Total Eclipse 2009 Pacific Cruise report

[Astronut]

Part 1

I got back late Thursday but it's taken a while to get around to sorting out a selection of photos and getting around to typing this up.

I spent 4 days in Beijing before travelling out to Tianjin to board the ship. I explored the Forbidden City and did the usual sightseeing in Beijung taking in Tianenmen Square, etc and did a 10km+ hike on the Great Wall from Jinshanling to Simatai taking lots of photos in the process but all that's possibly for another thread.

The cruise took us from Tianjin to Cheju in South Korea then onto to Kagoshima in Japan. From Japan we travelled SE out to Iwojima (a seldom seen volcanic island and the site of an historic and blumming WWII battle between the US and Japan). You've seen the famous WWII photo of american soldiers raising the stars & stripes flag on a rocky hilltop? - that was Iwojima!

Again I took lots of photos but won't post them here.

Here's a photo of a chart someone on board compiled with day by day tracking of the whole voyage - I'll be hunting down a copy sometime later

We observed the eclipse near Iwojima and then went on to Kobe for 2 days and then back to Tianjin.

The weather during most of the voyage was cloudy and showery with high temperatures and very high humidity but as we approached Iwojima the skies cleared more and more.

There were lots of lectures on board every day from the likes of George T Keene, Lucie Green, David K Lynch, Kelly Beatty from Sky and Telescope magazine, Astronomer Royal for Scotland John Brown, John Griffiths of Greenwich Observatory and lots more.

L to R: Ray Shubinski (at the podium), George T Keene, ???, David K Lynch, ???, Kelly Beatty, ???

George T Keene

Lucie Green

John Griffiths

I think I only missed one of the lectures and that was due to a clash with another one elsewhere on the ship.

[Astronut]

part 2

The 21st of July 2009 was the 40th anniversary of Neil Armstrong's first footstep on the Moon and also rehearsal day on board the Costa Classica for the longest solar eclipse of this century. Roy Mayhugh (the trip organiser) was on the bridge tannoy calling out times (15 seconds to 2nd contact, etc) from the bridge.

A few random pics of the activities on deck:

Note these pictures look a bit grainy and it's because the camera decided to set itself to ISO1600 for some reason . It's a new camera I bought on impulse in Beijing because it had a higher optical zoom and higher resolution chip than the one I'd taken with me. I hadn't got used to the settings at this point and it was set on 'auto ISO'

For the first couple of days I was using it, all my pictures got date and time stamped in the bottom right corner spoiling a potential panorama stitch job on the Forbidden City I was planning to do later - I couldn't read the chinese manual so that's my excuse

I had it all sorted for eclipse day though

Here's a lovely bit of kit

and its proud owner (can't remember his name but I remember he was from Massachusetts)

Weather report from a briefing after the rehearsal.

The spot where we were headed is marked with a cross, right of centre, south of Japan. According to the on-board meteorogists, the main cloud bank was headed north and we were almost guaranteed clear skies for the next day. The excitement on board was really building up now

[Astronut]

part 3

ECLIPSE DAY

As we rounded Iwojima from the South and took some great close-up shots of the island in the morning, the weather couldn't have been better - the sky became a deep blue with no mist and a few cotton wool clouds all around the horizon. We were in for a treat. We had one small rain cloud pass over us but the ship was expertly steered away from under it and back on track for the point of longest eclipse.

The sea was calm and the ship slowed to 7 knots for maximum stability as the bridge crew steered the ship along the centre line in the direction of the shadow rapidly approaching from astern.

The decks were awash with people and gear but there was plenty of space available. The sun being almost directly overhead meant there was just about nowhere on deck that the event could not be witnessed. As we approached second contact, even more people (most of the crew) came up on deck armed with their eclipse glasses to see the last sliver of sun disappear for over 6 and a half minutes but there was still plenty of room for everyone.

As second contact approached I had been lying on my back watching the partial phase through my image stabilised Canon binos and homemade filter. The sun filled the FOV very nicely with plenty of space to view the corona at totality. Mr Mayhugh announced on the tannoy, "10 seconds to second contact" (totality) and I watched the last sliver of sun disappear in the binos. As it disappeared, gasps and cheers erupted as the first diamond ring appeared and then an eerie darkness. I quickly moved my eyes away from the binos and just caught the last vestige of the diamond ring and then gazed on a hole in the sky with a ghostly silvery glow (the corona) around it. It was awesome, truly awesome. I grabbed my new 'point and shoot' Canon camera (Powershot SX200 IS) and quickly got to work snapping away at totality. I'd previously set it up to manual focus @ infinity, ISO 200, f/5.4, 12x optical zoom. I grabbed a shot @ every shutter speed from 1/800s to 1/15s and then the announcement over the tannoy came - "approaching mid-eclipse". I was amazed at how fast that first half went - it was over 3 minutes but I'd spent the whole time at the camera and the time had flown by.

