ECLIPSEVOYAGETODARKNESS

ANDLIGHT

The eclipse enters totality with the appearance of the Sun’s corona, on theAtlanticOcean350kilometerssoutheastofHalifax,NovaScotia.PhotobyRoyBishop.

ECLIPSE

VOYAGETODARKNESSANDLIGHT

DAVIDH.LEVY

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DedicationForMomandDad,whokindledmypassionforeclipsesasachild.MomdashedacrosstowntofindaclearspotsothatIcouldseemyfirsteclipsein1959;andmyparentswenttogreatlengthstomakesureIsawmyfirsttotaleclipsein1963.ForWendee,whorekindledmypassionforeclipsesandwhomadethe1998and1999eclipsescherishedmemories.AndforNannette,Mark,Summer,

andalltheeclipsesintheirfuture.

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Frontispiece:TheAugust11,1999solareclipseenterstotality,asseenfromtheAtlanticOcean,217milessoutheastofHalifax,NovaScotia.

Photo:RoyBishop

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

InwritingabookaboutatotaleclipseoftheSun,ImustfirstthanktheSun,theMoon,andtheEarthforarrangingthemselvessopreciselyastoallowthiseventto takeplaceat all.Unheardofandunseenanywhereelse in the solar system,total solar eclipses, whereMoon covers Sun and only the Sun, are unique toEarth and are quite probably rare throughout the Universe. We areextraordinarilylucky.Onhuman terms, Ibeginby thankingmywifeWendee,whorevitalizedmy

interestineclipses.AfterthealmostsevenminutesoftotalityinMexicoin1991,IthoughtIhadseeneverypossiblethingduringatotaleclipse,andIdidn’tcareif I never sawanother.But then came the annular eclipseof 1994. I observedwithClydeandPatsyTombaughinLasCruces,NewMexico,andWendee,thenteaching physical education a few miles away, developed a program duringwhich her young charges couldwatch the eclipse in safety.Afterwards,whensheaskedmewhatthedifferencebetweenanannulareclipseandatotaleclipse,Ibegan toexplainhow, in theeclipseshesaw, theMoondidnotappear largeenoughtocovertheSun,andthatinatotaleclipse....SuddenlyIrealizedthattheonlywaytoanswerherquestionwasthatwebothhadtoseeatotaleclipse.WesawtheeclipseofFebruary26,1998,whichtomewasmoreamazingthanany other, and we were hooked. Wendee’s family also had a great deal tocontributetothesuccessofthe1999voyageandthebookthatfollowedit.Herparents, Leonard andAnnette, her sistersGail and Joan-ellen, and her brotherSandy,allenjoyedthis,theirfirsteclipse–exceptforAnnette,whosawthe1925eclipsefromNewYorkCity.On theRegalEmpress,AnnBurgessofNorthStarCruisesdida superb job

organizing the cruise and encouraging Regal Cruises to sail into the path asexpertly as they did. Joe Rao and Sam Storch, two of the lecturers, providedimportantbackground.CaptainPeterSchaabandhiscrewdidamagnificentjobbuildingtheexperiencethatmadethisbookapossibility.Ontheeditorialside,myeditor,HowardZimmerman,andpublisherByronPreiss,cameupwith theidea for this book and helped it through to completion with enthusiasm andfinesse.IalsothankArtBoehmforhiseditorialsuggestions.

Finally, thanks to Roy and Gertrude Bishop, and Leo Enright and DeniseSabatini, andPatsyTombaugh.Theyshared thisvoyageat thesame time theycementedourspecialbondoffriendship.

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

PREFACE

CHAPTERONE:HOWECLIPSESWORK

CHAPTERTWO:CHILDHOODIMPRESSIONSOFADARKENEDSUN

CHAPTERTHREE:OFCYCLESANDFRIENDS

CHAPTERFOUR:SUN,MOON,ANDSURPRISE

CHAPTERFIVE:THEPOWEROFGRAVITY

CHAPTERSIX:THEECLIPSEEXPERIENCE

CHAPTERSEVEN:THEVOYAGEBEGINS

CHAPTEREIGHT:SAILINGCLOSER

CHAPTERNINE:HORSETAILCIRRUS!

CHAPTERTEN:AVOYAGETODARKNESS

CHAPTERELEVEN:ALONEONTWOWIDE,WIDESEAS

CHAPTERTWELVE:ECLIPSE

CHAPTERTHIRTEEN:ADIAMONDINTHEDARK

CHAPTERFOURTEEN:HERECOMESTHESUN!

APPENDIXA:HOWTOVIEWANECLIPSESAFELY

APPENDIXB:FUTURESOLARECLIPSES

APPENDIXC:FUTURELUNARECLIPSES

APPENDIXD:ACANONOFECLIPSESIHAVESEEN

APPENDIXE:ECLIPSESONG

INDEX

PREFACE

Fivebillionyearsago,ahugecloudofhydrogengasswirledaroundinspace.Thecloudwasthickestatitscenter,sodensethatthegasglowedfromtheheatofitsowngravity.Attheoutskirtsofthecloudwereotherconcentrationsofgasand dust. As the cloud spun faster, its center grew hotter, until, at one singlemoment in time, it ignited in aburstofnuclear fusion tobegin the lifeofourSun.Withthatignition,theremaininggasanddustinthecloud’soutlyingregions

congealedtobuildatleastnineplanetaryworlds,severaldozensmallerworlds,andmany comets and asteroids. At least two of these worlds were about thesame size, one-fourth that of Earth. One moved around the Sun in a lazyellipticalpath.Itstilldoes;wecallitMars.TheotherworldflewroundtheSuninanelongatedorbit,alternatelymovingoutintothefringesofthesolarsystemand then tearing through the realm of the inner planets. Many times in thatprimordialhistory,thisworldcamesoclosetoEarththatitsbulkwouldfillhalftheskyasitracedby,causingmassiveearthquakesandtidaldisruptionsbeforemovingaway.Finally,ononefrighteningdaysomefourandahalfbillionyearsago, this world came too close, sideswiping, moving away briefly, and thenslammingintoEarth.The resulting explosionwas so vast that itmelted the entire crust of Earth.

The otherworld broke apart, its pieces spinning out of control to collidewitheachother, andwithEarth, again and again as a ringof debris, fromboth theEarthandthedoomedworld,formedhighaboveEarth.Overthenextyear,thering’s particles collided with one another, accreting to form at least one, andpossiblytwo,newmoons.Oneofthem,tooclose,brokeapartagain, itspiecescollidingwithEarth in stillmoredevastation.Theother, farther away, formedtheMoonweknowandlove.AtitscreationtheMoonwassoclosetoEarth,amere10,000milesaway,that

its immense tidalpullcausedmassiveearthquakesandvolcaniceruptionsonadailybasis.Astimepassed,theMooncreptslowlyfartherfromEarth,andstilldoes,attherateofaboutoneandahalfinchesperyear.

Asitmovedoutward,theMoon’sgravityaffectedthetidesofEarthlessandless.Asit tookuplessspaceinthesky,theMoonseemedtoshrink,graduallybecoming the same apparent size as the Sun, which is much bigger but alsomuchfartheraway.AndastheMooncontinuestoorbittheEarth,occasionallyitpassesinfrontoftheSun.Andthat,inanutshell,iswhywehavesolareclipses.

ECLIPSEVOYAGETODARKNESS

ANDLIGHT

ChapterOne:HowEclipsesWork

Rememberthatoldriddleaboutthetreefallingintheforest?Ifnooneisthere,doesitmakeasound?Iliketoapplythattoeclipses,especiallytheeffectsthatthe53eclipsesI’veseenhavehadonme.I’vealwaysfeltthatwe,asobservers,are vital parts of these events. So suppose they gave an eclipse, and no onecame?As a scientific event, an eclipse is a comic coincidence, a curiosity.Planets

don’tcrashintoeachother,andstarsdonotexplode.Butputyourselfintothatevent,andaneclipsecanhaveamostpowerfuleffect.Evenabarelynoticeablepenumbrallunareclipsedoesthattome.TheMoon’ssupposedtobefull,butasits brightness dims and the rays stretching away from the craters Tycho andCopernicusbecomesomuchmoreprominent, Ibecomeaware that inexorably,theMoonispassingthroughtheouterreachesoftheshadowoftheEarth.Attheotherextreme,ofcourse,isatotaleclipseoftheSun,aneventthatstabslikeaknifetothecoreofmyemotions.Sure,ifnooneseesaneclipse,thentheeventis nothing more than a coincidence. But those who do see it leave subtlychanged,andmovedbyitspower.Let’s lookat themechanismbehindthatpower.Atotaleclipseof theMoon

