by Chris Malicki
from
Scope magazine of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada – Toronto
Centre
July/Aug 1992
The path of
the total solar eclipse of June 30, 1992 lay almost entirely over the
waters
of the South Atlantic Ocean. The only landfall was in the extreme
south of Brazil and in Uruguay where the eclipsed sun would sit only a
few degrees above the horizon just after sunrise. Combine this
with
probable clouds in the southern winter and observing prospects from the
ground were poor. Airborne observing seemed the best
option.
Thus, on the early morning of June 30, fifty people including three
Canadians
(my wife Elizabeth, Bill Jackson from Simcoe Ontario and I) boarded a
DC10
in Rio de Janeiro on the great adventure of flying into the lunar
shadow.
The expedition was organized by Amateur Astronomers Inc. of New Jersey
with Roger Tuthill as leader.
All aspects
of the flight were carefully planned to optimize observations.
All
seats on the left side of the plane were removed and we each had our
own
window with the sun directly outside. The windows had been
meticulously
cleaned inside and out as if they were the finest lenses. A
strict
schedule for take-off was adhered to (at 9:32 UT). Glen Schneider
a self-confessed “eclipse nut” and computer expert navigated the plane,
updating the pilot (who in his enthusiasm took his own pictures of the
eclipse during totality with the plane on auto-pilot) every ten minutes
as to speed and direction of the plane, taking into account the time,
windspeed,
altitude etc.
Thanks to
Glen’s superb navigation, we crossed the centre line at 11h25m UT at
lat
250 S. and long 270 40 min W. The result was a wonderful
eclipse
seen under crystal clear skies at 41,000 ft. with a whopping 6 min 14
sec
of totality (compared to 4 min 33 sec on the ocean surface).
There are
skeptics who think that experiencing an eclipse from a plane is a poor
alternative to ground observing. To them I would say that it sure
beats being clouded out. In addition, the edge of the moon’s
shadow
can be seen and photographed dramatically on the surface and clouds far
below. Telephoto shots on a tripod and videos are
successful.
But most important, the awesome beauty of the sun’s intricate corona
can
be savoured in all its glory. No photo can do the corona
justice.
Many veteran eclipse chasers don’t waste time with photos but spend
every
possible second looking at the corona.
The June 30
corona was as beautiful as any I’ve seen. There were two dominant
plumes 1 1/2o long at the
10:30
and 4:30 positions (in reference to a clock face) and two shorter ones
at 3 and 9 o’clock. A beautiful thin arrow-straight streamer
extended
2 1/2o towards Venus (which itself was only 50 from the
sun).
Polar brushes were very prominent at the north pole of the sun (at
7:30)
and less so at the south pole. Near the north pole a brilliant
coronal
arc curved one solar diameter downwards. An obvious coronal gap
divided
the two plumes on the left side of the sun. In stark contrast to
the large prominences which we enjoyed at our other four total
eclipses,
this eclipse had only two tiny prominences visible right after the
first
diamond ring.
Helped by
the extreme clarity of the sky, Liz was able to see Sirius high above,
and Castor and Pollux near Venus. A very brilliant diamond ring
heralded
the end of totality. I was able to spot the corona 9 seconds
before
second contact, and follow it naked eye (being careful to hide the
crescent
sun with my hand) for 18 seconds after totality. Venus was
visible
naked eye 1 min 26 sec after totality. We then watched the moon’s
shadow race away over the Atlantic towards Africa.
What an
exhilarating
experience to be able to see this great event from the clarity of a
high
clean plane window, especially the intricate beauty of the outer corona
that the clouds ruined last year! Everyone on the plane that I
talked
to was adamant that they would be in South America on Nov. 3, 1994 for
the next totality. And several in our group vowed that they
wouldn’t
miss any more total eclipses for the rest of their lives. I plan
to be one of those.
Click below to view sketches of the eclipse
sketches of the eclipse sketches of the eclipse of June 1992
Click below to view pictures.