Chasing the Solar Eclipse

- Bill Kramer

I am an eclipse chaser.  I have had the pleasure of seeing the sun disappear behind the moon more than once. A total solar eclipse is something that is truly amazing to witness. It is hard to forget, yet even harder to describe to someone who has not had the joyous pleasure of seeing one. Not only is it beautiful, as many astronomical objects are in their own right, but it is something that sets the mind to thinking about the linkage of the cosmos, the enjoyment of the moment, and one’s own place on spaceship Earth. A total eclipse of the sun is a gift of cosmic coincidences almost too good to be true.

Lots of people will say they have seen eclipses. But you can tell those that have seen a total solar, who have stood in the shadow, by the way they describe it. Unless the recollection is that of a young child [or from a childhood memory], the witness will have trouble describing what they saw. Most often, I describe a total solar eclipse as looking like a large eye floating in the heavens, looking back down at you with a hot, piercing stare. It shimmers yet does not move. There are many colors visible at different times and places.  It is beautiful to behold!

The sky is like that of a dark, approaching storm. The details are overwhelming, even to someone who has been to several total solar eclipses and who cries out the spectacles to the novices in hopeless frustration as the event moves forward in time - both slowly and swiftly in one breath.  For you see, the total part of a total solar eclipse lasts only a few minutes.

If you stay in one place all your life, the chances of seeing a total solar eclipse are quite slim. That is because the path of a total solar eclipse traces a narrow line (about 100 miles wide) across the planet. As a consequence, in order to see one or more total eclipses of the sun one must travel to see them.  And thus one becomes an Eclipse Chaser.

In our modern era of travel virtually anyone can successfully get to the central line of a total solar eclipse at some point or another. Using luxury cruise ships, jet airplanes, and highways it is not as difficult as it used to be for astronomers and nature enthusiasts to see more than one total solar eclipse in their lifetime. I have had the pleasure of seeing over a half-hour of total eclipse time (ten total solar eclipses) and I’ve met others who have been fortunate enough to see even more. All it takes is the desire to see one (or more).

These are the main issues confronting the eclipse chaser during the planning stages.  Once a location has been determined, then basic logistics of any vacation destination kick into play such as selecting a hotel, lodge, camp, cruise ship, airline travel, and so forth.  With all these details to be considered it is highly recommended for most people that you join a group.  First time eclipse chasers will greatly appreciate having a group leader walk them through the preparations and point out the items "not to miss" during the eclipse event.  Experienced eclipse chasers will enjoy the company and friendships gained by a common experience and interest.  Eclipse travel groups are plentiful and there really are no bad ones.  The best way to select a group is to join up with one going someplace you want to go in addition to the eclipse central line.  Then select the group that seems to fit your desired comfort level - after all, eclipse chasing is a vacation experience and you should enjoy it as much as possible.

So what's it like to chase a solar eclipse? For the experienced eclipse chaser it all starts years in advance, sometimes decades. Referencing a table of solar eclipses you can learn when an eclipse will be taking place in the future. The chase starts when an eclipse is selected that you want to see. In my case and in the case of other eclipse chasers I know, that is easy - all of them.

Once an eclipse is selected the next step is to learn about the path of the shadow across the Earth. Eclipse chasers are interested in knowing what time of year, exact geography under the eclipse shadow path, and as much reliable climate information as can be found.

The climate and geographic information will often lead to a set of best locations from which one can see the eclipse. Now the next step is to either contact your favorite travel agent, look for groups you can join that already have booked all the essentials, find if any cruise ships will be in the area, and begin making contacts with others that plan to be there as well.

Planning and preparing for an eclipse is a lot of fun since you are often contemplating travel to parts of the world you know nothing or very little about. Learning about these places and the people that live there makes the journey all the more enjoyable.

As the departure date approaches you begin to pack your gear. Camera, binoculars, telescope, clothing, and so much more need to be considered for packing. Here's an experienced eclipse chaser tip: In between the opticsand tripod you can fit a few changes of clothing to help pad the optics.

When the departure date arrives the surreal experience of travel begins. This travel is different, there is a definite goal to be in the right place by the right time. A sense of urgency to be where the shadow will fall is grows stronger as the day approaches. For myself it seems that I don't really relax on the journey until I am in place for the eclipse.

