I have been to 4 total solar eclipses.
1. Port Moresby, PNG in 1983. It was perfectly clear.
2. Big Island, Hawaii, 1991. It was cloudy.
3. Woomera, SA, 2002. It was perfectly clear, but too short.
4. Side, Turkey, 2006. It was almost perfectly clear and nice and long.
The main thing to look at is the weather prospects. See: http://www.clocktower.demon.co.uk/ec...012t/index.htm and http://home.cc.umanitoba.ca/~jander/clouds/november.png http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/map/cl...lim_avg1.shtml
Also be mobile so you can drive to a better location if need be.
I suggest we also have an IIS astrocamp near Cairns before or after the 14/11/2012 eclipse to look at the northern milky way.
Only one Mike, no, that is actually two, one when i was about 20, gee, that's ages ago, about 1980's, and one from my place looking due West when it was at Ceduna.
Here a couple of pic's i took standing on the neighbours roof with a Pentax Camera, and 1000mm lens, on a tripod.
I've never seen a Total S.E.
Only seen a Partial S.E, but it blew me away.
We had bushfires in the area at the time which acted as a natural filter.
I had to climb a silo to get this photo, a bit scary trying to hold the camera and onto dear life too.
Here are daily solar exposure maps for 13/11/2006 and 14/11/2006.
It looks like a 60% chance of clear skies on the Cairns coast according to the www.bom.gov.au statistics.
The third image shows shadows under a bush at Side (pronounced c-day) Turkey.
Hi Mike, I have seen only the one in 1976. My Dad and I travelled from Canberra to Bombala and even though it was cloudy it was still an amazing event. We recorded the event on a Super 8 movie camera and watched what we could through the C8 which was brand new then.
Eclipses can have an amazing effect on people, my Dad still used to mention it and have a chat about how amazing it was right up until he passed away a few years ago. He used to say his favourite bit was watching the cows in the next paddock all get ready for bed and then all getting up again a little while later, he thought it was very amusing.
I am aiming to be in Cairns in 2012 and would urge anyone who has never seen an eclipse in real life as they say to see at least one in their lifetime.
You will not be sorry.
In Sydney we get a 60% partial in 2012, but that will be nothing like the total. I agree a must to get there in person. I'm already laying the ground work with my family
hi mike,
i had the honor to view a total years ago somewhere around1972 or 73. ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE. i've seen several partials but they don't hold a candle to a total. get there by any meann possible!
I saw the 1976 total solar eclipse in Bombala with three friends. (I didn't bump into Ric though ... no IIS ... not even the internet then).
There's no doubt about it, this phenomenon needs to be experienced to be believed! I'd advise anyone that it's worth travelling halfway round the world to see one.
We were in the township itself a few hours before the eclipse, but the clouds seemed to be getting worse. About half-an-hour before totality we thought it looked clearer some distance from town and jumped into our hired slide-on campervan and madly drove in that direction.
Set up our 4-inch junk reflector in a field about 5 km out of town with a home-made projection screen held in place with a bent stick, prayed for some clear sky, and tried out our bits of (no. 3?) welder's glass.
Five minutes before totality, it looked pretty grim, but one lass who was with us decided an 'eclipse dance' was in order (the opposite of a rain dance) and guess what ... it worked!
Due to this bit of jiggery-pokery we didn't miss one of nature's oddest, most spectacular happenings: sunset all around the horizon, birds confused, a definite drop in temperature; cows deciding it was time to call it a day, and a great view of the brighter stars and planets. Luckily we were on a bit of a hill and I recall seeing the umbral shadow racing towards us over the nearby properties. There were no trees around, so didn't manage to see any 'pinhole' projections, and I also looked for and couldn't see any 'shadow bands' ref: http://www.earthview.com/tutorial/effects.htm
It was all over an a minute or so, but left a lasting impression for life.
Interestingly, when we returned to Bombala, everyone we spoke to said they'd been clouded out .. so, Ric, were you in town or just outside it?
No photos to post - all on Kodachromes and not yet scanned.
Last edited by okiscopey; 22-02-2007 at 12:09 PM.
Reason: minor addition
I vaguely remember my class being trooped outside to observe an eclipse when I was in Primary School.
But I can't find any record of an eclipse, partial or otherwise, occuring in Brisbane between 1969-1974.
If any Brisbanites here can remember back that far, I'd be grateful for some info on this.
Hi Mike, we were just out of town with the group from the Canberra Astronomical Society. From memory we missed the start due to cloud but caught everything else perfectly.
I was the hippy looking 16 year old standing next to a red Torana SLR 5000 with a brand new C8 orange tube and a homemade mylar filter on it with a Hanimex Super 8 movie camera on a tripod.
I was the hippy looking 16 year old standing next to a red Torana SLR 5000 with a brand new C8 orange tube and a homemade mylar filter on it with a Hanimex Super 8 movie camera on a tripod.
Oh yes! Of course I remember seeing you .. and the the Torana ... and the C8!
That was a quick reply .. I hope you're NOT looking at IIS during WORK hours like me!
Yep I remember the total in Melbourne in 76..I used a KMart focal super 8 movie camera to record the event..it was eerie to see the shadow move away!!!..I have the film somewhere...must look for it!
I vaguely remember my class being trooped outside to observe an eclipse when I was in Primary School.
But I can't find any record of an eclipse, partial or otherwise, occuring in Brisbane between 1969-1974.
If any Brisbanites here can remember back that far, I'd be grateful for some info on this.
On 20/6/74 there was an eclipse that was 39% in Brisbane at about 3pm.
I've got a 6000 word essay on my trip to Ceduna lying around....
I've seen several partial eclipses, can't remember them all.
I saw an annular that passed over Perth just after sunrise in 1991.
I saw the 1999 annular eclipse that passed over Greenough, just south of Geraldton.
And I made it to Ceduna in 2002. That was just mindblowing, there are so many things about totality that just can't be easily described with words. I remember when I first looked up at the eclipsed sun and the corona that I finally understood why people would be so terribly afraid of such a thing. It's like being transported to another world, as it is neither night or day and the animal instinct in you mind starts to tell you it's not natural. But the diamond ring at the end was breathtakingly stunning. You just have to see at least one total eclipse in your life. You'll soon find out why eclipse chasers will head to the ends of the earth to see one!
Last edited by Blue Skies; 22-02-2007 at 07:02 PM.
Reason: Remembered another eclipse - I've seen a few!
I saw a Total Solar Eclipse in Sydney as a youngin' but I can't remember what year (probably between 1964 and 1970) and I saw the Total Solar Eclipse from Melbourne back about 1976 I think it was.
I watched the reflection of it in the window of a building (I thought that would be safer than directly watching it ).
I have also seen 3 partials Solar eclipses, and 2 full lunar eclipses and 2 or 3 partial lunar eclipses.
