22 July Total solar eclipse

vangoh · Post by **vangoh** » Mon Jul 20, 2009 9:22 pm

I like this website, it shows the graphic of the eclipse in Singapore. like 4%(?) and even then i'm wondering if it's an overestimation of 4%...

http://www.eclipse.org.uk/eclipse/04120 ... 1_anim.gif
http://www.eclipse.org.uk/eclipse/04120 ... 9Jul21.png

Anyhoo, they have a list by the city. (shows how much we are missing in sg. hehe)

http://www.eclipse.org.uk/eclipse/0412009/

rlow · Post by **rlow** » Wed Jul 22, 2009 11:03 am

Here are some simple quick photos poorly taken through my handphone just now. We observed from our hotel courtyard in Hangzhou.

UPDATE:

22 July 2009 Total Solar Eclipse at HangZhou, China - An Observation Report

INTRODUCTION
At the start of this year, I had never thought I would be going to watch a total solar eclipse. Furthermore, as a solely visual observer all the while, I never imagine I would be take images of it. Then sometime in April 2009, I suddenly felt an urge to witness it for my first experience. Maybe it was due to an opportunity to acquire and use a PST, and Mr Chia (Superiorstream) showed me his beautiful images taken through his SolarMax 90. So I did a bit of research and found that this was going to be one of the longest total solar eclipse in this century, and visible in many major cities in China. The probability of not having cloud cover during the eclipse was only just above 50%, but I took the gambit and booked the flight by AirAsia airlines to HangZhou from 18 to 22 July 2009, for my wife and myself. Even if the sky was cloudy, I thought, at least we would be able to do some sightseeing in Hangzhou. Clifford and Sandeep, his wife and son also joined us for this trip to see the eclipse.

MY SIMPLE SOLAR SETUP
I suppose we were quite lucky to see the whole solar eclipse and totality. It was my first experience and I was totally unprepared. I only tested my 80mm scope on the day (18 Jul 09) we left for China. That morning, the sun was up and I decided to fit on the sola filter onto the SV80 finder. I found it was too loose and I rummaged around my home for some foam and rubber band to ensure a tight fit. I tried out a few eyepieces and decided to just bring the 20XW. With focal length of 300mm, the 20XW gives 15x magnification which gives an image scale that is big enough and yet easy to track. Some people may think a higher magnification would be better, but I felt that 15x gives a sizable image scale with sufficient details and high contrast, and less adjustment is needed for usage on a non-tracking mount especially for public viewing. The ota was mounted on a Orion slow-motion Alt-az adapter fixed onto a Slik Sprint Mini GM mount. The whole setup weighs less than 2.5 kg.

TOURING HANGZHOU
The four days prior to the eclipse had clear blue skies and we were full of hope that we would be able to witness the eclipse. We spend the next three days (Sunday to Tuesday) touring around the famous tourist attractions in Hangzhou, and we enjoyed the local delicacies at the Chinese restaurants. Then the day before the eclipse, the weather reports was very negative… overcast skies and rain was predicted for 22 July and we were all crestfallen. On the morning of the eclipse, the sky was indeed overcast and we could not even see the sun. Over breakfast, I discussed with Clifford and Sandeep and we decided, in view of the poor weather, not to head for the West Lake as originally planned. We thought of watching the eclipse telecast on TV and maybe try to setup our equipment if the sky would clear just before 2nd contact. When we walked out of the restaurant after breakfast, we saw that the sky has thinned out and the sun was visible. It was 8.20am then and 1st contact has just begun!

SOLAR ECLIPSE NOTES
So we quickly set up our equipment at the hotel central courtyard where the hotel guests and staff had gathered to watch the eclipse. Clifford and Sandeep set up their DSLRs with telephoto lens and started taking photographs. While setting up my scope, I noticed and warned some people who were not aware of the health risk: two guys were using x-ray films to observe the eclipse, while one guy was taking photos through his DSLR without a filter, thinking that the sporadic clouds and using “LiveView” was good enough. Once my scope was set up, I observed the crescent shaped crimson sun at 15x magnification with darkening limb, no sunspots, and the Moon’s ragged southern lunar limb. Many people looked through my scope and some tried to take photos through the 80mm scope with their handphone camera but they were unsuccessful. I was not planning to take any photos but I thought why not give it a try. I took out my handphone, a Sony Ericsson C902 and my first few shots were not very sharp and focused on the clouds. I tinkered around with the camera control functions and managed to take some decent photos after adjusting the exposure and focus. It was also essential to hold the handphone motionless at the correct position and height to take each shot.

