Total Solar Eclipse 2009

Michael,

That is a nice duration for such an exotic trip.

Some friendly advice I came across on another group: when making purchases with a credit card, check very carefully the amount charged. It seems this is a common slight of hand there and a heads-up is in due order for those travelling to China next year.

Anthony.

Hi Anthony & Michael,

I have had to cancel my trip on the Mayhugh Cruise, as my travelling companion (J.F.) pulled out and the single supplement is 75%. Good luck to all those on the cruise.

I have now booked with Explorers Tours (these are not "Explore") for Shanghai & Hong-Kong. I am taking my chances with the weather but I hope it will be eight out of eight. Eight is a Chinese lucky number!

I would not advise seeing the eclipse from Shanghai because of the smog,

Are you bringing any equipment?

Seven months and counting,
John

That's a shame that the two Johns are not coming along on the Mayhugh cruise. My friend Mary and I are still going and doing a 4 day Beijing tour before the cruise. Who else is still booked on this trip I wonder?
Prices have gone up and down with the fluctuation of the dollar, for example the first deposit of $900 cost only 600 euro but the second deposit (also $900) cost 735 euro!

Bernie

Hi John,

I apologize for the delayed reply!

You have company in relation to your comment surrounding the smog in Shanghai. I have a couple of options in relation to a hotel including one near the airport. The problem is that I get into Shanghai at midnight and I suspect I will not be able to get a feel for the smog from the airport and its 50-km distance from the city.

As for equipment, I will be bringing with me my Tak FSQ with AP 2x barlow which yields great image scale. I hope to land a Canon EOS 5d at a good price so that I will have the luxury of the larger chip for the extended corona without having to remove the barlow during totality.

Anthony.

Hi Anthony,

If its windy in Shanghai I would guess smog is less of a factor, unless you were downstream of the city centre.

You should get great results with your equipment. I always wonder how you cart such equipment around the world.

I will bring my Baby Tak as I did in 2006. I would like to use my AP barlow with it, but then I would need to bring my SPII mount -- and more dragging equipment around the world.

If I can get my DV camera repaired I will Video the eclipse as well.

With nearly six minutes of totality there should be plenty (as least in comparison to recent eclipse) of time for visual and imaging.

Less than six months now (they come around fast),
John

Hi John,

My Tak FSQ with some other minor accessories (barlow, adapters, cables) are all loaded into a mountain climber's back sack and which I take with me as carry-on luggage. Thankfully, I have not been asked to have it weighed, for I am easily over the limit.

My serious problem and challenge is the mount with accessories along with the computer(s). Last year with the eclipse in Novosibirsk, I went to the airport 24 hrs ahead of time to weigh two pieces of luggage. The first contained my AP Mach1GTO equatorial head with cables, counterweight shaft and counterweight and which came in at 27 kg (7 kg overweight). The second piece of luggage had my Losmandy G11 tripod and pier with adapter (for the Mach1GTO) and it came in at 17 kg (20 kg is their limit for a single piece of luggage).

A third smaller piece of luggage purposely suitable for carry-on contained my primary computer plus another as backup (plus accessories) and camera (primary and backup) with accessories.

Since Aeroflot allows only 20 kg per passenger for check-in, I had a serious problem with the two large pieces of luggage and there was a desperate rush back home to find a suitable backup mount.

This year I hope to be more prepared. My intention was to fly with Gulf Air but I received an email a few days ago announcing changes to their limits for frequent flyer members and where the limit for new signees was lowered from 30 kg to 20 kg. I was very disappointed and I had no choice but to investigate elsewhere. Emirates Airlines also has a 30 kg limit but at a slightly more expensive price (their flight schedule is also better). If I can get my mount and tripod under 30 kg total weight (ex. Celestron CG5 mount and tripod), I am all set. If this does not work for any reason, I will bring along a lady friend and use her weight allowances to haul my toys.

Whatever hassles and problems are involved, it is obviously worth it and one-time magnificent events such as total eclipses justify the hassles beforehand.

Anthony.