Eclipse Chasing
Why chase eclipses?
Total solar eclipses are not just for astronomers. Of course, professional and amateur astronomers will be there with all their kit to study the eclipse but for those interested in travel there are many oppurtunities too. For example, this year would see you visit Siberia in Russia, 2009 would take you to China and 2010 you'd be off to Easter Island.
As every eclipse is different both in length and location you will not have the same experience for two consecutive eclipses. For example, for our trip to Ceduna on the coast of South Australia in 2002 totality was just over 30 seconds. At Jaghboub in Libya, totality was 4 minutes. At Ceduna, we witnessed landfall of the eclipse - ie we watched the eclipse approach Australia from the
Upcoming eclipses
The next total solar eclipse will be on the 1st of August 2008. Sadly, we will not be able to attend this eclipse but we have done a fair amount of planning for the 2009 Eclipse, which we will most likely view from China.
I've also started making investigations with a view to seeing the 2010, 2012, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2019 eclipses. But these latter three are very much in the preliminary stages and really are only being investigated at the moment.
Eclipse memories
As a child, I remember seeing a solar eclipse. At the time, I was interested in astronomy and utterly fascinated by the spectacle. As time progressed, however, my interest in astronomy waxed and waned until 2002 when I experienced "The Eclipse in the Outback" in Ceduna, South Australia with two friends and the Astronomical Association of Queensland. I was hooked again and vowed to see another, which I did in 2006 in Libya. And many more thereafter.
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