Astro Trails Eclipse Articles

An eclipse of the Sun occurs when the orbit of the moon passes in front of the Sun as seen from the Earth. The shadow of the moon follows a narrow path on the surface of the Earth, bringing daytime darkness for a brief period and allowing observers to see a range of unusual natural phenomena. The most spectacular sight is a total solar eclipse, when the moon completely covers the Sun, with crimson prominences licking around the jet-black disk and streamers of the solar corona

There are five stages in a total solar eclipse:​ Partial eclipse begins (1st contact): The Moon becomes visible over the Sun's disk. It looks like the Moon has taken a bite out of the Sun. Total eclipse begins (2nd contact): The Moon covers the entire disk of the Sun. Observers in the Moon's umbral path may be able to see the diamond ring effect and Baily's beads just before totality. Totality and maximum eclipse: The Moon completely covers the disk of the Sun. Only the Sun's

When the Moon is at a more distant point of its orbit the Sun is not completely covered and a very small, bright circle or annulus remains visible around the moon. This is known as an annular eclipse and although it lacks the unique drama of a total eclipse, it is an unusual and interesting event particularly when it is possible to observe the effect of the declining light levels on wildlife. Astro Trails current eclipse projects can be viewed here Photo credit: Nick James #a

Success in observing an eclipse requires a mix of detailed research and, as far as the weather goes, an element of luck! You need to know the date of the eclipse, the track the shadow will follow and the time the sun will be eclipsed at each point along the track. You will need climate data for the track for that time of year to pick the most promising location for a clear sky. ​ The eclipse duration will be of shorter if your observation point is towards either end of the t

The Eclipse observation site ​On the day of the eclipse you will want to get to your observation site in good time before “first contact”. That is when the edge of the moon first touches the edge of the Sun. At this stage you will need a special viewer to look at the Sun as a curved 'bite' is taken from one side. Waiting for the Moon ​Tension starts to build as the moon progressively covers the Sun. The light level goes down, but at the same time your eyes adapt to the gra

Astro Trails current eclipse projects can be viewed here Antarctica - Total Solar Eclipse December 2021 Exmouth, Australia - Hybrid Solar Eclipse April 2023 Torreon, Mexico and Texas, USA - Total Solar Eclipse April 2024 Easter Island, Chile and Patagonia, Argentina - Annular Solar Eclipse October 2024 Greenland, Iceland and Spain - Total Solar Eclipse August 2026 #totalsolareclipse #whenisthenexteclipse #nexttotalsolareclipse #astrotrailseclipse #astrotrails

The total solar eclipse of 2020 December 14 started at sunrise in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, fortuitously reached its maximum duration of 2m 10s as it swept across a thin strip of south America and ended at sunset off the coast of Namibia. The centre of the umbral shadow swept across Chile and Argentina in less than 19 minutes and these were the only two countries where observation from land was possible. The weather prospects were generally better to the east of the An

The centre of the umbra of the 2019 July 2 Total Solar Eclipse first touched the Earth’s surface at 18:02 UTC in the Pacific, north east of New Zealand. It then crossed that vast ocean, crossing dry land only once at the tiny Oeno Island (a member of the Pitcairn group) before making landfall at La Serena on the Chilean coast at 20:40 UTC. The shadow crossed the continent of South America in four minutes lifting off the Earth at sunset just south of Buenos Aires. I was with a

With a long duration eclipse in prospect and a choice of two attractive locations, what could possibly go wrong? This was our biggest project to date, with groups travelling to both places. The longest duration was over the Mexican resorts at Baja California, which was easy to fix except for a shortage of flight seats. A flight chartered from an airline in Mexico nearly brought the plan to a halt when they failed to get the paperwork sorted for the flight resulting in a lo

This was always going to be a weather dependent eclipse with rapidly changing sunny gaps in large cumulous clouds. We flew in on a chartered flight on the morning of the eclipse, with a good view of the prevailing weather. Coaches were lined up at the airport and reports of “sunny spells” were coordinated, so we set off for the most promising. As the eclipse progressed, the clouds merged into a uniform dawn grey with the sun remaining hidden. The planet Venus appeared, a br

There were several destination options for this eclipse and based on weather data we selected a site on Banka Island, off the Indonesian Island of Sumatra and Davao, in the southern part of the Philippines. Banka Island was an easy short flight from Jakarta and there was a good hotel on the island. The observation site was a short run from the hotel and the sky was clear for the eclipse. The longer eclipse duration and exotic attractions of this part of Asia made for a large

Anticipating the likely weather conditions was quite an artform in those days, long before any sort of satellite aid. I spent some time in the library of the UK Met Office looking at historic reports from ships which sailed in those waters and the best prospects looked like an area on the north coast of Java, near the town of Surabaya. This was the largest group we had ever arranged but with help from the new Apple desk-top computers the administration worked flawlessly and

Every eclipse has different logistic obstacles and the 1981 event had plenty. As the track ran through the Soviet Union even getting weather data was not simple (are you spies..?) and when it was clear the best place was going to be in a closed region in Kazakhstan, the negotiations had to kick in early. All travel had to be set up through Intourist, the only outfit allowed to bring in foreigners so there was a mountain of paperwork and weeks of delays waiting for permission

I had driven over the road from Mombasa to Malindi some twenty years earlier when Kenya was still a colony and the road had aged no better than the rest of the country’s infrastructure. The plan was to observe the eclipse from the coast near Kilifi so we made some rapid changes to departure times to allow for the unpredictable Malindi Ferry and elephant size potholes in the roads. Every detail was in place the night before the eclipse, but then our coach disappeared – it appe