Wolverhampton Astronomical Society

Established 1951

The Total Solar Eclipse of 29th March 2006

by Simon Barnett

for a picture story click here

The solar eclipse of 29th March 2006 was total in Africa, Turkey, and Russia. From the British Isles, only a small partial eclipse was visible. Wolverhampton bore witness to a partial eclipse of 0.235 magnitude during the morning, and various members of the society travelled to Turkey for a total eclipse.

Whereas the other members travelled to Side and Manavgat, the tour operator that my father and I chose to travel with, Omega Tours Plc, was planning to observe the eclipse from various locations along the Turkish south coast. These included Side, Manavgat, or Belek. Our chosen hotel was at Belek. From here, totality was scheduled to last some 3m 32s, and after spending a night at a guest house near Gatwick Airport, we arrived at the Maritim Pine Beach Resort Hotel in Belek on the Tuesday afternoon. This was only a two-day break, and I quickly made a study of the hotel grounds, which were located directly by the beach. This is a developing area, and I found the hotel complex relaxing, being situated amongst pine trees, away from any main roads.

Belek is situated at nearly 37 degrees north latitude, and after dinner, I decided to set up my SLR camera on a tripod in the hotel grounds. From here, the constellations to the south are notably higher in the sky, with Canis Major uncannily high in the sky. Somewhat below this constellation, lay the faint stars of Columba, the dove; a constellation which doesn't really rise in the UK. Further east, the stars of Puppis and Vela made a brave show  above the southern horizon. Castor and Pollux lay overhead, with Mars in the horns of Taurus, the bull. To the north however, the constellations were noticeably lower in the sky, and it was very evident that Ursa Major was displaced northwards, despite lying high in the sky.

The following day was eclipse day. After a prompt breakfast, I set up my equipment in the grounds on a large area of lawn, near the front adjoining the beach to enable a good view of the incoming lunar shadow. One camera was fitted with a wide-angle attachment, and pointed at the horizon from where the lunar shadow was to come, whilst the other pointed at the Sun, and was fitted with a 2x converter and Baader solar filter. Attached to the camera tripod was an A4-sized placard of the society logo; a good advertisement that drew good publicity for the society, both with fellow travellers, and the Turkish press.

First contact occurred promptly at 09:38UT, and slowly more and more of the Sun's lower right limb was being devoured by the Moon. By 10:30UT, when the partial phase was just over half way, it became apparent that the quality of the light was deteriorating, and the temperature had started to drop. Through the small bushes, hundreds of tiny pinhole images of the Sun were projected onto a piece of white sheet that had been laid out on the grass to look for shadow bands. Eventually, as the Sun dwindled to a narrow crescent, the landscape took on a steely look, but there was still no sign of the Moon's shadow, and the sky kept its bright blue lustre. In the last two minutes, it darkened considerably, but still, there was no sign of the Moon’s shadow. However, soon totality was upon us. The sky seemed to darken uniformly to a dark twilight blue, with Venus to the south-west. All around the horizon was a pale red glow, and where the Sun had been, was this black disk, surrounded by a very bright corona. Indeed, through the camera (which was fitted with a 2x converter) prominences were visible at the top of the disk. As totality progressed, these prominences were soon covered up, and soon prominences became visible to the lower-right. The corona in this region soon brightened, and suddenly a burst of light; a sudden and magnificent diamond ring signalled third contact at 10:58UT, and light began to flood back. Totality seemed to come to a sudden end, and it was the shortest three-and-a-half minutes of my life. The partial phases after totality almost seemed an anti-climax, but these were recorded to keep the record complete. Soon the landscape recovered its former appearance, and I learned that the temperature had fallen by some 10 degrees centigrade!

After the eclipse, it was time to embark upon the long return journey. The coach returned us to Antalya airport, and upon our return to Gatwick, rain was waiting for us! But I wasn't going to let this dampen my spirits. After a second night at the guesthouse, we returned to Cannock.

It was only a two-day break, but the memory of totality made it worthwhile, and I shall look forward to the next opportunity of a total solar eclipse.

Simon Barnett