Flight LT1111 - Dusseldorf to the North Pole and back again

Viewing a TSE (Total Solar Eclipse) through the window of a commercial jet is not for everyone. It is expensive, the vista is restricted, and the space confining. Yet that is what we did for this eclipse in order to be assured a clear view - and it was worth it - the sky was amazingly clear with a beautiful eclipse.

Our eclipse encounter involved a flight from the middle of Germany (Dusseldorf) to the North Pole and then back to Germany. A total of 12.5 hours in the air and several more at the airport so that our flight could the first to leave. The eclipse was viewed from inside the Arctic Circle at 36000' above sea level. Due to the circumstances of the eclipse and the flight we enjoyed a total of 2m 55s in perfectly clear sky well above the clouds and pollution. The sky was dark blue to a steel grey with the colors of sunrise dancing across the clouds below us. Coronal streamers could be seen out to several lunar diameters and two bright prominences were visible. Manipulating the camera took away from the event however the view through the finder was great.

For a much more verbose report...-Bill Kramer

From Glenn Schneider concerning the flight - August 3 2008 - I have post-facto recomputed an estimate for the observed duration of totality from the LTU 1111 eclipse flight using in situ wind and (real time) aircraft flight management system recorded data. From mid eclipse (09:43:00 UT) +/- 1.5 minutes (fully encompassing contact 2 through 3), our true airspeed was held constant at 491 nautical miles per hour (mach 0.85 at our 36,000 ft flight altitude). At mid eclipse the wind was 30 nm/hr from a direction of 030 deg. With a UTC_C2 limb profile correction of 1.3 seconds, and a UTC_C3 limb profile correction of -0.3s for our location at the UTCs of contact , the expected duration of totality is 2m 54.8s. The winds, however, were somewhat variable over the totality run. The resulting uncertainty due to that based upon only two points flanking C2 and C3 as well as mid eclipse (I do not yet have the high time resolution aircraft data recorded) due to that is appx +/- 1 second.

Cheers, Glenn Schneider

Report with pictures from China by Chris Sessions

Report from Weinan China(via SEML): This eclipse, for me, was quite unusual. Old habits never die, and that holds true for this eclipse. as well. I generally follow my usual routine for all eclipses, and this one was no different. As Bill Kramer will confirm, I am usually up at the crack of dawn, or earlier to try to see the very, very, old crescent moon rise just ahead of the sun. I thought for sure that from our location, with totality over 14 hours away, I would have no problem. However, I could not get to the rooftop at 5am, and the streets did not allow me a clear view of the horizon, so, no old moon for this eclipse. But I was quite pleased with the clear air, and cloudless skies before sunrise. Two hours later total cloud cover blanketed Weinan, and I got very nervous. Mountains were visible in the far off distance. Neon signs quite some distance away were clearly seen. Never have I seen such clear air in China. And now... solid clouds. The SEMS team finally woke up, and we started to check the internet for all the weather radar shots we could. We finally found some, figured out some projections for the late afternoon, and we figured we had about a 50/50 shot at seeing the system move out before C-1. By 2pm, we were on the rooftop of the hotel, and began setting up for C-1 at about 6:20pm. By 5pm, the sun was still totally in the clouds but clearing skies appeared on the horizon... and did we get excited. And the sun continued to drop in the west, and the bank of clouds continued to move to the east, and less than 1 minute before C-1, the sun was in the clear!!!!!!!!! With the sun in a clean sky, we spotted C-1 with the sun about 14 degrees above the horizon. Totality occurred with the sun between 3-4 degrees above the horizon. This is by far the lowest in the sky that I have ever viewed an eclipse, and this one was my 10th. It was much different than seeing the eclipsed sun at a more "comfortable" level, and I am glad that I got to experience it, but I would not do it again by choice. This is the first eclipse that I did not witness ShadowBands. The sharp shadows that appear around the late partial phase were not there. From the appearance of the diamond ring, the eclipse shades were not needed. The inner atmosphere of the sun was a darker shade of red then I ever remember seeing, and the entire corona extended for at most 1 solar disc. As red as the corona was, the prominences were even a deeper red, and clearly visible. As you can see in the video, I would say the sky was VERY clear for China, not as clear as in Side. Turkey, and perhaps comparable to a slightly below average NYC day. Obviously, the late hour of totality did not produce a noticeable drop in temperature, and the departing shadow was not seen. The sun set into the haze and was all but gone less than 5 minutes after C-3. It was still a fascinating eclipse, certainly with a different personality than I had never seen. It was worth every bit of sweat and worry to see. But, I do look forward to Wuhan next year where C-1 occurs with the sun well over 30 degrees high... and rising!!!! - Rick Brown

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