by Chris Malicki
from
Scope magazine of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada – Toronto
Centre
Sept/Oct 1990
After witnessing the solar eclipse in Mindanao in March 1988, my wife, Elizabeth, and I could not bear waiting more than three long years to Mexico in July ‘91. We decided that we had to be in Finland on July 22, 1990 for the next total eclipse. Because of the poor chance of seeing the eclipse from the ground, we joined Virginia Roth’s Scientific Expeditions to view totality from the air.
Thus, on July 22 at 4:52 a.m. we were aloft at 35,000 feet above southeastern Finland in one of three Finnair DC 9’s that rendezvoused with the moon’s shadow. The group of ninety people included such notables as Jay Pasachoff, Fred Espenak, Fr. Ron Royer and Leif Robinson (editor of Sky & Telescope). The morning had dawned clear in Helsinki, but a low cloudbank obscured the one degree high sun during totality there. From our plane high above the clouds, it also appeared that most of Finland would not see totality due to the clouds.
Shortly before totality from the right side of the plane, we witnessed the unforgettable sight of the moon’s shadow descending from space into the earth’s atmosphere and first touching the surface at the Gulf of Finland. It had the appearance of an incredible black cone falling from the sky.
Only one minute later the umbra reached our plane, and we rushed to the left side to see the first diamond ring disappear into total eclipse. The eclipsed sun stood only a few degrees above the cloud tops with bright Jupiter close to the upper right. Two enormous prominences were visible during all of totality at nine and ten o’clock. The corona was small but extremely complex with numerous spicules, a large curved streamer at the two o’clock position and a very obvious gap in the corona at three o’clock. All too soon the second diamond ring flashed forth and we saw the shadow rush away into Russia.
It was overwhelming. We were stunned speachless. Now we wait impatiently till July 11, 1991.