The day before the eclipse is spent worrying about weather and equipment. In many parts of the world the weather report is what you see outside, there is no such thing as a prediction unless you see a change on the horizon. Should the weather look bad for the upcoming eclipse day travel options are laid on the table. Drive, fly, run like crazy to another location? What are the chance there? Any weather information? If the weather is calm the general mood of the chasers is calm. Otherwise the options keep getting tossed about until either something is done to put them in motion or the time expires when anything can be done. Of course, that is always relative. In 1985 we left Virginia at 2am to drive all night to be in South Carolina to meet the edge of a front with clear sky and the eclipse path. In 1999 the weather was foul every where across Europe and we just waited it out relying on pure luck.

Eclipse day is the climax of the trip. For some it starts before sunrise. Eclipse day is one full of anticipation. Like going to some favorite place or a special holiday event when you were a kid. Frequent checks of the weather, any and all cloud formations, wind directions, and other weather facts (and myths) are discussed in detail. If we are lucky and our climate study was good, the weather is fine. Otherwise our travel option comes into play.

A nervous way to pass the time is to fiddle around with your equipment and sharie the experience with other eclipse chasers. Eclipse virgins, those that have never seen nor photographed an eclipse are full of questions and don't want to miss a second of detail. Experienced eclipse chasers either just take it in as the clocks moves slowly or spend the time fixing equipment (there own as well as others), putting tape over flash bulbs, and coaching eclipse virgins on what they will soon experience.

First contact. A wash of relief when it is on time, as calculated, and in the right place. The next hour and a half creep by slowly with more nervous weather watching and continued tinkering with the optics, cameras, and tripods. Now is when you wish you had brought more equipment and tools. As the shadow appears on the horizon there is a rush of excitment and anticipation as it quickly sweeps by revealing the splendor of a total solar eclipse. An eye in the sky stares down with a colorful horizon and bright stars visible. Nervous noise and cheering combine with rapid camera clicks and the gasps or shouts of those that are seeing it. All too quickly the diamond ring appears and the total eclipse is over.

But the chase is not over, the planning and preparations for another eclipse are either already underway or will begin very soon. The most frequent question heard after an eclipse is: When is the next one?

Eclipse Chasing in History

The majority of solar eclipse observing that took place prior to the 19^th century was actually related more to eclipse prediction. This was done so as to alert the people that an eclipse was going to occur and that they had nothing to fear from it. Due to the spectacle of a solar eclipse, it was possible that more common folk who had no time for the study of the heavens would think that the world had come to an end. The rulers of those days could avert problems by having court astronomers predict these phenomenon and warn the populace in advance.

Or just the opposite in some cases as advanced information about solar eclipses could be used to stage "amazing feats of magic" or to prove the divine linkage of the rulers with the cosmos. There was little to no scientific study conducted during eclipses of this era – it was enough to simply predict them with accuracy.

Eclipses in History

There are numerous accounts of eclipses in history such as the crucifixion of Christ. An eclipse occurred on the 24^th of November in the year 29 AD across much of Persia (including modern day Lebanon) that many believe was the darkening of the sky as recording in biblical teachings. Although not total in Jerusalem, it was well over 95% eclipsed and that would have created a cause for concern by many of the people living in that area at that time.

A popular eclipse legend tells of two Chinese court astronomers who were beheaded for failing to predict a solar eclipse that occurred over the Capitol City. This eclipse resulted in a panic amongst the people, as there was no time to prepare the archers and drummers to keep the sun-eating dragon at bay. Hence the court astronomers were executed due to their "crime".

Thales of Milet reported that a total solar eclipse crossed the battlefield during a prolonged war between the Lydians and the Medes. This eclipse occurred in May of 585 BC. According to the report, the fighting ended abruptly and a peaceful solution was immediately drawn up between the two sides. One can only imagine the morale of the soldiers decaying at the sight of shadow bands and the darkened sun – they must have thought that demons had risen up as the shadows raced across the field of battle.

