1998 Febuary
-
On board the MS Veendam off the coasts of Curacao and Aruba. The perfect place to be given the time of year! The temperature was in the 20's and 30's (F) in Ohio, but in the southern Caribbean, it was in the 80's (F)!
We had wonderful weather for the first days of the cruise and were excited to find mostly clear sky conditions as we arrived as the pre-determined eclipse viewing position. As the sun rose above the forward decks, clouds began to become threatening. That is when the ability of the cruise ship to move became very important and our captain immediately began plotting clearer weather alternatives.
Ted is shown in the above picture getting ready for his first total solar eclipse. He was one of the first on deck and secured us an excellent position. His large tripod legs made sure no one was going to set up too near! Ted was dressed for the day too. And mind you, it was not cold. The total eclipse would not happen until 2PM local time and we were going to be in the sun all day. Given that we came from Ohio and had seen very little of the sun for several months the best sun block to use was clothing!
As the eclipse time neared, the decks got more and more crowded with eclipse viewers. Most of the viewers did not bring cameras and instead opted for the lounge chairs that had been hidden away by the crew the previous evening. By far the best way to observe an eclipse is with a lounge chair and a good set of binoculars. From this vantage point, the horizon can be seen along with the darkened sky with planets and stars and the corona in all it's splendor. A small telescope reveals a mesmerizing image too that one can be lost in it alone, especially when there are many prominences.
Denise took the picture at left from the bridge observation deck. We formed a ring of chairs to both "reserve" them and to protect our tripod areas. Ted's tripod is deployed to maximum radius but not height. We had been moving to a clearer position just before this picture was shot. When the ship moved and the wind swept across the deck, the result was a sizable windstorm! One or more tripods were lost during these maneuvers.
During totality the ship moved slowly, matching the wind speed and direction so that there was no wind across the deck at all. Due to the cooling effect of the eclipse, this created a very comfortable atmosphere. There was some motion however the ship stabilizers minimized it. Even in the telescope, the image did not move too much and we were able to capture many excellent images.
Viewing totality through a telescope is truly an awesome sight. The details of the coronal streams and prominences are striking to say the least and photographs do not capture the true picture as seen by the human eye.
The view through a telescope reveals detail the eye cannot see alone. This image is 1/30 of a second and shows the inner corona. Note that the prominences are washed out completely. The brightness of the corona diminishes quickly the further you look from the sun. Following the coronal streamers I was able to see detail out to 2 solar diameters.
Close up of large prominence - 1/1000
second exposure
Close up of smaller prominences near 3rd contact - 1/1000
second exposure
Video capture from a Camcorder. Denise was using the Camcorder on a tripod and was able to get some great pictures of 3rd contact. The ship motion did made photography difficult but the results were worth the effort.
Download
a
500kb GIF animation of 3rd contact
This was Teds First Eclipse! - And he got great pictures with his Meade ETX! Here is one he took at 3rd contact.
©2001-2008 Bill Kramer
