Klipsi's Galapagos Cruise & Total Solar Eclipse 8 April 2005 with
Astronomical Tours
click thumbs for large view.
Hi-res images avail on demand
klipsi@bluewin.ch
scroll down for text report and a few more images
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W 109° 30' 11" , S 01° 19' 33"
this was our position at 21h15 UTC on 8 April.
Somewhere in the Pacific Ocean, just south of the equator.
We had left the Galapagos on April 3rd evening.
Sailed west nonstop.
Watched the waning crescent Moon get smaller each morning.
Till April 8 the New Moon would pass precisely in front of the Sun.
Total Eclipse !
The day started with overcast sky, rain.
It looked bad.
Nobody was smiling.
All were depressed.
Sailing so far and so long, to miss the eclipse ?
No, this would not be.
Luckily, the weather now is not the weather then.
Airmasses move. Winds blow. Clouds reposition.
By early afternoon we could see the Sun, filtered through clouds.
Partial eclipse moved in, and gradually we were approaching the total eclipse.
The captain was steering our ship to the centerline , to arrive there at the perfect moment.
The zone of total eclipse was only 22km wide !
We hit the bull's eye.
10 minutes before totality the last clouds disappeared from the Sun - clear view !
The sky got darker and darker.
Venus is visible just above the Sun even before totality, and so is the corona.
Baily's beads...
Diamond ring..
Prominences...
Chromosphere..
TOTALITY !!!!!
Dark blue sky.
Beautiful corona.
Taking a few photos.
Hardly time to watch it.
30 seconds later, the show's over.
4 days to sail back to the Galapagos.
Darn , this eclipse was way too short... Next total eclipse, in 2006, will reach 4 minutes.
I look forward to it.
Klipsi
the Moon 1.5 days before eclipse :
diamondring videostills by Greg Shanos :
more wildlife from the Galapagos :
see also:
report and images at :
ultimatechase.com
moonglow
live-eclipse
live from
panama
NASA eclipse info & maps
shadow-chasers