The Total Solar Eclipse Described by Plutarch, a Greek philosopher, writer, and historian - http://www.dur.ac.uk/Classics/histos/1998/stephenson.html

Solar Science in the 1800s

During the 1800s two things happened that began to spark an interest in eclipse chasing. First, travel to more remote parts of the world was possible in sailing vessels and by train. It had been feasible to travel great distances by ship for several hundred years and by this time most of the world’s ports were attainable. Such travel required an extensive amount of time (and funds) to get to farther points on the globe. But it was the second reason spurred even more of an interest in chasing eclipses. In the 1600’s, Newton had shown that light from the sun produced a continuous spectrum when refracted through a prism. As better prisms were created it was further learned that some of the colors were brighter than the other colors in the solar spectrum. Technological improvements in the 1800s led to the discovery that the light of the sun as dispersed by a spectroscope did not yield a continuously perfect spectrum. Instead there were dark lines at various intervals across the spectrum. These lines are called Fraunhofer lines after the solar observer Joseph Fraunhofer who first mapped and labeled them with decent accuracy in 1817. The presence of the dark lines caused some concern amongst scientists whom then went on to discover their nature.

The dark lines in the solar spectrum were caused by various elements absorbing or blocking the light at those specific wavelengths. Thus began the study of solar spectroscopy and many scientists contributed to the wealth of knowledge that would develop. More refined instrumentation and better laboratory procedures allowed chemists and astronomers to work together to gain a knowledge of the composition of the sun. Gustav Kirchoff is credited with being the first to actually utilize the bright and dark lines in the spectrum. As a physicist Kirchoff had conducted numerous experiments that involved burning various elements to determine their spectral qualities. He noted that some of the dark lines in the solar spectrum matched some of the bright lines in the various chemicals as they burned. This led to Kirchoff’s laws of spectroscopy that were then used to further study the sun. In summary, Kirchoff’s laws are 1) when a gas is burned it produces a specific signature of emission lines in the light generated and 2) that when light travels through a gas the same lines are absorbed or blocked. That meant that one could determine the chemical composition of something that was burning in a gaseous state.

The study and determination of the various elements lead to a rapid interest in the solar spectrum as a tool to discover the secrets of the Sun itself. Physicists, chemists, and astronomers were now quite interested in mapping the spectrums created by the various parts of the sun in order to learn more about the stars themselves. This is considered one of the greatest periods in the study of astrophysics, as new models of stellar structure were determined directly from the evidence obtained.

Eclipse Chasing for Science

During the later part of the 1800s eclipse expeditions were mounted to obtain spectral photographs of the Sun’s chromosphere and corona. These led to a rapid improvement in our understanding of the sun’s components and to the discovery of a new element.

In 1868, bright spectral lines were found coming from the prominences that did not match any known elements. The astronomer Sir Norman Lockyer had studied the solar spectrum for some years attempting to isolate various components of the sun such as sunspots. But he found strange lines in the yellow-orange area of the spectrum of the prominences that did not match with any known elements of the day. He named the unknown element Helium (from Helios – the Sun). And it was not until 1895 that Sir William Ramsey was able to isolate helium in the laboratory for the first time.

The eclipses of 1868, 1869, and 1870 are noted as some of the greatest for scientific study in that era of eclipse chasing. During this time it was that C.A. Young who first observed the "flash spectrum" and it was also the first eclipse where decent photographs of the corona (and its spectrum) were first obtained. The coronal spectrum is a continuous spectrum with a bright line in the green region thus causing it to have a greenish glow as seen by many observers. These observations and studies that resulted from them led to a greater understanding of the Sun and what goes on in a star. Previously, only the positions and relative brightness of the stars had been studied. But now a more formal classification of stars could be produced based on the chemical signatures found in their light.

The 1919 eclipse that occurred over Africa is one of the most famous in terms of scientific studies. Not only did it provide direct evidence proving the Einstein theory of general relativity; the results were highly publicized. The background was that Einstein’s theories predicted that light would bend a certain amount as it passed by a large gravitational source. Newtonian physics also predicted that the light would bend in its path, as it passed the gravity of the sun, but not by the same amount. In 1919, an expedition led by Arthur Stanley Eddington sought to measure these amounts. Although difficult, they did manage to measure the locations of several stars near the sun during the eclipse and the amount of deflection matched closely with the values predicted by Einstein. The primary difficulties were that the corona is still quite bright and thus there would have to be reasonably bright stars to locate near the limb of the sun as it was eclipsed.

