Annular Solar Eclipse, May 20 2012, Reno, Nevada, USA

[kohjb]

Hi everyone,

Thought I'd share my Eclipse experience in Reno. Simply put, it was just awesome!

Well, first off, it wasn't really in Reno. On scanning the weather statistics (cloud cover in particular), I looked for a site that was (among many other things) on the centre line, affords a long enough eclipse duration, and had the highest probability of NO CLOUDS. I found this very interesting lake near Reno, that had only 50% cloud cover statistically, lower than its surrounding area. The lake is called Pyramid Lake and I figured being on the east coast of the lake would be best as the Sun would be setting in the West at the time of the eclipse.

On further investigation, it was disappointing to find out that the lake is closed to the public - as it is on native Indian territory, and the reservation including the lake area is off-limits. If you can see the lake, you are on the reservation, says one website.

More searching (by my wife and partner-in-crime) revealed that there was going to be a festival - called the Symbiosis Gathering, at the lake. If anyone has heard of Burning Man, Woodstock, or just hippies, well, this was their event. They have a HUGE following. The organisers had obtained permission from the Indians, known as the Paiute Tribe, to use their land on the lakeside for this event. It was too good to be true, so we signed up for it, not really knowing what we'd be in for.

From the city of Reno, it takes about 45 minutes to drive to an access dirt road, and from there, another 30 minutes driving at a boringly slow 10mph, winding through the country side, to the event grounds. The lake itself is a beautiful shimmering blue, with a few small islands in it, with one shaped like a Pyramid (hence the name of the lake). The event is HUGE, just to walk from the car park to the event site takes 20 minutes. And then again, the stages (where mind-numbing music is played) are spaced far apart. The scale is just incredible.

Most participants check in to this 4 day event and stay throughout. They bring their camping gear, tents, sleeping bags, etc. They don't leave. That's not what we were prepared for, so we had to obtain a special pass to go in and out of the grounds.

Suffice to say that the eclipse itself went perfect! A practically cloudless sky, heart-thumping music in the background, and the friendliest people you could ever meet (think "peace dude, much love"). Here are some pictures of the eclipse and of the event, and if anyone would like more details, just let me know!

Best regards!
Joo Beng.

[kohjb]

Another "bonus" astronomical sight was seeing rainbow colours in the clouds. I thought I was either dreaming, had oil on my glasses or my lenses somehow. But when I could photograph the colours, I knew they had to be "real". This can typically be seen as a halo around the Sun, but because there were only a few blobs of clouds, it was difficult to make out the arc. I had to differentiate this effect from other similar atmospheric effects like rainbows and by the angular distance from the Sun and the order of colours, but I think it's called a solar corona (not to be confused with the Sun's corona). The first picture shows the angle from the Sun as about 7-10 degrees.

[kohjb]

Finally, here are some eclipse photos. These two are the before and after shots. It was relatively cloudless, but I liked these two because the clouds added a surreal effect - photographed through a Thousand Oaks filter.

[kohjb]

There were 3 sun spots that day, not really spectacular, but at least much better than the featureless Sun during the 2010 annular eclipse.

The annular eclipse itself was so perfect at the moment of maximum eclipse that it looks almost faked. The annulus is slightly larger this time since the Moon is relatively further away from the Earth.

[kohjb]

Here's a shot with my camera. I brought along 2 kits : First was a Canon 60D + EF70-200mm f/2.8L ISII lens with a 1.4x telecompressor. The second was my trusty William Optics 66mm Fluorite, with a Canon 550D at prime focus. Both were using Thousand Oaks filters.

[Bergkamp_]

thanks for the review~! Nice! Hope you had enjoyed it!!

[Mariner]

Envy man. Look forward to your transit shots too.

[Davegn]

Wow! Lovely photo of the sun!
Thanks joo beng for sharing!

[swimaniac]

Great write up Joo Beng!

Only thing missing is your bell bottoms, long hair, round rim sunglasses.

[Gary]

Wonderful report! Thanks for sharing!

Was watching the live webcast from Reno Nevada via uStream. 40,000+ live viewers at its peak! A few seconds after the ring of fire appeared, the clouds came in! lol. But the clouds did manage to dissipate later showing the ring of fire again before the effect was gone.