I put the camera down and took the filter off the binos to look at the corona - OMG! I was blown away by the view. The corona stretched across the whole FOV and I could very clearly see the magnetic poles as fine brushes fanning out from the upper and lower portions of the disc. The fine detail visible in the 'brushes' was incredible with fine black lines seemingly painted on a silvery background fading away to blackness at the edge of the FOV.

I've yet to see a photo that captured the detail I could see. It didn't look real - it was probably the most finely detailed and beautiful sight I've ever seen. I was hypnotized and couldn't take my eyes away from the binos. For the last few seconds of totality I suddenly remembered to stand up and look around the horizon and the people and soak up the scene around but that last few seconds wasn't quite enough. I regret not standing up sooner but the corona view in the binos is something I'll never forget.

Venus and Mercury were clearly visible to me during totality with Mercury surprisingly bright, almost as bright as Venus in fact. Some people who had been wearing one eye-patch 25 mins before totality were fully dark apapted in one eye at totality and they were able to see Orion quite clearly. They also reported the corona as a full 3 moon widths wide at the post eclipse briefing and 'relive the experience' session in the theatre afterwards.

One of the passengers had left a video camera running during the whole event and we got to see the show in the theatre afterwards. Totality seemed to last forever when watching the replay on screen and there was much laughter when the mid-eclipse announcement could be heard on the replayed video. Where did the time go during the real-time event

There was a bit of controversy afterwards about the length of totality. The pre-printed t-shirts said 6mins 42.3secs and Roy Mayhugh, the trip organizer announced this as the actual length of totality over the tannoy after 3rd contact. Most of the passengers seemed to be in agreement though that the actual length was about 6mins 39secs. Standing under the shadow that time just flew by. If only we could slow time down to a crawl for events like this

I can fully understand why people say afterwards "When's the next one?" but eclipse chasing is an expensive hobby. Roy Mayhugh came down on deck shortly after 3rd contact and I was grinning from ear to ear as I shook his hand. Referring to what we had all just witnessed he said "well, it doesn't get any better than that" and he's been to quite a few eclipses in his time.

Here's me awaiting first contact

Crescent suns projected on the decking using my cabin door keycard

2 minutes to second contact (totality)

Look at the eerie light quality - the photo just gives a hint of what can only be described as a thin, silvery light.

The total eclipse 'jolly roger' is raised after 3rd contact

Scene on deck after 3rd contact. Check out that perfect sky.

Crescent Sun after totality

The sun sets on a perfect day enroute to Kobe, Japan

[Astronut]

part 4

I'll get to the total phase photos in a minute but I couldn't resist posting this.

Recognize the gent on the right? It's none other than Dudley Fuller of 'Fullerscopes' aka Broadhurst Clarkson & Fuller aka Telescope House.

He was a fellow passenger and this was shot after the cruise at a rest stop between Tianjin and Beijing.

Also, the gent in the background left looking on is none other than Professor John Brown, Astronomer Royal for Scotland who gave some entertaining lectures (with magic tricks) on board.

The guy on the left is my cousin Bill from Vancouver who can also be seen in at least one of the shots on deck above with his Nikon D90.

Totality then. It's only a 'point and shoot' camera but the results are better than I expected.

The original shots are 4000x3000 (12M pixels) but I've resized them here to 800x600.

All shot at ISO200, f5.4, 12x optical zoom and not processed in any way (apart from resizing and cropping).

The camera doesn't do RAW format (only jpegs) but I had it set to take pictures of the highest quality possible ie. full 12M pixel with lowest jpeg compression.

Notice the blue and red fringes on the Moon's outline which are probably from the camera's small lens.

If only I'd had that Pentax refractor setup seen above (drools).

I chosen a couple of what seem to me to be the best of the set but the rest can be viewed in the album in my profile.

1/125 second exposure

1/80 second exposure

same photos but cropped

1/125s

1/80s

for now

[beamish]

Cool ! Nice read, I look fwd to the next episode.

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't jealous.

Karlo

[barkis]

Splendid AN. How you must have enjoyed that trip.

Just like Karlo, I'm totally envious, but I'm so pleased for you that the weather in your case was superb. Some in China weren't so lucky.

Nice report, and your pics are superb mate.

Thanks a lot for sharing your trip, and the diary of events.

Ron.:)

[Talitha]

Fantastic report and pictures... thanks, Ian! Even though you knew what to expect, i bet it was still a bit eerie watching it get dark... could you see the shadow border coming at you across the water?

[Helen]

A great report Ian, and you obviously had a great time! The cruise sounds brilliantly organised and executed.

Treasure the memories!

Best wishes

Helen

[Astronut]

Thanks folks

Ron - we heard rumours on board that Shanghai was completely clouded over but nothing was confirmed. Seems that some in that area had some luck after all.

I only glanced at NickH's report but he seems to have captured some superb shots.

Pete Lawrence too had great success on his whistle-stop tour and I've just read his report.