(Authors note: As an experienced eclipse chaser, it is hard to imagine that the astronomers could conduct such an experiment under those circumstances. Eclipses are awe inspiring and fantastic to witness. It is difficult to believe that accurate measurements could be made in such a short period of time with such a wondrous sight to behold! In fact, in 1962 a group of scientists at the Royal Society in London concluded that the difficulties in obtaining such measurements are so difficult that no one should try to conduct such experiments. Besides, modern measurements of radio waves traveling near the sun provide a much better measuring tool.)

There have been some further scientific studies done during solar eclipses such as attempting to time the appearance the photosphere against the lunar surface and thereby determine changes in size of the sun however; space travel and space based instrumentation have rendered such studies useless in this day and age.

Modern Solar Research with Space Telescopes - SOHO, Ulysses and from the Ground at the National Solar Observatory

Modern Eclipse Chasing

Modern eclipse chasing by the general public has come along slowly in the past 50 years of the 1900s. For most, if the eclipse could be observed by traveling in a car to a nearby location, then that was enough. Any further eclipse chasing would simply have to wait until one occurred in the neighborhood again. Such was the case in the USA during the 1963 eclipse. Many were content to simply wait for another to cross their paths or be in a nearby state. And for those who were lucky enough to live in the Eastern USA (and able to see the 1963 eclipse) 1970 was not too far off.

But these two eclipses inspired many into wanting to see more eclipses. A common question asked by people who do see a total solar eclipse is – when and where is the next one? That’s because totality does not last long enough. It is only seven minutes at best. And the memory soon feels almost surrealistic afterwards. It is something spectacular to behold, almost miraculous.

By the 1960s and 1970s worldwide travel was something that many could now afford. Jet airplanes made reaching far distant lands possible and within the budget of those who were inclined to travel. Thus modern eclipse chasing by people interested in seeing total solar eclipses began to take hold with most being private affairs arranged by the travelers themselves.

In 1972, a new way of seeing an eclipse was started by Ted Pedas. (see theSaga of launching the worlds first eclipse cruise) Pedas took a group of 800 to see the total solar eclipse at sea off the coast of Canada. This revolutionary idea was fabulous as the mobility and stability of a large ship allowed the group to be positioned in clear sky to see the event. (This was the author’s first total solar eclipse and he was on board the Olympia as it pioneered this way of chasing eclipses.) The next year, two ships were used to carry eclipse chasers to Africa to see the eclipse allowing over 3000 people to enjoy this way of travel and eclipse chasing. More information can be learned at Ted Pedas’s web site located at http://www.nauticom.net/www/planet/files/history.html

Actually, the idea of ship based observation of a total eclipse does make perfect sense since the three quarters of the Earth’s surface is covered by water. What were needed were large, stable platforms that would not rock too violently in the seas. And by the late 1960s such cruisers were available and relatively affordable to those with the means to travel. Thus it was that modern eclipse chasing came about. No longer would eclipses simply be a curiosity or something of interest to scientists only. Now many people could enjoy a fun vacation and see one of nature’s most awesome spectacles.

Since the success of the "Science at Sea" expeditions, more travel organizations have been put together exclusively for the purpose of chasing the shadow. In many cases one can select from primitive to luxurious accommodations and locations. The travel group organizers have scouted the terrain ahead of time and selected observing locations along with other points of interest for eclipse enthusiasts.

And now, with the information available via the Internet, one can learn well in advance of upcoming eclipses and plan vacation time and monies accordingly. Upcoming total solar eclipses already have plans being made for people to see them. You can learn about upcoming eclipses at the NASA web site by visiting Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak, NASA/GSFC located at http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/SEcat/SEcatalog.html

The solar eclipse of 1999 in Europe has further increased the interest in eclipse chasing by spreading the fever into England, France, and Germany. Although European groups have frequently traveled to solar eclipses in the past I expect that number to grow considerably in the next few years since the chancy weather left many wanting.