happens here on Earth, and with planets and moons elsewhere in the solarsystem.AstheMoonorbitstheEarthonceevery29½days,itformssomeanglebetweenit,theEarth,andtheSun.Twiceeachmonth,atNeworFullMoon,thatanglebecomesastraightline.Ifitpreciselystraight,thenaneclipsetakesplace.EclipsesoftheSunorMooncanoccuronlywhentheSun,EarthandMoonareexactly lined up. This can occur during Eclipse seasons, which happen twiceeach year. The simple geometry of planetary bodies orbiting one another inspace is common enough, and because the solar system is essentially on oneplane, like a recordordisc, these lineupsoccur frequently.Buton theseotherworlds, the effect is far less dramatic. Mars, for example, has lineups wheneitherofitstinymoons,PhobosandDeimos,passinfrontoftheSun.Butthesemoons are so small that they produce virtually no effect at all–if you werestanding on the surface of Mars, you might barely detect such an event inprogressasatinydotcrossingtheSun’ssurface.Jupiter’smoonswould,onthe

otherhand,blockouttheSunsocompletelythattheywouldcauseseveralhoursofdarkness.ButEarth’s singleMoon isnowat just the rightdistance fromusthatitappearstobethesamesizeastheSun.Theresultisanexquisiteblockingof the Sun’s bright surface, revealing the prominences of the Sun’s inneratmosphere,orchromosphere,and thepearlyouteratmosphere,orcorona.Thefactthatwegettoseetheprominencesandthecoronaatallisamiracleinitself,fortheMoonisslowlymovingfartherfromEarth.Asitcontinuestorecede,itsapparentsizewillshrink,anditwillnolongerbeabletocompletelyblotouttheSun.

TheEarth’s shadowenvelops theMoon.PhotobyRoyBishopon January21,2000,fromMaktomkusObservatory.

ECLIPSES,TRANSITS,ANDOCCULTATIONSTechnically, the event called an eclipse takesplaceonlywhen thebodybeingcoveredisthesameapparentsizeasthebodydoingthecovering.Atransittakesplacewhen a small body passes in front of a larger one, aswhenMercury orVenuspassinfrontoftheSun.Anoccultationisthetermweusetodescribethepassing of a large body in front of an apparently smaller one. The Moonfrequentlypassinginfrontofastarisanexample.

ANNULARECLIPSES

AstheMooncontinuesslowlytomoveawayfromEarthatarateofoneandahalf incheseachyear, itwill eventually seem to takeup less space in the sky.Some620millionyearsinthefuture,therewillcome,aday,sadlywhenweseethelasttotaleclipse.TheMoonwillpassinfrontoftheSun,coveringitentirelyforafractionofasecond,andwhenthatfaroffeventisover,totaleclipsesoftheSunwillbeathingofthepast.Evennow,almosthalfthetimesthattheSuniscentrallycoveredby theMoon, theMoon isnear the farthestpointof itsorbitaround the Earth. At that distance it does not cover the Sun completely; theresult is an annular, or ring eclipse, at the middle of which the Moon issurroundedbyaringofbrightsunlight.InMay1984,ItraveledtoNewOrleanstoseeanannulareclipse.Acoldfront

had passed through the night before, leaving the usually humid city dry andclear.At themidpointof theeclipse, theMoon’sshadowsweptoutof theskyandalmostentirelyenvelopedus.Overhead,whatwasleftoftheSunshoneasthethinnestofrings.Asecondlater,thedarknesswhooshedaway,leavingathincrescentofsunlight.OnthewayhomefromthisparticularringeclipseIstoppedbytovisitClydeTombaugh,thediscovereroftheplanetPluto,andanoldandclosefriend.“Howwastheeclipse?”heasked.“Didyouhavearingsideseat?”

Moonrise,sevenhourspriortototaleclipse.January20,2000.NotetheEarth’sshadowprojectedontotheskybelowtheMoon,andiceblocksstrandedbylowtide.PhotobyRoyBishop,fromEvangelineBeach,NovaScotia.

Clyde got the chance to live down that pun. Ten years later a second ringeclipsetookplacedirectlyoverhishouse.Althoughpoorweatherwasforecast,thedaydawnedbrightandclearandwesawamagnificentring.TheMoonwasclose to apogee, and took up considerably less space in the sky than the Sun.Thus,theringwasbigger,anditlasted11minutes!

THEORBITOFTHEMOON

Themoon circles theEarth once every 29½days, a period loosely coincidingwith a month; the word “month,” in fact, is derived from old German for“moon.”TheMoon’sorbitistheonlydeterminantoftheMoslemcalendar,andis the prime base for the Jewish calendar,whosemonths, though timed to theMoon’sorbit,arekeptinstepwiththesolaryearbytheoccasionaladditionofaleapmonth.Does the Moon’s phase affect human behavior? There has been much

conjectureanddebateonthatquestion.AnecdotalevidencedoessupporttheideathatpeopletendtogetrowdieraroundthetimesoffullMoon.ButastowhethertheMoonhasaneffecton theEarth, theanswer is absolutelyclear.When theMoonisnearperigee(itsclosetapproachtoEarth),itsgravitycausesanincreaseinthestrengthofthetides.AndwhenMoonandSunareapproximatelylinedupwiththeSun,tidesincrease.

THENODESEclipseshappenbecauseoftherelationbetweentheorbitoftheEartharoundtheSun,andtheMoon’sorbitaroundtheEarth.TheEarthorbitstheSuninanear-circle once every year, and the Moon orbits the Earth, reaching the Sun’sposition,every29½days.Thetwoorbitsaretiltedrelativetoeachother;iftheywere not, eclipses would happen every twoweeks, a solar eclipse every newMoonandalunareclipseateveryfullMoon.Instead,theMoonspendspartofitsmonth-longorbitbelowtheplaneoftheEarth’sorbitaroundtheSun,andpartofitabovethatplane.TwiceeachmonththeMooncrossestheplaneofEarth’sorbit. The two points of crossing, or intersection, of the two orbits are callednodes.

Aneclipse inspace,andacometnear theSun.OriginalPaintingbyJamesV.Scotti.

TheMooncrossesanodetwiceeachmonth.IftheMoonismovingnorthwardin its orbit, it’s called the ascending node; if it is going south, it crosses thedescendingnode.ThenodecrossingstakeplaceatdifferentphasesoftheMooneachmonth.Now,inadditiontotheMoon’sorbitoftheEarth,theEarthtravelsaround theSun, so theSunappears tocrossoneof thenodes twiceeachyear.Whenthathappens,aneclipsecanoccur.

ONTHEMOONWhen eclipses occur on Earth, does anything happen on theMoon?During alunareclipse,theentireMoonisbathedintheshadowoftheEarth,whichmeansthatapersonoracameraontheMoonshouldwitnessaneclipseoftheSun(bythediskoftheEarth).OnApril24,1967,humanitysawatotaleclipseoftheSunby theEarth through the eyes of theU.S. space probe calledSurveyor 3.Thespacecraft’s camera took two sets of pictures of the event. The exposuresrevealed that an eclipse of the Sun by the Earth, seen from theMoon, is lessspectacularthanoneoftheSunbytheMoon.FromtheMoon,theEarthtakesupalmostfourtimesasmuchskyastheMoondoesasseenfromEarth.Thus,atthemiddle of the eclipse the Earth would cover the Sun andmost of its corona.What part of the outermost coronawas leftmight have been recorded by theSurveyorcamera,buttheexposureswerenotlongenoughtorevealanyofit.Atthe same time that Surveyor was working to take those pictures of a solareclipse, a lunar eclipse was taking place on Earth that Passover night. (SincetheyalwaysoccuratfullMoon,PassoverSedersoftencoincidewitheclipsesoftheMoon.IrememberleavingourSedertoobservethatparticulareclipse.)

ANECLIPSEOFTHEEARTHWhat would an eclipse of the Sun by the Earth look like from the Moon?BecausetheMoon’sshadowissomuchsmallerthantheEarth’s,theeffectforlunarinhabitantswouldbebarelynoticeable.TheEarth,visibleinthelunarnightinfullphase,woulddominatethesky.Ifyoulookedclosely,youcouldwatchatiny patch of darkness, surrounded by a fainter outer shadow, wend its wayacrosstheEarth’ssurface,crossinglandandsea,fromonesideoftheplanettotheother, inabout twohours.Truly, thecosmicpinballgameofEarth,Moon,andSunissomethingtoseefromanyvantagepoint.

