My first eclipse was the 1991 biggie that stretched from Hawaii through Central America and down into South America. That was before I had hooked into amateur astronomy, and did not know much about eclipse chasers, and what there was to see or do during an eclipse. I did not realize that each eclipse was different depending on the geometry of the sun/earth/moon orbits, the relative size of the sun and moon, the level of solar activity, the time of day and the cultural setting of your viewing location, and the weather. The 1991 eclipse was right overhead at mid day for us watching from north of Antigua, Guatemala. My family had gone south to see my sister's family, and had timed the visit so that it would be during a solar eclipse I had read about in Discover Magazine. We were in an Indian Village in the highlands. The place was largely deserted, even though it was market day. Apparently the government and priests had told people to stay home and stay inside so they would not hurt their eyes. A few tourists, and some locals gathered on the steps of one of the churches. Candles were lit and bells were rung throughout the town to keep things safe. And it worked….the sun came back some six or more minutes later. Culturally and scientifically it was quite different when Judy and I joined Travelquest and our RAS buddies in Australia for the Outback Eclipse. The two busses of experienced eclipse hunters (and some people who just wanted a nice tour of Australia) had tons of equipment, weather information, a fancy catered observing site, and lots of astronomical knowledge. I learned about Bailey's Beads, the diamond rings, atmospheric extinction, watching the shadow race away, and all sorts of things that did not come up in the highlands of Guatemala with just folk. And in this case, the sun was just setting--a completely different experience. Since then Judy and I saw the 2006 Egypt eclipse on a small tour we organized by ourselves with a dozen people….half of whom were RAS friends. This tour had all the five stars of the Travelquest version. As a matter of fact, all 13 or so of the RAS members met up --our group and the Travelquest adventurers got a group picture at the Saloum observing site. In 2005, I took the chicken bus tour of Central America and timed it to catch the Hybrid Eclipse. It had been a total eclipse out in Tahiti, but by the time it got to Panama, the orbital geometry was such that the moon was no longer close enough to the surface of the earth that the moon could totally obscure the sun. Therefore, on that humid airstrip cut out of the jungle, with a couple of hundred young and enthusiastic members of the Afficianados de Astronomia de Panama, and big puffy clouds streaking through, one could see the ring of the sun extending all the way around
What will China bring in 2009? It will be a long eclipse--the next in the same geometrical alignment that I saw in Guatemala. It will be early in the morning--an hour and a half after sunrise, and therefore not too high. I will be fighting clouds--as will everybody on this eclipse path. I am a few percentage points less likely to see the event than Bob, Alson, and Ralph in Shanghai. Other that tha----I'll keep you posted.
Now I am in Beijing. Got a little lost on the subway----I should have followed what I thought I was supposed to do and not what the guide said to do. But I did get here.
As Bob has pointed out, we cannot see our blog here in China. So, we do not know how it is coming out.......
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