by Greg Murphy, KSBY weather blogger
Total eclipses are amongst the most common astrological phenomena that we have. We have a technical term for it, “night,” when the Earth blocks the Sun. You could say the same whenever you walk in the shadow of a tree, enter a building, or block the Sun with your hand. A total eclipse caused by the Moon is a less frequent, very different experience as the Sun is blocked just enough that its corona becomes visible.
The most recent total eclipse (lunar-caused) for the Central Coast was Monday, Sept. 10, 1923. The path of totality shadowed California in the southwestern half of Santa Barbara County, the channel, and San Diego.

The green GE pointer was where the timespan of the total eclipse was at its longest. The blue line was the northern edge of the path of totality. (from NASA)
The point of maximum totality was in the Pacific Ocean, 70 miles west of Lompoc. Crowds of people from San Luis Obispo County and Santa Maria headed to the city. It happened to be Admission Day for the state which allowed many to close shops and go.
Among the throng was Santa Barbara resident and renowned artist Howard Russell Butler who painted this work near Lompoc.

He sketched it during the eclipse and applied paint afterwards. The "star" is the planet Venus.

This black-and-white photograph of the eclipse was taken in Sonora, Mexico by University of Arizona's Professor A.E. Douglas.
The eclipse was a welcome change for the Lompoc area. It was still affected from the Honda Point Disaster that had happened two days prior. Seven destroyers of the U.S. Navy ran aground ending 23 lives much too soon.
The system that put clouds in the Butler painting were thicker on the South Coast which led to most people missing the corona. Excitement grew in Santa Barbara as the shadow of totality could be seen approaching on the mountains. Fog rolled in seconds before totality which caused much disappointment.
Wire reports surmised that Lompoc was the only piece of American soil where good viewing was to be had. Electric lights came on in some areas and drivers all over the Central and South Coast found it prudent to turn on their headlights. Chickens thought that night was approaching and headed for their coops, even well outside the area of totality.
The Santa Barbara coast had our area’s three most recent total eclipses. The first and second were very close together, 1677 and 1679. Chumash rock art was found near San Marcos Pass that is suspected to be the earliest-surviving recorded Central Coast eyewitness account of an eclipse. It tested to be from the right era for 1677 or 1679. Objects in the sky during the 1679 eclipse don’t fit the positions of the painted objects, but 1677 was close enough to remain a possibility.

The dark circle is believed to be the eclipse. The red circles roughly correspond to where Mars and the star Antares were. They both appear reddish in the night sky.
This eclipse series of posts concludes on Monday with a pair of astronomical events that will take place in a couple of weeks. One of them is a companion event to solar eclipses.
Sunday’s annular eclipse — Part 1
Sunday’s annular eclipse — where to view
Sunday’s annular eclipse — how to view (includes local viewing info)
Sunday’s annular eclipse — perspective