ChapterTwo:ChildhoodImpressionsofaDarkenedSun

A few hours ago, I completed observing session No. 11619 from our ownJarnacObservatory.TheskywaswarmandclearthisMaymorningasIturnedmytelescopetothesoutheasttobeginmypastimeofsearchingforcomets.AsImovedthetelescopefromonefieldofviewtothenext,andontothefieldafterthat,Isearchedapatternofskythatmightrevealanewcomet.Therewerenonethis time, but as I moved the telescope closer to the southeastern horizon, Ithoughtofanotherobservingsession that tookplacealmostexactlyfortyyearsearlier.Nowadistantmemory,thatobservingsessionwasNo.1inmyrecordbook,

myfirstformal,recordedobservingsession:

*1S.October2,1959.PartialSolarEclipse.Justlastpartobservedbecauseofclouds.

OCTOBER2,1959Somethingmagicalhappenedearlythatmorningasapartialeclipseof theSunworkeditswayovermychildhoodhomeinMontreal.Fartothesouth,thefulldarkness of the Moon’s shadow cast its spell over a thin path throughMassachusetts,andoutovertheAtlantic.ButIdidn’tcareaboutthat.Formeatage11,allthatmatteredwasthatIwastoseemyfirsteclipse.Theeventwastolastuntil8A.M.,sothatitwouldbeconvenientlyoverintimeforthestartofmydayinsixthgrade.Ourobserving teamconsistedofmymother,mybrotherGerry, andme.As

wedrovetotheMountRoyalLookoutfacingMontreal’seastside,weworriedthatcloudswouldpreventourseeingtheeclipse.Wewaitedforawhileas theSunrosebehindtheovercast.ThenMothernoticedthatthecloudswereclearingfromthewest,soifwemovedtoanothersitefartherwest,wemightgettoseetheendoftheeclipseastheSunbrokethroughtheclouds.Wespedtothenewsite,gotoutof thecar,andwaitedalongwitha largecrowd thathadgatheredthere.TheskygrewbrighteruntiltheSunpeekeditswaythroughtheclouds.As

the Sun rose further, its crescent shape showed itself at last. It was my firsteclipse,myfirstobservingsession,andIwasinheaven.

JULY20,1963After thatearlyeclipse,I lookedupeverythingIcouldabouteclipses.Iusedabookthatcontainedamapoftheworldcrisscrossedwiththinlinesthatcurvedtheirwayacrosstheglobe.InoticedthatoneofthoselinesshowedthepathofaneclipsethatwouldcrossCanadaandrushnearMontrealonJuly20,1963.Itwasacuriousthingformetoseethatthetrackofnotjustapartial,buta totaleclipsewouldbeonlyatwo-hourdrivefromdowntownMontreal.

Reprint ofMontreal Starphotograph of partial eclipse of the Sun,October 2,1959.Thepictureshowstheeclipseasmyfamilyvieweditthatmorning,andtheyear1959canbefaintlyseenafterIwroteitinpencilthatday.IalsowrotethatRoshHashanain1959wastakingplace,asitalwaysdoes,onthedayofanewMoon.PhotographbyMacJusterfortheMontrealStar.

The summerof1963,however, foundme far frommyCanadianhome.Myaddress was Denver’s Jewish National Home for Asthmatic Children, a spotfromwhich Iwould see, atmaximumeclipse, ahalf-coveredSunbarelymoreexciting thanmyviewfrom1959.Since itwas thepolicyof theasthmahomenot to allow their patients to returnhomeduring their year-long-plus stay,mychancesofseeingthiseclipseseemedremote.ButMomandDadputinaspecialrequest thatIbepermitted toreturnhomefor justoneweektosee theeclipse.TheadministrationoftheasthmahomeknewthatundertheclearerskiesoftheAmericanwest, my harmless little hobby had flowered into an all-consumingpassion.IusedeveryopportunitytoobservetheSunbyday,projectingthesolarimageonapieceofpapertocountanddrawthesunspots.KnowinghowseriousIwasaboutobserving the totaleclipse, theasthmahomestaffpermittedme totraveleast.

The evening before the eclipse, we had dinnerwith our relatives and closefriendsLeoandLeonaKirschberg.Observingthetotaleclipsewashighonourminds,butLeo,anopthamologist,wasadamantabouttakingcarenottodamageoureyes.Hepointedout thatduring thepartialphasesofaneclipse, theSun’svisible light output drops, so that we are able to gaze at the Sun for longerperiodswithout squinting.Wealsowanted to look at the changingSun as theMooncoveredmoreandmoreofitsface.However,Leowarned,theultravioletrayscomingfromtheSun’sphotospherearejustasstrongduringaneclipseastheyareatanyothertime,andtheserayscanpermanentlydamagetheretina.IunderstoodLeo’swisdom,but inreplyIclaimed thatwhile this is truefor

theeclipse’spartialphases,it isnottruewhentheentireSuniscoveredbytheMoon-thetotaleclipse,andbyfarthemostinterestingtimetoseetheSun.“Buthow,”myfatherasked,“canonebesurethattheentireSuniscovered?”“Thedarknessissupposedtowhooshinlike...like...”“Likearapidlyapproachingthunderstorm?”Leoasked,helpfully.“Much faster!” I said, having no understanding whatever of how vastly

differentthenextday’seventwouldbe.Inanycase,weweren’tsurewe’dseethis eclipse at all. “Chances for viewing tomorow’s eclipse in southwesternQuebec,”theweatherforecasterintoned,“arepoor.”Eclipsedaydawnedmostlycloudy,butwedidseetheSunbreakthroughafewtimeswhiledrivingtoourcarefully selected site at Plessisville. Our group of four–Mom and Dad, myfriendPaulAstrof,andI–wereonourwaytobeapartofafour-waylineupthatincludedtheSun,Moon,Earth,andus.

July20,1963.Myfirsttotaleclipsewasaluckyone–Aminuteaftertotalitywasover, thick clouds covered the Sun for the rest of that memorable day nearPlessisville, in southwestern Quebec. Constantine Papacosmas took thisphotographashortdistancefromwhereIwatched.

The thing I remember most from the following day was Dad’s astonishedreactiontothefactthattheeclipsestartedrightontime.Toastronomersusedtotraversingtheglobetoseeaneclipse,thatinnocuousfirstcontactofMoonandSunistakenforgranted.Dadwasamazedthatacenturies-oldpredictionofsomelong-goneastronomerwascomingtruebeforehiseyes.Hewasnotascientist,butDadwasgoodatseeingthepoetryaroundhim.As

we prepared towatch the eclipse, we knew that at thatmoment thousands ofother teams would be watching the eclipse as it tracked across the continent,fromAlaska,allthewaytous,inundertwohours.JustatthatmomentanotherinterestingteamwaswatchingthelastthincrescentoftheSundisappearasthe

Moon,overAlaska,pusheditintototaleclipse.Bravingmosquitosandadismalweather forecast, that team consisted of planetary astronomers Brad Smith,ClydeTombaugh,andClyde’swifePatsy.Theweatherclearedintimeforthemtoviewabeautifultotaleclipse.ClydewasalreadyfamousasthediscovererofPluto, the ninth major planet of our solar system. Brad would become wellknowntwodecadeslaterastheleaderofVoyager’simagingteam,aprojectthatlaunchedtwointrepidspacecrafttoexplore,forthefirsttime,theouterworldsofoursolarsystem.Clyde and Brad wanted everything observed, and timed, as accurately as

possible.Accordingly,ClydeaskedPatsytokeephereyesonthestopwatchandcount the90 secondsof total eclipse.Obediently,Patsydid, and thusonlygottwo quick glances of this eclipse. Itwas amemory shewould carry until shefinallywouldseehernexttotaleclipse35yearslater.TheskywasclearinAlaskathateclipsemorning,butlateintheafternoon,in

southwestern Quebec, it was mostly cloudy. The Sun broke throughoccasionally,butasitwentdeeperanddeeperintopartialeclipse,heavycloudsonthewesternhorizonseemedsuretoblockourviewofthetotality.Inthelastfewdarkeningminutesbeforetheonsetoftotaleclipse,Dadlookedup.“Comeon,pleasegivemysonabreak,”hesaidquietly,“abreakintheclouds.”Somehow his prayer was answered. The clouds held back to reveal the

incredible sight of theonrushing shadowand a faint circular corona.With thesunspot cycle nearing its 11-year minimum, we did not expect to see anyprominences.Aminute later, the shadow lifted and a thin crescent of sunlightreestablished itself. Stunned and excitedbywhatwe saw,we just stood there.And then the clouds came, covering up the rest of the eclipse. But it didn’tmatter;wesawwhatwehadcometosee.AswepreparedtodrivebacktoMontreal, theMoon’sshadowcontinuedits

trekacrosssouthernQuebecandMaine,andout into theAtlanticOcean.Nearthe end of its journey, it covered a swath of ocean some 210 miles (350kilometers) southeast of Halifax. As we drove back that cloudy and happyafternoon,Ihadnoideathat,36summerslater,theMoon’sshadowwouldagainbehittingtheoceanatthesamespot,thatIwouldbethere,andthatIwouldseethateclipseagain.

