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Thanks guys for sharingSolar Eclipse in China TODAY
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Clifford60
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Great job! Thanks-
starfinder
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Congrats all round to Joo Beng and Andrew! Looks like you guys struck astro gold. Am sure you will remember this event for life.
Fantastic photos too! Tks for sharing them.
If you have the time, pls also describe your experiences of the event, e.g. the minutes leading up to totality, and then totality itself, the surroundings etc.
I might want to go to China for the totality in July next year. Saw the one in March 2006 in Turkey, which was great too.
Fantastic photos too! Tks for sharing them.
If you have the time, pls also describe your experiences of the event, e.g. the minutes leading up to totality, and then totality itself, the surroundings etc.
I might want to go to China for the totality in July next year. Saw the one in March 2006 in Turkey, which was great too.
"The universe is composed mainly of hydrogen and ignorance." -
jiahao1986
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Just got back from the trip, here upload two images of totality taken with wide angle lens.
Right after second contact
Right after third contact, our observing team in the picture
Right after second contact
Right after third contact, our observing team in the picture
Last edited by jiahao1986 on Mon Aug 04, 2008 3:45 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Clear skies please...
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jiahao1986
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Hi weixing,weixing wrote:Hi,
WOW! Nice super clear sky!!
Did you guys stay back for night observation?? The night sky should be fantastic with that type of super clear blue sky!!
Have a nice day.
Several days before the eclipse I took some milkyway shots at a grassland, the sky quality there is around mag. 22.2, below is one of the shots, I will upload more when I finish processing
Clear skies please...
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stormchaser
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Hello,
I guess the guys are busy processing the pictures, so I shall write a not-very-short report. I was in the same group with jiahao and tachyon and 2 other people, jinglei and srini, all of us had never seen a total solar eclipse before.
Venue: Wei Zi Xia in Yi Wu, Hami, Xinjiang.
Wei Zi Xia is a beautiful place to observe the eclipse, with mountains in the horizon and flat plains. We came the day before the eclipse, there were problems entering Yi Wu because the authorities were tightly regulating the traffic flow. We had to pay RMB300 per person, as well as get an entry pass for the car, just to enter the place. The people used that opportunity to try to squeeze as much money from us as possible, in terms of food and accomodation (expected for such places). However, we had a tent, so we camped in it somewhere near Gobi, spending RMB 0 for accomodation. Other people who went there were usually in tour groups, so they had their accomodation in army tents or in the locals' houses, cos the hotels in the Yi Wu town were too few/small to accomodate them all.
At the eclipse viewing site, there was a spanking new observatory, probably built just for the eclipse. The ob site we choose was not very far from the observatory, on a patch of elevated ground surrounded by nice scenery. That area Yi Wu/Hami supposedly had 76% chance of clear skies most of the time, and indeed it had clear skies.
During the eclipse day, however, the sky was clear everywhere except the part near the horizon where the sun will be setting. So imagine our horror as the sun started setting at the place where the clouds were concentrated and the eclipse drew near. Thank God first contact was not obstructed, but things didn't look too good when halfway between first contact and second contact the clouds obstructed the sun. After fervent prayers, the sky cleared in time for us to see the last slivers of the sun.
I was removing the solar filter from my eyes even during the time when we could see a teeny weeny sliver of the sun through the solar filter, thinking it was safe enough, but even that was blinding. makes you think of how blindingly bright the sun is. Only when you see the sun totally blocked in the solar filter, then it is safe to observe with your naked eye.
And then the magical moment happened, when the moon kissed the sun. absolutely beautiful. Everyone was shouting and rejoicing, especially after the tense moments where the clouds almost threatened to ruin our solar eclipse totality experience. The sky became dark, with a yellowish red glow in the horizon. Andrew was shouting, "filters off, filters off!", jiahao was shouting, "Bailey's beads, bailey's beads!" (but I/we couldn't see them with naked eyes), and I was screaming "diamond ring!! diamond ring!!" and srini was in maniac photo-taking mode. The diamond ring is really the most beautifully dazzling diamond ring that a girl could ever want (well I am qualified to say that
). We could see mercury and venus, the corona of the sun(beautiful!!!!!!!!!), etc (see andrew's and jiahao's and srini's pix). the whole atmosphere was surreal, like night during day, and of course everyone was screaming in excitement and absorbing as much of the mere 1:59 mins that we had for totality.
