
suddenly "Back to the Future".
The day that was going toward a glorious summer morning seems now to
hesitate and then engages in a fierce return to the dawn. In a little
more than an hour, the light paled again and the cold that creeps in,
surreptitiously installs the freshness of a chilly morning.
Spontaneously, the crowd rose, half to warm and half moved by feverish
excitement. Something incomprehensible to humans is being played out.
Is the Sun reversing its movement? In a cry in unison, the whole
esplanade now has its eyes stretched towards a small point of the sky
where the Sun has just extinguished.
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Cosmic attack
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Totality for 2 min 14s
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The cosmic gear
became implacable. The Moon is succeeding its giant rodeo. Like
the young cowboys on their fiery horses, she rides the Sun and cuts
down all its power, which is felt to be out of proportion, trying to
spring from every side. 2 minutes 14 seconds of absolute balance
begins. As if by magic, the blinding shine of the Sun turned into a
sumptuous postcard: a perfect black circle, haloed with fine white
corona. Time has stopped. Everyone in spite of his cries holds his
breath. Will we ever be in the dark, an ancestral anguish of man? With
an invisible kick, the Sun interrupted the drama. When the light
springs again, like from an eternal Danaides barrel, all the tension
falls at once. The incredulous crowd congratulates, already regretting
this unique magical unison.
As sometimes the too bright light can be imprinted on our retina for a
long time, the image of the black sun is etched in our memory forever.
And the eyes are already riveted on the next chance in the US: another
eclipse on April 8, 2024!
Jean-Marc Bonnet-Bidaud (21 August 2017)
Photos : Author
Astronomical photos : © Pascal Bonnet-Bidaud/Stang
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"Two minutes of
totality in Idaho"