ChapterThree:OfCyclesandFriends

Isawthe1963eclipseonJuly20th–forthefirsttime.AlthoughIdidn’tknowitatthen,ifthosecloudscameintoosoonIwouldhavethechancetoseethesameeclipseagain,onJuly31,1981,ifIcaredtotraveltotheSovietUnion.Eighteenyears and a few days later, theMoon’s shadow touched down a third of theworldaway,andcrossedovertheSovietUnion.Ididn’tseetheeclipsethen,butmycolleagueandfriendBartBokwasable to, thanks toanarrangementIhadmadeforhim throughamutual friend.AfamousspecialistonourMilkyWaygalaxy, Bart used the trip to see the eclipseand review his favorite topic–the“biggerandbetterMilkyWay”–withhisSovietcolleagues.Afiercepromoterofinternationalcooperationinscience,healsousedthetriptotrytostrengthenthebondsofcooperationduringthatdangerousColdWarperiod.Imissedtheeclipsethattime.Butanothereighteensummerslater,theshadow

wouldsweepoutoftheskyoncemore,touchingtheEarthintheAtlanticOceansome210milessoutheastofHalifax,NovaScotia.Thedate:August11,1999.

SAROS145:ANECLIPSETHROUGHTIMEThesameeclipse,overandoveragain.Eacheclipserepeatsitselfevery18years,101/3days(or111/3days,whenwetakeleapyearsintoaccount.)Theeclipsesare almost identical, except that thanks to that extra 1/3 day, they fall over adifferent part of theEarth.We call each of these cycles of repetition a saros,whichderivesfromastatementfromanancientastronomnernamedSuidas,thatthelengthofthesaroswas18½years.SarosistheclassicalBabylontermforthenumber3600, andhence refers to their periodof 3600years.However, to theancientChaldeansandGreeks, thesaroshadadifferentmeaning–theperiodof18 years, 10.3 days (or 6585 1/3 days) during which eclipses would repeatthemselves.¹ TheChaldeans discovered that 6,585 1/3 days after newMoon atone of the nodes, the Moon has orbited the Earth precisely 223 times, andreturnedtothenewMoonphaseatthesamenode.Atthesametime,theSun,initsapparentjourneyaroundtheecliptic,haspassedthrough19eclipseyears(of346.62days),ithasalsoreturnedtothesamenode,andanothereclipseoccurs.

Someterms:

Ecliptic:The Sun’s apparent path through the sky each year, as seen fromEarth.

Moon’s ascending Node: The place in the Moon’s orbit around the Earthwhere it crosses,movingnorth, theorbitof theEarthas it travels round theSun.

Moon’s descending Node: The place in theMoon’s orbit where it crosses,movingsouth,theorbitoftheEarth.

Eclipseseason:Ashortintervaloftime,lastingaboutamonth,inwhichtheSun’sapparentmotionalongtheeclipticplacesitclosetooneoftheMoon’snodes.

Eclipse year: The time for the Sun’s apparent motion to carry it from oneascending node of theMoon back to the ascending node.Eclipse years last346.6days.

Saros 145, for example, is the series of eclipses that includes the event ofAugust11,1999.ItbeganonJanuary4,1639,withatinypartialeclipseneartheNorthPole.Every18years,101/3days,thepartialeclipserepeated,abitfarthersouth, and with a bit more of the Sun covered. On June 6, 1891, Saros 145produceditsfirsteclipseinwhichthemoonpassedcentrallyacrossthesun,anannulareclipseinSiberia.TheMoonwasnotlargeenoughtocovertheSun,sotheSunappearedasaringoffireaboutthedarkenedMoon.Eighteenyearslater,onJune17,1909,aneclipsethatwasannularateachendofthetrackbutbrieflytotalinthemiddle,racedoverGreenlandandcentralRussia.²

BARTBOKANDTHESAROS’SFIRSTTOTALECLIPSEOnJune29,1927,Saros145produceditsfirstcompletelytotaleclipseonatrackthatstretchedthroughScandinaviaandovertheArctic.ThatwastheeclipsethatayoungBartBokwatchedwithhisfriendGerardKuiper.Aswehaveseen,Bokwouldbecomefamouswithhisworkon theMilkyWay,andKuiperwouldbefamous with his research on the eponymous Kuiper Belt of comets beyondNeptune.Asyoungscientists freshlygraduated from theUniversityofLeiden,thetwofriendssetoutonabicycleridewithtentsandcookery.Theirbicyclescarried them on a journey from Holland, through Germany, and to Hamlet’s

castle at Elsinore inDenmark. FromOslo they pedaled to the northwest overmountainpassesand,finally,neartheendofJune,theyarrivedattheHallingdalRiverintimefortheeclipse.TheyhaddesignedanexperimenttodeterminethetruecoloroftheSun’scoronabyshininglightsondisksofdifferentcolorsandcomparingtheresultswiththeirvisualobservationsofthecorona.Thetesthadtohavebeensetupsothatthelightspointedawayfromtheobserversinordernottodisrupttheirobservingofthecorona.

ThetotalsolareclipseofJuly30,1981,seenfromanairplane.PhotobyStephenJ. Edberg, Moonshadow Expiditions. This is the repeat performance of theeclipseof1963.

Sadly, thickcloudsprevented thegroup fromseeing the50 secondsof totaleclipse and trying their experiment, but the trio did observed the rapidlydarkeningskyas thevalleyplunged into theMoon’s shadow.“TheshadowoftheMoon came very quickly over,” Bart recalled, “and we saw the darknessquickly approaching across the snow on the mountains. That was the mostglorioussight.”³

THESAROSGETSBETTERWhen the eclipsehappenedagainon July9,1945, theMoon’s shadowhit theEarth in the Western United States and climbed through central Canada,Hudson’sBay,Greenland,andnorthernEurope.Eighteenyearslater,Saros145performed again, this time on July 20, 1963, for Clyde Tombaugh and hisfriends, and for me and my family, on opposite ends of the North Americancontinent.OnJuly31,1981,anolderBartBoksaw theeclipse for the secondtime in Russia. On August 11, 1999, Patsy Tombaugh and my family werereunitedtoviewtheeclipse.On August 21, 2017, the Saros will perform again, this time for the

continentalUnitedStates.OnSeptember22,2035, therewillbea totaleclipse

over Asia and the Pacific, and another, over Northern Africa and the IndianOcean, on September 12, 2053. The series will reach its middle point with afour-minuteeclipseonFebruary25,2324,butthelengthoftotalitywillincreaseuntil the eclipse of June 25, 2522, when the Moon will cover the Sun for 7minutes, 12 seconds. The final total eclipse, far in the southern hemisphere,occursonSeptember9,2648.ThelastofSaros145’s77eclipseswillbeasmallpartialeclipseatthesouthpoleonApril17,3009.

SAROS145ASANEXELIGMOSBecauseofthatthirdofadaythathelpsdefinethesaros,eachsuccessiveeclipseinasaroscycletakesplaceathirdofthewayaroundtheEarth.Itisinterestingthat the tail endof the1963eclipsecrossedover the samestretchofwateronwhichwe saw the beginning of the 1999 eclipses two cycles later. The 1999eclipsewastwo-thirdsofthewayacrossthesurfaceoftheEarthfrom1963,soitmakessensethatitsbeginningwouldcrossovertheendofthepathoftheearliereclipse.Thepathof the2017eclipse,however, returns to thesamepartof theEarth as 1963, just further south. This triple-saros cycle is also called anexeligmos.BartBokwas lucky enough towitness an exeligmos by seeing theeclipseofJune29,1927,fromScandinavia,andtheoneofJuly31,1981,aswellastheonein1999.

THEMETONICCYCLEAlthoughthe1963eclipseandthe1999eclipsewerethesameoneaccordingtothe saros cycle, theywerenot according to theMetonic cycle.Since430B.C.,when the Greek astronomer Meton discovered it, we have known that thesequenceofphasesoftheMoonarethesameevery19years.TherewasanewMoon, and an eclipse, on February 26, 1979, one I saw in full glory nearWinnipeg, Manitoba. When I began planning to see the February 26, 1998eclipseintheCaribbean,Irecalledtheearlierone.ThenewMoononOctober2,1959–myfirsteclipse–wasfollowedbyanothernewMoonandapartialeclipseintheeasternhemisphere,onOctober2,1978.However,thiscycleisnotquiteasregularastheSaros,sinceitskipsoneofeveryfiverepetitions.SotherewasnotaneclipseonOctober2,1997.Also,unlikethesaros,themetoniccyclecan’tbeusedtopredictwhereaneclipsewilltakeplace.

