Total Solar Eclipse success from Turkey!

hi all,

well done on getting good skies for the partial event from home.

spectacular eclipse from Side, about 60 kilometres south of Antalya where we are staying.

my highlights, in no particular order, are;

horizon colours: particularly stunning with clouds coloured salmon pink and orange-yellow hues. Very bright around the horizon and no words can sufficiently describe the beauty or colouration.

Venus visible before totality. I didn't see Mercury but some others in the group did.

corona structure . . . WOW!!! Polar brushes deliniating the Sun's magnetic field and streamers out to 1.5 times the Sun's diameter. In 10x50mm binoculars the delicate strands of material in the corona was amazing. The shape of the corona was not symmetrical as with solar maximum but broad at the Sun's equator and narrow at the poles (polar brushes).

in binoculars too, a number of prominences visible with the Moon's silhouette slowly covering a bright tongue of flame at the top of the Sun and uncovering a long "hedge" prominence at the Moon's trailing edge. I watched until the very end of totality through the binoculars and saw the chromosphere.

beautiful Diamond Rings before and after the eclipse with Baily's Beads visible in the binoculars and naked eye after totality. The Diamond Rings didn't burst into view as with the 2001 eclipse but slowly grew at the Moon's limb . . . an effect I was describing as orderly and measured.

blocking the emerging solar disk with a couple of fingers I saw the corona for two minutes after totality as the silhouette of the Moon slowly moved off the Sun.

eclipse wind . . . very strong breeze blowing and as the lads say below, we all had sweatshirts/jumpers on by the time of totality

champagne all-round after to celebrate and prepare for the next event . . .

all the best,

John

Fantastic John I am very happy for you, and I was more than delighted this morning to watch the partial with your solar filter.

Thanks

Deirdre Kelleghan

It was an amazing experience! It seemed to last far shorter than 3 minutes and 41 seconds... more like 40 seconds on its own! :lol:

Still, to witness events that up to now I had to read about and hear from other first-hand observers, was special.

My highlights?

About 15 minutes before totality, with a cool breeze blowing, and no need for the sunglasses anymore, I noticed that I could not hear the birds sing anymore. It was strange, for I thought it happened closer to totality.

Making the pattern of crescents on the ground with my hands doing the lattice work was a nice touch. John Flannery excercising the same effect with a hand-held colander (strainer?).

Watching the entire atmosphere (literally) turn to looking like late twillight in a matter of about 40 seconds was unreal. The subsequent colours seen all around at the horizon while we were draped in darkness was very, well, pretty! (a lousy word from a guy, I know!).

And then to actually see the details John described above, in the binos and the ETX-70 (with the filters off at this stage!), was just amazing... there is not enough page room on these boards to describe it to you! (thank God says most of you... ) - filaments, corona, streamers, prominences, Baileys Beads, the Diamond Ring, mountain sillohuettes along the edges of the Moon, as well as sunspots, and then Venus, for almost 12 minutes afterwards!.... I'll stop there!

I did a kind of (poor) video commentray with a digital camera, which, if I am able to, I'll be stitching together when I get back (it could only record in segments) and will post here for you guys to have a laugh at!

Anyway, off to get a shower and get some food.

Later guys!

Seanie.

Everything the lads said. Absolutely spectacular. No words or pictures could sufficently encapsulate the wonder and awe of such a momentous occassion. Although I got some photos through the PST and the white light filter which I were pleased with, the naked eye views were simply stunning. Navy-coloured sky with a "hole" taken out of it from where the Moon blocked out the Sun. Surrounding this "hole" was light streaming out at all angles like as if the edge was on fire with a spectacular and beautiful ring of white fire.

When I looked closer with the 10x50s, the corona was even more awesome. From the equatorial regions a smooth band of white light emitted out to about 1.5 times the Moon's diameter for about 30degrees either side of the equatorial line. Meanwhile, for about 30degrees either side of the poles, streams of white light appeared to funnel towards the poles, like hundreds of white threads. These "threads" were caused by the coronal material following the magnetic fields around the poles.

Just above the horizon, as John said, was an amazing band of salmon-coloured light the the whole way around. Beautiful shades of light.

Worth mentioning though was the way the light changed during the changing solar phase, It changed from an extremely bright sunny day where we all wore sunglasses, to an eerie darkness. In between, the light got very wierd altogether and I remember thinking how it reminded me as if the sun had suddenly turned into a faint light like a 40watt bulb. By totality however, it got fairly dark, although still a good bit away from pitch black.

The temperature change was truly stunning! It went from a very warm day in the mid 20s to probably somewhere around 10deg. The wind became quite cool as the solar disc shrank and before totality hit many people had put on jumpers etc. Very dramatic!

Finally, the arrival and departure of the Moon's shadow was amazing! It looked like as if a thunderstorm was fast approaching. And as soon as the bailey's beads began to appear for the second time, the sea on my right was brightly lit whilst the waters and sandy beach on my left were still quite dark.

All in all, a truly amazing spectacle and one I will remember to the end of my days.

Many thanks to David and Terry for all their efforts in helping us experience the greatest show on Earth.

Navy-coloured sky with a "hole" taken out of it from where the Moon blocked out the Sun. Surrounding this "hole" was light streaming out at all angles like as if the edge was on fire with a spectacular and beautiful ring of white fire.

That,s one of my best memories of the eclipse. Thınk of a dodgy scı-fı fılm where there ıs a black hole ın the atmosphere and the sky ıs gettıng sucked ınto ıt...
Also the dısk was much bıgger than I expected. It looked a lot bıgger than a full moon at that heıght. perhaps the corona made ıt look bıgger.

Cheers,
çAl

Congrats to all on what must have been a wonderful event to witness.

I hope it was everything you hoped and then some. It seems it was!