NOTES ON TOTALITY
As 2nd contact approaches in the last few minutes, the daylight started to get dim, the air cools down and we could feel the wind suddenly blowing into the courtyard. As the sky was still quite cloudy, no shadow bands were seen, and as we were in an enclosed area, we were not able to see the Moon shadow approaching. However, the whole place looks unnaturally dim and eerie, and the crowd was getting visibly excited with a crescendo of voices. After the sun was reduced to a thin Moon-like crescent, it then started to shrivel into an unnatural thin curved line that gets shorter by the minute. At this point the sun was just getting comfortable to be seen with the naked eye, and as the seconds passed, we saw the Bailey Beads appeared, then the ‘two diamonds’, then just ‘one diamond’ and the corona ‘ring’ appeared to give the diamond ring effect. Then the ‘diamond’ disappeared and the corona brightens up! The onset of totality was a very dramatic and emotional experience, and everyone exclaimed and cheered when it happened. I got my wife to watch 2nd contact through the 80mm scope while I watch it naked eye. With the naked eye some wispy trails of the corona could be discerned, while through the 80mm scope at 15x, the solar corona was more pronounced and there were two beautiful pinkish arched prominences at the 2 o’clock position. The left arch was taller and joined to the right arch to form a “M” shape like the MacDonald’s logo. Just before 3rd contact, I suddenly noticed the reddish pink chromosphere appearing, with thin finger-like spicules spreading around half the solar circumference. I gave a warning that 3rd contact was approaching, and soon after, the diamond ring effect appeared, then the Bailey Beads, and totality was over.

AFTERTHOUGHTS
The crowd thinned out and scattered after totality and most people were no longer interest to see the partial eclipse. We continued to observe for a while, and the jagged southern Moon limb was also visible after 3rd contact through the scope. In all, I managed to take about 34 photographs, including five shots during totality, and quite a few people requested for copies of my photos which were transmitted to them via Bluetooth.
In all, this was truly a great unforgettable experience, especially for those of us watching the total solar eclipse for the first time. I suppose we were quite lucky, as many other cities in China were clouded out and the eclipse was not clearly visible. For those of you who have not seen it before, I would think you should try to see one, as this event certainly ranks as one of the natural wonders that one should see at least once in your lifetime.

blackhicks · Post by **blackhicks** » Wed Jul 22, 2009 11:13 am

Thanks for sharing, nice pictures, here is raining whole morning.......

Post by **weixing** » Wed Jul 22, 2009 12:23 pm

Hi,
From the Channel U live simulcast, it seem weather on most place in china are not that good, so you are quite lucky leh.

Look like you are having a good time there.

By the way, did you go and see the Qiantang river tidal bore??

Thanks for sharing the photo.

Have a nice day.

icewhitecafe · Post by **icewhitecafe** » Thu Jul 23, 2009 10:33 am

There will be a repeat telecast of the 3 hour CCTV live reports this Sunday 10am on Channel U

jermng · Post by **jermng** » Thu Jul 23, 2009 10:39 am

I wonder who will watch that??? hahaha ..... I'm not saying it's bad, but its kinda boring watching a repeat telecast of a shadow SLOWLY covering the Sun right? ;) It's different when it's LIVE.

Channel U seriously got no programmes to broadcast??

Post by **VinSnr** » Thu Jul 23, 2009 11:11 am

jermng wrote:I wonder who will watch that??? hahaha ..... I'm not saying it's bad, but its kinda boring watching a repeat telecast of a shadow SLOWLY covering the Sun right? ;) It's different when it's LIVE.

Channel U seriously got no programmes to broadcast??

Well, the LIVE one was at 8am yesterday.....think a lot of people going to work then, so they just repeat it for those who can't watch it at 8am.

I did watch the 8am one.....took half day leave just to watch it. Kind of good because they showed various cities starting from ChengDu, Wuhan, Hang Zhou and a few more cities. It was cloudy and raining in a few cities, so if anyone made a trip to China, it is almost a gamble because you may end up in those cloudy and raining cities.

BTW, the CCTV cameraman got quite good filters. Can zoom until very close and can see the flares during totality, the diamond ring, etc, etc. The advantage of this broadcast is that CCTV (and the TV audiences) can see it from the best China city since they have quite a few to choose from at the same time.

icewhitecafe · Post by **icewhitecafe** » Thu Jul 23, 2009 12:19 pm

jermng wrote:I wonder who will watch that??? hahaha ..... I'm not saying it's bad, but its kinda boring watching a repeat telecast of a shadow SLOWLY covering the Sun right? ;) It's different when it's LIVE.

Channel U seriously got no programmes to broadcast??

It was not just about looking at the sun and moon..

For the layman, the programme also explained why/how eclipses happen, and provided some background info about the china cities... There was one part they did a traditional dance which was performed during solar eclipses in the olden days...

Clifford60 · Post by **Clifford60** » Thu Jul 23, 2009 10:48 pm

My first attempt taking the solar eclipse, taken at Hangzhou together with Richard. In fact the totality pictures were over and details lost, need pp to reduce the brightness.

chrisyeo · Post by **chrisyeo** » Thu Jul 23, 2009 11:27 pm

Amazing, Clifford and Richard!

Really lucky for you to get clear weather in Hangzhou. Looks like it was the best of the major cities in China. Shanghai was clouded over and I drove to the outskirts of Hangzhou where I managed to see most of totality but with cloud. My first solar eclipse! Missed the first moment of totality but managed just to capture a few shots. Here's a quick post. Will follow with a report later. There was a 2 o'clock prominence and from the TV, there were 4 bailey's beads at 2nd Contact.