APERSONALCYCLEForme,eclipsecyclesarenotjustsciencecoincides;theyareverypersonal.The1999 eclipse was a strong reminder of the roles that Bart Bok and ClydeTombaugh, had on me. I met them both at a meeting in Tucson during the

summerof1980.Thatmeetingledtotwobiographies,onethatIwroteonClydein1991,4andoneaboutBartin1993.Butthemostprofoundmemorystillcomesfromthe1963eclipse,whichIsharedwithmyfather,andcomesfrommyDad,whowassoexcitedwhenthe1963eclipsestartedrightontime–asthoughsomegreat celestial clockhadbeen set correctly.My thoughtsoftengoback to thateclipseoflongago,andhowIwishthatDadwereheretoseeanotheronewithme.

AsIplannedtotraveltotheCaribbeantoviewtheFebruary26,1998eclipse,Iwasremindedof theeclipse19yearsearlier,onFebruary26,1979.PhotobyDavidH.Levy.

Notes

1. OED,OxfordUniversityPress,1971.2. FredEspenak,TotalSolarEclipseof1999August11(NASAReference

Publication1398,1997)12.SeealsoMarkLittmann,KenWillcox,FredEspenak,Totality:EclipsesoftheSun(Oxford:OxfordUniversityPress,1999),182.

3. DavidH.Levy,TheManWhoSoldTheMilkyWay:ABiographyofBartBok(Tucson:UniversityofArizonaPress,1993,11–13.)

4. Levy,ClydeTombaugh:DiscovererofPlanetPluto(Tucson:Universityof

ArizonaPress,1991).

ChapterFour:Sun,Moon,andSurprise

WhentheMoonpassesinfrontoftheSun,cuttingoffitslight,theresultisoneofthemostspectacularsightsNaturehastooffer.DayturnsintotwilightastheshadowoftheMooncutsacrosslandandsea,andtheSunappearsasajeweledcrown hanging in the sky. But if all this isn’t enough, the alignment of Sun,Moon,andEarthhasothereffectsaswell.Twiceeachmonth,whetherornotaneclipsetakesplace,theSun,Earth,and

Moon are aligned in such a way that tides on Earth are stronger than usual.Although this effect is most noticeable with the ocean tides, it is felt by theEarth’srockycrustaswell.ItmightbejustacoincidencethatthegreatTokyoearthquake of September 1, 1923, in which 140,000 people were killed, tookplacejust5daysaftertheAugust26partialeclipseoftheMoon,andtheTurkeyearthquakeof1999occurredjustfivedaysafterthetotalsolareclipsethatisthesubjectofthisbookpassedoverthesamelocation.

ASTRONOMICALTIDESINTHEMINASBASINThehigherthannormaltidesthataccompanythesealignmentsofSunandMoonarecalledastronomicaltides,andifalowpressureareaiscenteredovertheareaatthesametime,theycanbetrulyremarkable.OntheshoresofNovaScotia’sMinas Basin, these tides are amplified by the unusual resonance effect of theBayofFundy.Resonanceworkslikeasachildonaswing,whichcanbehurledhigher and higher if someone pushes the swing each time it reaches a limit.These tidaleffectsareenhancedwhen theSunandMoonarepulling together.OnJanuary29,1979,physicistRoyBishopofAcadiaUniversitycomparedlowand high tides atHantsport,Nova Scotia, on a day near newMoon (in fact amonthbeforetheFebruary26solareclipse),andonadaywhenalowpressuresystemwaspassingthroughthearea.Hisgoalwastoobtainphotographsfromthesamelocation,theedgeoftheHantsportpier,atlowandhightide.Thelowtidephotographwaseasyenoughtotake;hedrovehiscarouttotheedgeofthepier(hewantedthecarinthepictureforscale),thenhewalkedbacktotakethepicture. The wooden mounts for the pier were fully visible in the mud thatcloudymorning.Whenhe returned sixhours later, hewas astonished to find–

nothing.Themountsforthepierweregone,buriedunderwater,aswellasthepieritself!Thewaterlevelhadrisenbymorethan50feet.Roycouldn’tdrivehiscarontothepier;infact,toworkhiswaytothesamespothehadtocreep,stepby careful step, across the submerged planks, snap the second picture, thencarefully work his way back. The result is a graphic demonstration of theinfluenceoftheMoon’sgravity.

SURPRISINGSCIENCEDISCOVERIESWhen the Moon eclipses the Sun, Earthbound astronomers have a goldenopportunity to study the star thatgivesus life.Sinceeclipsesprovide theonlyopportunities to see the Sun’s corona from the surface of the Earth, scientistsstudy the corona during eclipses. They try to understandwhy it is so hot; farhotter than the surface of the Sun, the corona shimmers at some 2 milliondegreesCelsius.WestudythecoronatolearnhowitaffectstheEarthaswell–infact,itsouterreachesarethesolarwindofradiationthatflowspasttheEarth.TheEclipseofAugust18,1868,excitedseveralgroupsofscientists.Onthat

day a group including John Herschel, great-grandson of William Herschel,discoveredthatsolarprominencesarecomposedofhydrogengas.Atthatsameeclipse, J. Norman Lockyer and Pierre Janssen detected a yellow line in thespectrum of the Sun’s corona that signified a new element, which he namedHelium,aquarter-centurybeforeitwouldbedetectedonEarth.Comets have even been found during total solar eclipses. Arthur Schuster

photographed a new comet during the total eclipse ofMay 17, 1882.¹ Peopleenjoying the eclipse of November 1, 1948, to cite a recent example, werestunned to see a comet brighter than Jupiter about aMoon diameter from theeclipsedSun,andwithatailthatstretchedtowardthehorizon!²TheeclipseofJune8,1918,becamefamousforsomethingelsethathappened

on the sameday.AscomethunterLesliePeltierwrote inStarlightNights, hisbiography:

Along the narrow track of totality astronomers from all over the worldpacked up their precious plates and prepared to leave for home. Weeksbefore,theyhadassembledhereandhadcarefullytakentheirplacesinlineinorder to see a spectacle thatwould last just twobriefminutes.For themost part they leftwell pleasedwith the performance though, as always,somehadbeenunfortunateintheirchoiceofseatsalongthelengthyaisle.Andastheystartedhomewardnotoneinall thatfar-flungaudiencecouldknowthatthiswasjustanintermissionandthattheshowtheyhadcomesofartoseewouldbeadoublefeature.

When darkness came that evening I clamped my spyglass to thegrindstone mount, which still was standing at the station underneath thewalnuttree.Ihoistedituponmyshoulderandcarrieditoutintothemiddleof the front yard and stood it where I would have a clear view of thevariable stars in the southeastern sky.Thatwas thenight that I forgot allabouttelescopesandvariablesforasIturnedandlookedupatthesky,rightthereinfrontme–squarelyinthecenteroftheMilkyWay,wasabrightandblazingstar!³

Thediscoveryofanexplodingsun,ornova, isstilloneof themostexcitingthingsthatcanhappeninastronomy,anditwasanincrediblethingthatsuchastar’slightwouldhavetraveledforthousandsofyearsthroughspacetoarriveonEarth’sdoorstepjustastheSunwasbeingeclipsed.

