On 2006 March 29th finally a total solar eclipse took place in a region which could easily be reached from central Europe.
The shadow of the moon first hit the earth on the Brasilian coast. It then crossed the Atlantic ocean and Africa before it brought
the show of a total eclipsed sun across the Mediterranean Sea to the Turkish Riviera. From here the moons shadow went on to the Black Sea and Russia before it finally left earth in Mongolia.
As I was not able to observe a total solar eclipse since the one in Germany in 1999, it was clear that this one would be the best chance in years.
Unfortunately the circumstances were not so well and it took until early March before I could book my trip to Turkey.
Together with a large group of amateur astronomers from Hamburg and Münster I made the hotel and resort
"Barbaross Pasha's Beach Club" between Manavgat and Alanya
my observation spot. Almost the whole hotel was in the hand of our astronomer group from March 26th till April 2nd. And even the hand full of normal tourists were soon integrated into the big event.
The days before and after the eclipse were filled with the search for the best observation spot, meetings with other amateur astronomers and excursions to the near cities and historical sites. Those have been visits of the historical town Side and the ancient theater at Aspendos, as well as trips to Manavgat, Alanya and Antalya.
At the end it showed up that the week at the Turkish Riviera was way to short to realize all plans.
On the big day of the total solar eclipse most observers were really nervous. I started my day with some swimming in the hotel pool, before I started to setup my equipment at the observing site.
Well in advance of the moons 1st contact with the solar disc everything was ready for the show on a perfect clear sky and at pleasant temperatures of 25°C. After the first photos were made, it showed up quite soon in a series of equally exposed images that the sky was already getting darker.
In the same manner the air temperature dropped more and more and with 15°C during totality it has gotten really cold.
The final 5 minutes before totality brought a hectic rush in the group of observers. During that short period of time there were some many impressions for a single observer that it was hard to perceive everything. One could see the crescent of the sun shrink more and more. In addition it got dramatically darker. Than the planet Venus appeared in the dark sky and the sea wind calmed
down.
Well in advance of the 2nd contact the moons shadow could be seen in its final approach over the Mediterranean Sea. The solar filters were than removed from the telescopes and photolenses very quick and even with a prominent crescent sun almost a minute before 2nd contact the suns corona was visible all arround the dark moon. Like a beautiful diamond ring, the sun shine from a deep blue sky.
As the lunar limb eclipsed more and more of the glaring solar surface, deep red prominences, huge eruptions of gas on the solar limb, got visible. Finally only very few sun rays were falling through the deepest lunar valleys breaking up the diamond ring into a string of pearls, the Baily's Beads.
Those last rays finally gave way for a beautiful whitish shimmering corona.
That was the 2nd contact and suddenly it was dark like a full moon night, but during midday. All arround the horizon showed up in yellow and orange twilight colors which changed over a bright sky-blue towards an extrem dark blue near the sun. The solar corona itself showed 4 big coronal rays in the direction of the solar equator, whereas in the direction of the solar poles very fine lines could be observed. Alltogether the view of a minimum corona resembled that of a butterfly.
I myself had the impression that the 3.5 minutes of totality were quite long. So I hand no trouble with getting through my photo series
and even visually observing the corona and the surrounding landscape with great attention. Sometime a huge group of prominences showed up at the lower limb of the solar disc. That group got bigger and bigger, heralding the end of totality and the 3rd contact.
As finally sun rays were falling again through deep lunar valley towards earth showing up as
Baily's Beads, the strain of all observers vanished. The diamond ring at 3rd contact was again observed for more than a minute and also the moons shadow could be seen again, now rushing away towards Russia.
During the now following 2nd partial phase some observers already started packing up their equipment or sighting the first digital photos. Until deep into that night and during the following days one could see only happy faces in the whole hotel and all across the Turkish Riviera as everybody was enjoying their final holidays.
Technical Details:
a.) analog photos
Camera: Canon EOS 50E
Main optics: 500mm Maksutov plus 2x teleconverter
Focal length: 1000mm
Focal ratio: 11.2
Film: Fuji Provia 100F slide film
b.) digital photos
Camera: Olympus Camedia 5060WZ
Focal length: 5.7-22.9mm
Focal ratio: 2.8-8.0
Dates of the eclipse:
Location: Barbaross Pasha's Beach Club, Turkey
Coordinates:
36°40'.18 North, 31°38'.45 East
Sunrise: 03:44:22 UTC
1st contact: 09:38:37 UTC
2nd contact: 10:55:19 UTC
middle of eclipse: 10:57:09 UTC
3rd contact: 10:58:53 UTC
4th contact: 12:13:51 UTC
Duration of totality: 3:34min
Sunset: 16:12:46 UTC
The following pictures document the total solar eclipse. In addition there are some impressions of the hotel as well as some of the places we visited at the Turkish Riviera.
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