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Eclipse day dawned cloudless and remained that way throughout the day,
never giving any of us undue concern about the weather, even though the
eclipse itself didn't occur until nearly sunset. After lunch we boarded
our coaches for the ride to our observing site exactly on the centerline
of the eclipse track north of Lyndhurst. Folks from the Prairie Hotel had
set up tents and facilities, providing us with more creature comforts that
anyone might have expected in the otherwise harsh local environment.
Our only weather issue was the steady wind, which blew with enough force
to cause some people to modify their photography plans because of
wind-induced camera vibrations. While the Outback offered no shortage of
suitable locations to set up equipment, the low altitude of the Sun (only
4 degrees above the western horizon at the time of totality) did impose
restrictions. Accordingly, we spread out along a line perpendicular to the
direction of the Sun as we staked out our observing spots and began
setting up gear. To the uninitiated we must have looked very much like an
ancient brigade of soldiers about to enter battle with some invisible foe. |
| Photo
by Jerry Rosen |
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Having seen more than a dozen solar eclipses, I had a special interest in
this one because of the unusual circumstances created by both a short
totality and an eclipse with the Sun low on the horizon. It turns out I
was not alone, and as I came to learn more about the people in our group
during the early days of the trip, I found that many had selected
Australia not because of the sightseeing, but because of the unusual
opportunity it offered for viewing this eclipse.
We were not disappointed. Because the Sun and Moon were almost perfectly
matched in apparent size, there was an extensive arc of dazzling red
chromosphere (the Sun's innermost atmosphere) visible at the beginning and
end of totality. The corona appeared mostly round with a somewhat
four-leaf-clover shape. What's more, with the Sun so low on the horizon,
the eclipse appeared
larger than life. This illusion, similar to when the Moon
appears huge at moonrise, made it look as though you were viewing
the event with binoculars.
The real show was the Moon's shadow, however. At the beginning of totality
it rose extremely fast from the horizon to engulf the eclipse, and
afterward it was easily seen as a diffuse cone of darkness over our heads
racing off to the northeast - directly opposite the Sun in the sky. |
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Photo by Bill Whiddon |
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In the excitement
of the moment, eclipses always seem to
end more quickly than expected, but in
that regard our 28 seconds of totality was exceptional - it seemed
as if it lasted only a heartbeat. |
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Copyright 2003 TravelQuest
International. All rights
reserved. 800-830-1998
Revised:
December 07, 2004.
Information in this document is subject to change without notice.
Other products and companies referred to herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of
their respective companies or trademark holders. |
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