Notes

1. MarkLittmann,KenWillcox,andFredEspenak,Totality:EclipsesoftheSun(NewYork,Oxford:OxfordUniversityPress,1999),157.

2. GaryKronk,Comets:ADescriptiveCatalog(Hillside,N.J.:Enslow,1984),147.

3. LeslieC.Peltier,StarlightNights:TheAdventuresofaStarGazer(1965:Cambridge,Mass.:SkyPublishingCorporation,1999)94.

ChapterFive:ThePowerofGravity

TheMoon’s gravity, aided somewhat by the gravitational pull of the Sun, isstrongenoughtoaffectthetidesonEarth.ThegravityofthemuchlargerSunisstrongenoughtocontroltheorbitsoftheplanets,includingEarthandMoon,andthe eclipses they produce. And according to Einstein’s theory of relativity, abeam of light from a distant star will be bent by the curvature of space as itpassesneartheSun.What does this bending of light have to dowith eclipses? The answer is a

story thatbegan in the1890s,whena teenagedAlbertEinsteinhada thought.“Whatwouldtheworldlooklike,”hemused,“ifIrodeonabeamoflight?”Theanswer,helaterfigured,wasthattheplanetwouldbefrozenintime,itsclocksstill, itsactioncaughtasinaphotograph.Adecadeafterhefirst thoughtaboutthat,theyoungphysicist,thenunabletofindajobinphysics,beganworkattheSwiss patent office. Einstein’s responsibilities therewere not particularly timeconsuming, and he had time to ponder questions about physics, like therelationshipbetweenmatterandenergy.The result was Einstein’s special theory of relativity, which appeared in a

1905articlewithoutanyreferenceorcitation–virtuallyunheardofforaresearchpaper.Thiswas a completely original piece ofwork.Later that year, Einsteinattachedanadditionalthoughttothatarticle, thetinyequationE=mc2. Inthosesimple letters lay the idea thatmass and energy are equivalent. Late in 1915,Einstein’sgeneraltheoryofrelativityofferedanewdefinitionofgravitationthatrelatedittospaceandtime.InEinstein’sphysics,gravityisnotaforcebutrathergeometry.As anyobjectmoves,whether it is abaseball, aplanet, or a star, itfollows a geometric path shaped by the unified effect of mass and energy.NewtoninvokedaforceofgravitytomakehisUniversework,andinalmostallcases,Newton’slawsfit.Butwherethereisalotofmatter,likeastar,Newton’slaws fail, and it is important to see gravity not as a force of Newton but asEinstein’sgeometryofspaceandtime.Howcouldthisbeautiful,simplerelationbetested?Intheyearsbetween1905

and1919,Einstein’stheorycaughttheattentionofphysicists,butmanythoughtthat it was unprovable. Such a theory would be forever relegated to the

backwaters of physics as a curiosity. In 1918, the British astronomer ArthurEddingtonwrote the firstEnglish-language account of relativity, and he notedhowthetheorywassuccessfulinsolvingtheoldproblemaboutMercury’sorbit.AsMercurycirclestheSunatadistanceofonly36millionmiles,itsperihelion,orclosestpointinitsorbittotheSun,shiftsasmallamountwitheachorbit.Theentireorbitisprecessingby43secondsofarcpercentury,atinyamounttobesure, but one which Newton’s theory of gravitation could not explain. IfNewton’s lawswere right, another planet closer to the Sunmust be affectingMercury’s orbit. Scientists searched for such a world–and even named itVulcan–for decades. There is no such planet. Instead, Newton’s model ofgravitationturnedouttobeinsufficient.Einstein’stheoryexplainedthisshift.

THEECLIPSEOFMAY29,1919Eddingtonnoted thatEinstein’s theory“further leads to interestingconclusionswithregardtothedeflectionoflightbyagravitationalfield,”andthatitcouldbetestedthroughanexperiment.¹ Itseemedthat in1918,Eddingtonwassure justwhat experimentwouldwork.Byphotographing a star near theSun, and thencomparingitspositionwiththatonotherphotographstakenwhenthestarisfarfromtheSun,Einstein’srelationcouldbetested.Althoughthisproposedtestisfineintheory,whenthestar’slightpassesthatclosetotheSun,weshouldn’tbeable to sight the star at all because of the sun’s overwhelming luminosity.Except,thatis,duringaneclipse.

Justwhatwasthisresult?Eddingtonneededtoanswertwoquestions.First,doeslighthaveweight,asNewtonsuggests?Andiftheanswerisyes,Istheamountofdeflectionofthestar’sperceivedpositioninagreementwithNewton,orwithEinstein?Thedeflection, incidently, is in theoppositedirection from thebodydoingthedeflecting.Thestarwillappeartobedisplacedoutward,orawayfromtheSun,bythesameamountasthetotaldeflection.Fortheexperimenttowork,Eddingtonneededtousedistantstars,notplanets,

asteroids, or cometswithin the solar system.Thebendingof the star’s light isdetectableonlywithstarsapparentlynear theSun,and thesestarscanbeseenonly during a total eclipse. But the Sun’s corona is also bright, so the onlyeclipsethatwillworkisonewhentheSunisnearagroupofmoderatelybrightstars. It turned out that just such a coincidence was about to happen, andEddingtondevelopedaplantophotographstarsintheHyadesstarcluster,fromPrincipe,asmallislandoffAfrica’swestcoast,which,onMay29,1919,wouldbe under the darkness of a total eclipse of the Sun.The clusterwould be justsouth of the eclipsed Sun, its stars bright enough to be captured on the

photographicfilmsofthetime.Thedisplacementofa starclose to theSun ismeasured incomparisonwith

stars that are farther from the Sun and not displaced. In order to measuredisplacement, astrometrists (astronomers who measure the positions of stars)therefore need to observe stars close to and farther from the Sun. “In asuperstitiousage,”Eddingtonwrote,“anaturalphilosopherwishing toperformanimportantexperimentwouldconsultanastrologertoascertainanauspiciousmoment for the trial.With better reason, an astronomer to-day consulting thestarswouldannouncethatthemostfavorabledayoftheyearforweighinglightisMay29.Thereasonisthatthesuninitsannualjourneyroundtheeclipticgoesthroughfieldsofstarsofvaryingrichness,butonMay29itisinthemidstofaquiteexceptionalpatchofbright stars–partof theHyades–by far thebest star-field encountered. Now if this problem had been put forward at some otherperiodofhistory,itmighthavebeennecessarytowaitsomethousandsofyearsfora totaleclipseof thesun tohappenon the luckydate.ButbystrangegoodfortuneaneclipsedidhappenonMay29,1919.Owingtothecurioussequenceofeclipses[theMetoniccyclewehavealreadydiscussed]asimilaropportunitywill recur in 1938; we are in themidst of themost favorable cycle. It is notsuggested that it is impossible tomake the test at other eclipses; but theworkwillnecessarilybemoredifficult.”²PlanninganexpeditiontoAfricatoobserveaneclipseinordertoconfirmthe

ideas of a German scientist was an almost insurmountable problem, but SirFrank Dyson, then England’s Astronomer Royal, was able to persuade thegovernment that thiseclipsepresenteda rareopportunity indeed,and that theyshouldspend1000poundsforanexpeditiontotestthetheoryofrelativity.

ANAMAZINGEXPEDITIONFivemonthsbefore theexpeditionbegan,Eddingtonphotographed theHyadesfield,usingthesametelescopeaswouldbebroughttoAfrica.WiththeHyadesfar from the Sun, this photograph would serve as a base for comparison. AssummarizedinA.VibertDouglas’sbiographyofArthurStanleyEddington,thenightbeforetheexpeditionsetsailtherewasadiscussionaboutjusthowmuchdeflection the starwould suffer. If the deflectionwas a tiny 0.87 arc seconds,thenitwouldconfirmNewton’sclassicaltheoryofgravitation.Ifitweremuchgreater than that, or 1.75 arc seconds, then Einstein’s theory would beconfirmed. On the evening before the sailing began, Cottingham, who toaccompanyEddington,askedjokinglywhatwouldhappenifthestar’sdeflectionwasdoublewhatEinsteinhadpredicted.Dyson,Britain’sroyalAstronomerandthe man who had planned and arranged funding for the expedition, replied,

“ThenEddingtonwillgomadandyouwillhavetocomehomealone!”Eddingtondescribedthisfatefulexpeditioninhisnotebook:“We sailed early in March to Lisbon. At Frunchal we saw [Davidson and

Crommelin, the other expedition] off to Brazil on March 16, but we had toremain untilApril 9 . . . and got our first sight of Principe in themorning ofApril23...aboutMay16wehadnodifficultyingettingthecheckphotographsonthreedifferentnights.Ihadagreatdealofworkmeasuringthese.”Thegroup arrived inPrincipewith a 13-inchdiameter, 11-foot, 4-inch long

refractor.Theystoppedthelensdownto8inchestoimprovethesharpnessofitsimages. The telescope was mounted in a fixed position, and a mirror, orcoelostat,directedthelightfromstarsintothetelescope.

“OnMay29atremendousrainstormcameon.Therainstoppedaboutnoonandabout1:30whenthepartialphasewaswelladvanced,webegantogetaglimpseofthesun.Wehadtocarryoutourprogrammeofphotographsinfaith. Ididnotsee theeclipse,being toobusychangingplates,except foroneglance tomakesure ithadbegunandanotherhalfway through toseehowmuchcloudtherewas.Wetook16photographs.Theyareallgoodofthe sun, showing a very remarkable prominence; but the cloud hasinterferedwiththestarimages.ThelastsixphotographsshowafewimageswhichIhopewillgiveuswhatweneed....”³

AyearlaterEddingtonexpandedonthedetailsofthosefewminutesoftotaleclipse:

“Therewasnothingfor itbut tocarryout thearrangedprogramandhopefor thebest.Oneobserverwaskeptoccupiedchanging theplates in rapidsuccession, whilst the other [presumably Eddington himself] gave theexposures of the required lengthwith a screenheld in front of the objectglasstoavoidshakingthetelescopeinanyway.

