So Mrs Prosequi and I are in Port Douglas in far North Queensland to see a total eclipse of the sun!
She decided some years ago that it would be a cool birthday present (for which I, of course, would have to pay ) and she was right. The cool thing is, Port Douglas and surrounds is one of the most beautiful places on earth. Tropical heaven. Stunning rain forests, waterfalls, mountains wreathed in mist, stunning restaurants - and a freakin’ solar eclipse!
Even if the eclipse gets clouded out, it has been amazing. The winning, it burns!
Mrs P is obviously a keeper, with this stroke of genius.
Counting down for 6.38 tomorrow am, local time ( about 12.5 hours from now).
I’m very jealous! I’ve posted baout my eclipse experiences on here before, but anyway… I managed to see three total eclipses in the space of three and a half years: August 1999 (Hunagry), June 2001 (Zambia) and December 2002 (Australia). So it’s almost 10 years since I experienced one and I want to do it again! Unfortunately there haven’t been any easily accessible ones for a while, at least not within reach of me here in the UK. I have vague plans to go to the Faroe Islands (somewhere I’ve wanted to go for a while anyway) to try and catch one in March 2015, but it’s hardly the best place to expect clear skies!
You can probably pick up a set of really cheap eclipse glasses at a local museum gift shop. I picked some up for the Transit of Venus. They were about US$2.00 each so I think I bought three of four of them. Ya know, just in case I ever feel like going out and starting at the sun.
I know where I want to be on August 12, 2026: drink in hand at a sunset bar in Ibiza, where the total eclipse will occur right before sunset (the sun will still be more than half eclipsed as it sets). That would be awesome.
Less than a year after that, there will be another total eclipse also visible from Spain, but the longest duration (over 6 minutes!) will be from near Luxor in Egypt. Another cool setting, and clear skies very likely!
Total solar eclipses are awesome. I saw my first one in 2002 in Australia, and the sun was setting as the eclipse was ending. There were two “horns” projecting above the horizon at the end.
I also saw the 2006 one in Libya – an excellent experience, not only for the high noon eclipse but for getting to meet some incredibly friendly and welcoming Libyans. Then there was China and last year in the Pacific Ocean near French Polynesia. I’m hooked!
Pictures give you a general idea, but nothing compares to the in-person experience.
It’s now 3.00 am. I have just got up to get ready. Am thoroughly excited, but anxious about the weather. Can’t tell yet if we will have clear skies. It rained last night…
Noel, I hope the weather remains clear for you. I kept my solar filtered glasses specially from the transit of Venus back in June and brought them into the office with me this morning. However the cloud has rolled in this morning in Sydney, so I think it’s unlikely I’ll be able to use them.
I’ve been saving up to make a trip to the States for this for ten years. Five more to go. I figured if there’s things you want to see before you die, you’d better make plans. I’m thinking Nashville.
The path crosses the Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming, which looks like it would be a spectacular backdrop. Not sure what the chances of clear skies there would be though?
The magnitude of eclipse is not, of course, anywhere near linear as a measure of awesomeness. An 80% eclipse is not very much more awesome than a 40% eclipse, whereas a 100% eclipse is several million percent more awesome than a 99% eclipse.
) and she was right. The cool thing is, Port Douglas and surrounds is one of the most beautiful places on earth. Tropical heaven. Stunning rain forests, waterfalls, mountains wreathed in mist, stunning restaurants - and a freakin’ solar eclipse!