After the eclipse, we were all crazily high and reeling from the excitement. words cannot describe how crazily high we were. lol. Totality rox! Partial solar eclipses are no kick. its TOTALITY that rox! yeah total solar eclipses rox!!
From the news we saw the day after the eclipse, they said 20 000 people saw the eclipse at Wei Zi Xia. I'm not too sure about that, cos from our ob site, we could see many people spread out in the plains, but it wasn't squeezy at all, doesn't seem like 20 000 to me. The photos the media took were horrible. The pictures taken by our guys are much much better imho, so lets wait for them to process. Yet the photos just can't capture everything on how amazing and beautiful it was, but well its the best we can offer. wait for their reports too, and hopefully the pix will be out by A2008!!!
Next up, 2009 July 22, a dazzling max of 6mins 38s totality!!!! OMG OMG!!! Cannot miss!!!
I guess the guys are busy processing the pictures, so I shall write a not-very-short report. I was in the same group with jiahao and tachyon and 2 other people, jinglei and srini, all of us had never seen a total solar eclipse before.
Venue: Wei Zi Xia in Yi Wu, Hami, Xinjiang.
Wei Zi Xia is a beautiful place to observe the eclipse, with mountains in the horizon and flat plains. We came the day before the eclipse, there were problems entering Yi Wu because the authorities were tightly regulating the traffic flow. We had to pay RMB300 per person, as well as get an entry pass for the car, just to enter the place. The people used that opportunity to try to squeeze as much money from us as possible, in terms of food and accomodation (expected for such places). However, we had a tent, so we camped in it somewhere near Gobi, spending RMB 0 for accomodation. Other people who went there were usually in tour groups, so they had their accomodation in army tents or in the locals' houses, cos the hotels in the Yi Wu town were too few/small to accomodate them all.
At the eclipse viewing site, there was a spanking new observatory, probably built just for the eclipse. The ob site we choose was not very far from the observatory, on a patch of elevated ground surrounded by nice scenery. That area Yi Wu/Hami supposedly had 76% chance of clear skies most of the time, and indeed it had clear skies.
During the eclipse day, however, the sky was clear everywhere except the part near the horizon where the sun will be setting. So imagine our horror as the sun started setting at the place where the clouds were concentrated and the eclipse drew near. Thank God first contact was not obstructed, but things didn't look too good when halfway between first contact and second contact the clouds obstructed the sun. After fervent prayers, the sky cleared in time for us to see the last slivers of the sun.
I was removing the solar filter from my eyes even during the time when we could see a teeny weeny sliver of the sun through the solar filter, thinking it was safe enough, but even that was blinding. makes you think of how blindingly bright the sun is. Only when you see the sun totally blocked in the solar filter, then it is safe to observe with your naked eye.
And then the magical moment happened, when the moon kissed the sun. absolutely beautiful. Everyone was shouting and rejoicing, especially after the tense moments where the clouds almost threatened to ruin our solar eclipse totality experience. The sky became dark, with a yellowish red glow in the horizon. Andrew was shouting, "filters off, filters off!", jiahao was shouting, "Bailey's beads, bailey's beads!" (but I/we couldn't see them with naked eyes), and I was screaming "diamond ring!! diamond ring!!" and srini was in maniac photo-taking mode. The diamond ring is really the most beautifully dazzling diamond ring that a girl could ever want (well I am qualified to say that
). We could see mercury and venus, the corona of the sun(beautiful!!!!!!!!!), etc (see andrew's and jiahao's and srini's pix). the whole atmosphere was surreal, like night during day, and of course everyone was screaming in excitement and absorbing as much of the mere 1:59 mins that we had for totality.After the eclipse, we were all crazily high and reeling from the excitement. words cannot describe how crazily high we were. lol. Totality rox! Partial solar eclipses are no kick. its TOTALITY that rox! yeah total solar eclipses rox!!
From the news we saw the day after the eclipse, they said 20 000 people saw the eclipse at Wei Zi Xia. I'm not too sure about that, cos from our ob site, we could see many people spread out in the plains, but it wasn't squeezy at all, doesn't seem like 20 000 to me. The photos the media took were horrible. The pictures taken by our guys are much much better imho, so lets wait for them to process. Yet the photos just can't capture everything on how amazing and beautiful it was, but well its the best we can offer. wait for their reports too, and hopefully the pix will be out by A2008!!!
Next up, 2009 July 22, a dazzling max of 6mins 38s totality!!!! OMG OMG!!! Cannot miss!!!