Forinandout,above,about,below,’TisnothingbutaMagicShadow-showPlayedinaboxwhosecandleistheSunRoundwhichwePhantomFigurescomeandgo.

Ourshadow-boxtakesupallourattention.Thereisamarvellousspectacleabove, and, as the photographs afterwards revealed, a wonderfulprominence-flameispoisedahundredthousandmilesabovethesurfaceofthesun.Wehavenotimetosnatchaglanceatit.Weareconsciousonlyoftheweirdhalf-lightofthelandscapeandthehushofnature,brokenbythe

calls of the observers, and beat of the metronome ticking out the 302secondsoftotality.”4

Eddington’s16exposuresrangedintimefrom2to20seconds.Thefirstonesdidnot recordany stars, but theydid capture theprominence.Buthappily theclouds cleared more toward the end of totality, and one photographic platerecorded five stars.Onceall thepictureshadbeenprocessed,Eddingtonmadehis firstmeasurements at the eclipse site a few days after the event. The twophotos were placed “film to film” in the measuring machine so that the starimages were close to identical. “In comparing two plates,” Eddington wrote,“variousallowanceshadtobemadeforrefraction,abberation[ofthetelescopelens],plate-orientation,etc.”5AgainfromEddington’slog:“June3.Wedevelopedthephotographs,2each

night for 6 nights after the eclipse, and I spent thewhole daymeasuring.ThecloudyweatherupsetmyplansandIhadtotreatthemeasuresinadifferentwayfrom what I intended, consequently I have not been able to make anypreliminaryannouncementoftheresult.ButtheoneplatethatImeasuredgavearesultagreeingwithEinstein.”6As he completed the reduction of this plate, Eddington realized the

significance of his result. Turning to his colleague, he smiled and said,“Cottingham, youwon’t have to go home alone.” They packed their preciousplates and returned toEngland. Four additional plates, of a different type thatcould not be developed in the hotAfrican climate,were developed there, andoneofthemconfirmedtheresultshownonthefirstsuccessfulplate.Fora testascrucialas thisone,Eddingtonhadtomakesurethat instrument

errors could not have led to the result. As a check, Eddington photograped adifferent star field, at night, with his arrangement at Principe; the field wasphotographed from England. If the “Einstein deflection” were the result of atelescopeerrorofsomekind,itwouldhaveturnedupinthesecheckplates.Butnochangeswerefoundinthestarsonthecheckplates.The Brazil part of the expedition had much better luck. Their weather on

eclipse day was surperb, and they remained at their site for two additionalmonths inorder tophotograph thesameregionofskyundercoverofmorningdarkness.Theyhadtwotelescopes,onesimilartotheAfricanscope,andamuchlonger,19footlong,4-inchdiameterrefractor.Butdespitethebestpreparations,fewobservingexpeditionsarefreeofsurprise,uncertainty,anddisappointment.WhentheBrazilexpeditionreturnedhomefinally,itsmeasureddeflectionswiththe larger telescopedidnot agreewithEinstein, butwithNewton!Thiswas ashockingresult,onewhichwouldinevitablydelayanyannouncement,oneway

oranother,aboutrelativity.EddingtonsuspectedthattheSun’sraysintheclearBrazilskymighthavedistortedthemirror;inthisonecase,badweatherhelped.“...atPrincipe,”hewrote,“therecouldbenoevileffectsfromthesun’sraysonthemirror,forthesunhadwithdrawnalltoshylybehindtheveilofcloud.”7Thefinalverdictonrelativitythushadtowaituntilameasuringenginecould

bemodifiedtoacceptthesevenoddlysizedplatestakenthroughSobral’s4-inchrefractor.Theseplatesseemedideal,andtheirimageswereperfect.Sowastheresulttheyrevealed:adeflectioninstrongagreementwiththeresultsinAfrica,andoneinfavorofEinstein’stheory.Einsteinwasthrilledwiththisresult.“Ishouldliketocongratulateyouonthe

successofthisdifficultexpedition,”hewroteinaletterthatbegan“LieberHerrEddington!” “I am amazed at the interest which my English colleagues havetakeninthetheoryinspiteofitsdifficulty....Ifitwereprovedthatthiseffectdoesnotexistinnature,thenthewholetheorywouldhavetobeabandoned!”8Einsteinwas right, and his substantiated theory of relativitymade the front

pages of newspapers around the world. The man in the patent office hadcompletelyredrawnourunderstandingofthestructureoftheUniverse,andhisideawas proved correct thanks to a total eclipse of the Sun. Perhaps it is thespecialmagicofsolareclipsesthatmakesuswanttoseesomethingsuperbcomeout of them, something that utterly blows us away. In their discovery that theSun’smassbentthelightfromnearbystars,EddingtonandhiscolleagueshelpedEinstein give us a new universe, or at least a completely new understandingabout theoldone. In1922,C.A.Chant,oneofCanada’smosthighlyregardedastronomers,mountedamostunusualeclipseexpeditionthatlastedmanyweeks.WithhiswifeanddaughterhetravelledbytrainfromTorontoacrossCanadatoVancouver, and then by boat to Western Australia. His long journey was asuccess,andheconfirmedEinstein’stheoryagainwithfreshmeasurements.Thatisquiteathoughttoponderwhenyounexthavetheopportunitytowatch

aneclipseoftheSun.

Notes

1. A.VibertDouglas,TheLifeofArthurStanleyEddington(London:ThomasNelsonandSons,1956),39.

2. SirArthurEddington,Space,Time,andGravitation:AnOutlineoftheGeneralRelativityTheory(Cambridge:CambridgeUniversityPress,1920),113.

3. Douglas,39.4. Ibid.,114–115.

5. Eddington,114–115.6. Douglas,39.7. Eddington,117.8. Douglas,40–41.

ChapterSix:TheEclipseExperience

No matter how many eclipses I might see, I am always amazed at theuniquenessofeachexperience.AsIwassoontolearn,BartBokwasrightaboutseeing his 1927 eclipse-even a clouded-out eclipse is something to remember.Eclipses seen on snow, over the ocean, alone, or with others, all work theirspecialmagiconthosewhoarefortunateenoughtoobservethem.

1970In the springof1970 Iwasa student atAcadiaUniversity inWolfville,NovaScotia. Knowing that theMoon’s shadow would trace a path up the AtlanticseaboardthatMarch7,andpassoverNovaScotiaaboutanhour’sdrivesouthofAcadia, I joinedagroupof friends tocatch theeclipse’s totalphase.Wewerecloudedout,butwedidseetheMoon’sdarkshadowraceacrosstheclouds.Onthatsameday,RoyBishopwassmarterthanIwas.Aphysicsprofessorat

Acadia,Roywasstarting toexpandhis interest inastronomy.WithinadecadehewouldbeNationalPresidentof theRoyalAstronomicalSocietyofCanada,andeditorofitsObserver’sHandbook.Backin1970,Royalsowantedtoviewtheeclipse.Onseeing thesamecloudsIdid,hecheckedaweathermapin thelocalnewspaper thatdayand thought that clearing shouldbecoming from thewest,butalittleslowerthanhadbeenforecast.Heturnedthepagesofhisphonebookuntilhefoundlistingsforatownabout100milestothewest.Hedialedthenumberofaflowershop,andwhentheyanswered,hesaid,“Hello,thisisRoyBishopofthePhysicsDepartmentatAcadia.IstheSunshiningthere?”“Why, yes, it is!” came the answer. Roy’s group drove out there. “Words

cannotdescribethebeautyof thecoronaanddarkenedskyIsaw,”hewrote totheCanadianBroadcastingCorporationthenextday.AlthoughImissedseeingthat eclipse directly, I will never forget how the landscape was thrust into adarknessmoreprofoundthatatanyothereclipseIhaveseensince.

1979Ithadbeenmany,manyyearssincemyfirsteclipsein1963,andIreallywantedto see another one under a clear sky. That opportunity came on February 26,

1979–thelasttotaleclipsevisibleoverthecontinentalUnitedStatesuntil2017.Iwas in Canada, though, set up near near Lundar, Manitoba. The sky wassupposedtobecloud-filledthatday,butthenightbeforetheeclipseaweakhighpressure systemformedover southernManitoba,givingusabeautifulviewofthecoronaandseveralspectacularprominences.

