Joe has described the conditions on Svalbard and I readily agree with his comments. It was bitterly cold; - 18 deg C at the site I was at and some measured the temp drop during the eclipse as a further loss of 7 deg. Keeping equipment running and operating that equipment in such an extreme environment is quite a challenge. It is amazing that Svalbard is accessible given that at 78 degrees North, it is much closer to the North Pole than the Australian Antarctic bases are to the South Pole.
Congratulations to Joe on his fine image in the previous post.
I had trouble with my telephoto setup so did not get any useful corona images.
But I did get some good wide angle images – see sample attached. I will put the series together as a timelapse.
Early in the eclipse week I spent some time in the Longyearbyen school talking to a number of classes about the eclipse. They invited me to go with some of the high school groups to observe the eclipse some distance out of town by snowmobile. It was great sharing the eclipse with them.
The polar air was crystal clear. I have not seen a TSE in any clearer air. The view of the corona, chromosphere and prominences after second contact were simple mind blowing. It was a spectacular eclipse in an amazing and unforgettable environment.
Terry
Terry that's a great image. I'm sure it was an amazing experience.
This would have been on the northern side of Adventdalen/ Fjorden, with the airport across the water? We observed a very deep Partial from the hill behind it on 1 August 2008 and could see hints of the Umbra way off in the distance to the north.
Special place.
Hi Mirko.
Thanks for the comment.
You have indeed nailed the location.
It is on the other side of the fiord from Longyearbyen and further to the north.
In the image, the lights of Longyearbyen (on due to the eclipse) can be seen below the eclipsed Sun with the lights of the airport to the right.
Location was: 78° 17' 8"N, 15° 33' 58"E.
Indeed a special place.
Terry