Carol - When the shadow was racing up from behind I was laid on my back watching the last sliver of the Sun's disc disappear. There's alot of things I missed such as the shadow bands (which were seen by a few people on board) and the shadow approaching. I really regret not standing up sooner before totality ended and taking in the view and snapping shots of the horizon. In the last few seconds I was looking at Mercury and Venus and waiting for the second diamond ring. My cousin said the horizon view during totality is the one thing that will stay with him for a long long time - a ring of sunset colours all around lighting up the distant clouds on the horizon.

Helen - so sorry you were clouded out You were in a great place too mixing with the local people. Treasure your memories too

I forgot to mention that Ray Shubinski, an american meteorite collector on board who organized all the lectures said at the first lecture the following morning (early start) that he was feeling a bit worse for wear as he'd had too much corona the day before

I laughed out loud and so did others but there were a few groans too

[coliea]

Thanks folks

Ron - we heard rumours on board that Shanghai was completely clouded over but nothing was confirmed. Seems that some in that area had some luck after all.

Yep, according to some Shanghai friends we hooked up with at the end of that week it was a wash out

We were also on the Quiantang River near Hangzhou, having been in China 2 weeks at that stage and up until then the weather had been great. Sods law however meant the morning of the 22nd saw complete cloud cover in Hangzhou and it didn't lift. We managed to glimpse the partial before and after totality but completely missed totality itself - disappointing. On a positive note though I did get engaged to the girlfriend, so every cloud eh?

I must say that I came away from the whole experience a little surprised, feeling that unlike most people we met I wouldn't be "chasing" any future eclipses. Of course I may feel different if we had indeed managed to see totality but I've thought it over quite a bit and I honestly believe I would feel the same. If I was interested in seeing a country (as we were China) we may alter our travel dates to coincide with an eclipse - that is what I believe a lot of the folks in China this year did, but I definitely wouldn't arrange a trip specifically to try and see an eclipse... and that has surprised me a little.

Still, glad to see you guys near Iwo Jima got lucky - thanks for the pictures and the excellent report.

Best

Col

[lulu57]

Oh wow, Ian.

You got what you wanted and you look really happy.

And you made your own luck because you snapped at an opportunity.

Wish I'd been there!

[Mark at Beaufort]

Ian - what a brilliant account of the whole event. The whole tour seemed very well organised with lectures etc and then to have clear skies what an experience. Great photos - lovely to see Dudley Fuller looking well. Thanks for an enjoyable report. See you in Salisbury when you can chat some more.

Mark

[Astronut]

I'm back to some sort of sense of normality after 2 weeks back at work and I look back on it all and ask myself 'did that really happen?'.

I've been having a look around the net for other people's piccies and videos in an attempt to relive it and recapture the emotional high and I've found a few great vids on youtube posted by fellow passengers:

This one's preceded by shots of the island of North Iwojima and Iwojima itself with dramatic music added to the whole video.

Brings a tear to my eye, that one

This one's a fixed camera viewpoint from starboard amidships (aft on the left) and it captures the atmosphere onboard.

During totality some people (despite the warnings beforehand) were using their camera flashes and from about 5m 40s onwards you can hear a few rather angry voices.

Another fixed camera viewpoint looking from aft amidships towards the bow again capturing the atmosphere onboard.

This one's a cool Japanese video from the island of Iwojima with some brilliant close-up shots.

I wish I could understand the Japanese commentary but I did pick up 'diamond ring' at 3rd contact and 'prominence' during totality

You can actually see the chromosphere slowly disappearing behind the lunar limb after 2nd contact and re-appearing before the second diamond ring and a few prominences too.

This one's a video of the whole event shot by someone using the same model camera I was using. Now why didn't I think of that?

I wasn't aware you could take snaps while shooting a video (note to self: RTFM ) Truth is I'd only had the camera a few days and it never occured to me to shoot a video so I'm glad someone did

This one's a great slideshow put together by 2 young guys onboard with many contributing photographers' shots. We got to see this in the theatre the day after. At least 3 shots of mine made it into the slide show but I'm not sure if any of the totality shots are mine. There were much better totality shots contributed by people with far more skill and better equipment

After watching those and a few others on youtube I guess it really did happen after all

[Astronut]

Doh - just realised the video shot by the guy using the same camera as mine wasn't the same camera after all. Mine's a Canon SX200 IS, his is a Canon SX1 IS (a DSLR, totally different). :)

[yeti monster]

A fantastic account of a truely fantasic experiance. You were so lucky to have the clear sky. We had some cloud cover in WuHan, which meant no decent corona, but we didn't miss out. I'm hoping to be able to travel to Australia for 2012. By then I should have amassed plenty of decent kit with which to recored and observe.

[NickH]

Superb stuff...loved working on your shots too!

[Astronut]

Just posted some of my cousin Bill's shots in the imaging section. Way more detail visible

http://stargazerslounge.com/imaging-lunar-solar/86749-total-eclipse-mv-costa-classica.html#post1280746

[NickH]

Coliea, really sorry to hear you missed it, and so near to where we were in Hangzhou, on West Lake, where we saw it.. bizarre microclimate the lake produced must have just worked.

Still..we didn't have the lovely Dr Green with us... :-)