Probably the best reason for playing around with this equipment is the friends found under the skies. Here are the beginnings of a rogue’s gallery
Adventures & Friends
2005 - with Alex in Maui, observing
2007 - RTMC, southern California
2007 - Gary at Shuttle Atlantis launch, Florida
2007 - Shuttle Atlantis launch
2007 - Shuttle Atlantis launch
2007 - AIC, San Jose
2008 - Astronomy Camp, Arizona, stargazing
2008 - Astronomy Camp, Arizona
2012 - Keck telescopes, Hawaii
2012 - with Alex & Stephen at Keck
2011 - Bay School students at Tuolumne Skies Observatory
Probably the second best reason for playing around with astronomy is that it is a great excuse for visiting interesting places. As one of the friends whom we met on our first eclipse trip said when asked why he went to see so many, “It is a great vacation algorithm.”
TSE 2005, in the South Pacific
TSE 2005 eclipse path; totality observed from 23 deg 27' S/130 deg 24' W
TSE 2005-path across the south Pacific
TSE 2005-path at totality near Pitcairn Island
TSE 2005-aboard the Paul Gauguin
TSE 2005-ready for totality
TSE 2005-totality for 28 seconds
TSE 2005-Blake, Gary, Cynthia on board the Paul Gauguin
TSE 2006-Eclipse trip to Turkey
TSE 2006-Observed at 31 deg 23' E/36 deg 46' N at Side, Turkey
Path of TSE 2006 across Africa and Asia Minor, into Asia
TSE 2006-path of totality, March 2006
TSE 2006-Side, Turkey path of totality
Our hotel in Side, above the Mediterranean
Friends & equipment, on the helipad
Blake, awaiting his first eclipse
Maenwhile, friends at the Exploratorium at an ancient Greek amphitheatre a few miles away
Getting close to totality
Totality is almost upon us
First diamond ring
Totality. Fabulous! Taken with a Canon EOS 20Da, Kenko Sky Memo tracker, Manfrotto tripod; DSLR Focu
Totality: 3 minutes, 50 seconds at 10:53:54 UT, March 29, 2006
A nice composite, before and after totality
TSE 2008, western Mongolia, August 1, 2008
Eclipse Path of Totality: Observed at 88 deg 25' E/48 deg 36' N at Hoton Lake, Mongolia
Path of TSE 2008
From Ulaan Baatar, to a dirt airstrip at Ulgi, Bayan-Ulgi, then 8 hours drive
Eclipse site: Hoton Lake, 6,700' elevation in the Altai Mountains
Kazakh herders
Kazakh herders and pastoralists
With Alex Filippenko, UC Berkeley astrophysicist
At eclipse viewing base camp
Blake, playing with partial shadows
Brooke, with partially eclipsed shadows
More shadow play
Partial eclipse; equipment: Canon EOS 20Da, Canon ET-83C 100-400 zoom lens
First diamond ring
Diamond ring
Diamond ring
Totality: 2 minutes, 8 seconds at 10:57:46 UT at Hoton Lake, Mongolia
TSE 2009: observed from NE of Cook Islands, east of Pukapuka.
Eclipse Path of Totality: Observed at 164 deg 44' W/9 deg 54' S
Eclipse path
On board the Paul Gauguin, ready for totality
Blake, playing with partial eclipse shadows
Totality: Observed for 3 minutes, 24 seconds
Another successful eclipse, seen as the clouds parted
January, 2012 trip to Fairbanks, Alaska to watch the aurora borealis
Suiting up for the -55 degree temps, with Alex & Noelle Filippenko
Our CATs in the frigid cold
Aurora borealis overhead
TSE 2012: Australia & Papua New Guinea
Eclipse path; totality observed from 145 deg 36' W/16 deg 38' S
Our trip: from Rabaul, Papua New Guinea to the Sepik River, Tami and Trobriand Island
Expedition ship, Orion, near the Sepik River
Watam village, near Sepik River
Tami Island 'singsing' dancers
Tufi Island dancers
Tobriand Islands
Awaiting early-morning eclipse, off shore from Cairns
With meteorologist Jay Anderson
Totality: 2 minutes, 5 seconds; C2: 6:38:12 am, C3: 6:40:17 am; sun altitude 14 degrees
TSE 2013-West Coast of Africa and Cape Verde Islands
Eclipse on November 3, 2013
Observed at 24 deg 41' W/ 10 deg 10' N
This is a hybrid eclipse, with totality from our viewing location
Visiting the Cape Verde Islands
This eclipse trip taken with Wilderness Travel
With Alex & Noelle Filippenko
Eclipse nails
Eclipse chewing gum of course
With Landon Noll
On board ship awaiting totality
Cynthia awaiting totality
First diamond ring
Totality: 1 minute, 20 seconds of totality
TSE 2016 in Borneo
Eclipse Path of Totality
We traveled with TravelQuest, on board the ship Le Soleal
The ship itinerary, leading up to the eclipse
Visiting the true spice islands; with Run in the distance
On board Le Soleal on eclipse day
With Aram Kaprielian and friends celebrating another successful eclipse
TSE 2017: back in the USA!
Eclipse Path of Totality; we watched the eclipse from NE of Bend, Oregon.
It is some time until another total eclipse in the US; so hopefully you did not miss it.
Viewing site, at Smith Rock
Next eclipse on the horizon!
TSE 2019 will cross the Pacific, and finish in Chile before sunset.
We are tentatively planning to watch it with TravelQuest, near La Serena.
