Moto, the occlusion could be considerably more exciting this time than what you observed since the moon will be at optimal distance to view the sun's corona.
I can remember a partial eclipse in the mid 1990s that covered perhaps half the sun and I could feel a definite cooling due to the shade.
Well, the total eclipse I observed was pretty good too. It was from a beach on the Northumberland Strait, 15 miles NW of Antigonish, Nova Scotia, in 1972. I was 22, tent camping with my girlfriend. We could see the shadow of the moon approaching across the water. The corona was strikingly beautiful when it appeared. We were dead center on the totality track.
It may have been the eclipse mentioned in
Joni Mitchell's Carly Simon's song, "You're So Vain."
Then you flew your Lear Jet up to Nova Scotia
To see the total eclipse of the Sun
The great mass of sightseerers were in Antigonish, where it turned out to be cloudy. We on the other hand had a perfect view. If Warren Beaty, or Mick Jagger, or whoever the song was about, was in Antigonish, I'm pretty sure I had the better time! I don't think this one will be more exciting.
Moto
P.S. The magnitudes (ratios of the apparent diameter of the moon to the sun) are also very close: 1.0306 for the upcoming eclipse, and 1.0379 for the 1972 one.