Twenty-fouryearsafterIwatchedtheMoon’sshadowblackenthecloudsduringtheMarch7,1970totaleclipse,RoyBishopcapturedthisannularsolareclipsefromthesamesite,CrystalCrescentBeach,NovaScotia.PhotobyRoyBishop.

1991.In1991,IsawaneclipsethatwaspartofmightySaros136,theproducerofoneofthelongestandfinestseriesofeclipseseverseen.Thissaroswasresponsiblefor the famousEinstein eclipse of 1919, andwas returning for an even betterone.Itwasgoingtobearareeclipsethatcrossedthesiteoftheworld’slargestobservatory,whosetelescopeswerepoisedtostudytheeclipseasneverbefore.InHawaii’s earlymorning, the total eclipsewould last almost fourminutes.

ButwhereIwas,withaSkyandTelescopegroupinMexico’sprovinceofBajaCalifornia,theeclipsewouldculminatenearhighnoonwheretotalitywouldbelongest-veryclosetosevenminutesofdarkness!For the first half hour it was hard to imagine that anything ununusal was

taking place. The sky was still bright, and the beach was as crowded as anybeach would be on a holiday afternoon. The sky did not darken linearly andsteadily, as it does after sunset.My first thought that the light was changingcameasInoticedthattheskywasnotquiteasbrightasitshouldbeathighnooninsummer.Throughmywelder’sglassIlookedandsawthatfullyhalftheSunwasgone.BythetimetheSunwasthree-quarterscovered,thepaceofdarkeningwasincreasingrapidly.Ilookedawayfromtheseatowardourhotel,whichnowtowered into a navy-blue sky.We looked at a hundred crescents projected byspacesbetweenleaves,bybreaksinastrawhat,betweenthecrossedfingersoftwohands–thecrescentswereeverywhere.Theskywasnowdarkeningfast.Cameraswerebeingreloadedinthesefinal

minutes.Amanfromthebarapproached,armedwithbottles.“Coronabeer?”heinquiredhopefully,andsoldabottle.NowtherewasjustasliverofSunleft,andtheMoonwasmovingsofast Icouldsee theSunshrinkas theseconds tickedaway.DirectlytothewestthedarkshadowoftheMoongainedsubstance.Nowthedarknesswas coming inwaves!Was thismy imagination, orwas I seeingsomesortofshadowbandeffectallaroundme,astheskygottwostepsdarker,

then one step brighter, then three steps darker again. I had seen this effect inManitobaatthe1979eclipse.

ThepartialphaseoftheeclipseofthesunfromFebruary26,1979byDavidH.Levy

ThenIturnedaroundandlookedtowardthevanishedSun.Initsplacewasajewelledcrown.Stretchingsomethreesolardiameterseast

andwest,throughthetelescopeitwasrichwithstreamersandintricatebrushesoflight.Onthenorthandsouthsideswereaseriesofsmallereruptionsofrays,shiningoutwardlikethemouthsofbabybirdsinanest.Totalitylastedlongenoughtoallowmetousemytelescopeinabriefsearch

for comets. My telescope passed over the third magnitude star DeltaGeminorum,almostlostintheSun’scorona.Irealizedthatwewerewitnesstoastrangecoincidenceofhistory:theeclipsewastakingplacedirectlyoverthespotwherePlutowaswhenClydeTombaughfounditoversixtyyearsago!Eclipsestendtoheightenthesenses.Listeningtothesoundsoftheeclipse–the

birds flying and strutting about, the incessant clicks of a million cameras–allaccompanied the eerie light that surrounded us.Despite the fact thatweweredeepintheMoon’sshadow,theskywasbightastwilightandlandscapefeatureswereplain.Aroundthehorizonwasabrightredglow.

TotalEclipseoftheSun,February26,1979.PhotobyDavidH.Levy.

Other observers reported strange environmental effects. At her site,astronomerJeanMuellerreportedseveralcows“cominghome,”singlefileintotheirenclosure.(Anddownthebeachfromus,someone–ofcoursenotfromourgroup–decidedtoshowitallatmid-eclipse.)Withtheintricatestructureof thecorona just hanging at the zenith, time seemed to stop. However, there werecomplex changes occurring all around. As we grew deeper into shadow thehorizonscontinuedtodarkenslightly.AstheMoonmovedoffthewestsideoftheinnercoronaagloriousorangeprominenceappeared.Throughthetelescopetheprominencewassobrilliantitwasdifficulttolookat,anditseemedtohaveeruptedoffthediskoftheSun,justhangingthereinspace.In the final secondsof totality thewestern sky started to brighten rapidly. I

lookedbackattheSun,admiringtheprominenceasthewesternlimbbrightened.Suddenly a sharp speck of photosphere stabbed through the darkness, slowlyspreadoutintoathincrescent,andtheeclipsewasover.

1998Sevenyearslater,Isawmynexttotaleclipse,thisoneaboardtheDawnPrincessin the Carribean. On February 26, 1998, this eclipse was the next one in theMetoniccycle following theone I saw in the frozenCanadianprairie in1979.ThistimeWendee,mynewwife,joinedmeinamuchwarmerclimate.AlthoughIhadnowbeenundertheMoon’sshadoweighttimes,fivefortotal

eclipsesandthreeforannulareclipses,Iwasstillnotpreparedforthesplendorbeyondwords that the experience offers.And this eclipse, far frombeing justanothereclipse,wasthemostpreciousofthemall,foritwasmywifeWendee’sfirst experienceof totality.Theonsetofdarknesscamegraduallyat first;withhalftheSungone,werealizedthatsunglasseswerenolongernecessary.Butastheminutes rushedby, thegatheringdarknessbegan tohitushead-on.AndasthecrescentSunshranktoasliver,ItriedtoletWendeeexperienceasmuchoftheeventasshecould.

The same eclipse of February 1979, a few moments later than the framereproducedonpage53.PhotobyDavidH.Levy.

“Glasson,”Isaid,“nowlookat theSun!”Withherwelders’glass,Wendeesaw that the sliver was getting smaller. “Now look away from the Sun, andremove the glass.” Venus had just popped out of the weird twilight that wasengulfingtheship.Lookingwestward,IaskedhertonoticethedistantribbonofdarknessthatwastheonrushingshadowoftheMoon.“Glasson,andlookattheSun!” The sliver was little more than a line of light. “Glass off, look at theshadow!” In amatter of seconds, that distant ribbonwas gaining strength andpower. “Glass on!” The Sun was a short line. “Glass off!” The shadow wasrushingatusfast.“Glasson!”TheSunwasapointoflight.“NowWendee,keeplookingattheSun,andglassoff.”Thediamondringwasbeyondexpression,a

bright spark of sunlight and a thin corona. Within two more seconds, thediamonditselfgavewaytotheMoon,andthecoronaswelledinsize.Mercury,Venus,Mars, and Jupiter, all these planets hung in the sky, servants to a Sunwhose light had been quenched. Our friend, Tim Hunter, watching with us,calledouttheseplanetsastheyappeared.Forjustafewminutes,timestoppedasNature put on its trulymagnificent show.When it ended,wewondered if ournexteclipse,onAugust11,1999,couldpossiblycompetewithwhatwehadjustseen.

ChapterSeven:1999:TheVoyageBegins.

Afteroursuccessfulvoyagetodarknessforthe1998eclipse,catchingthe1999total eclipse from thenorthAtlanticOceannearNovaScotia seemed tobe anodd plan. According to the statistics published by the Royal AstronomicalSocietyofCanada’sObserver’sHandbook,thechancesthattheNovaScotiaskywouldbecompletelyclearwerelessthan20percent!Andthechancesofseeingtheeclipsethroughlightcloudorfogwasmarginallybetter,at30percent.ButhavingattendedAcadiaUniversityforfouryears,Iwasquitefamiliarwith theweather patterns in the area. In August and September, strong high pressuresystemscanparkcomfortablyoverCanada’smaritimeprovincesforaweekormore,bringingclearskiesandwarmtemperatures.Ofcourse, thistimeofyearwas also the start of the hurricane season, and already some hurricanes werethreateningtomarchuptheeastcoast.Soaseclipsedaygrewcloser,Itriedtoignorethoseclimatestatistics.ThencametherainofSunday,August8.Asalargelowpressuresystemhit

theEastCoast,ourfamilyboardedalimousinevanforthedrivetothedocksatNewYorkHarbor.Despitethedrizzlewewereallexcited.Forthefirsttimeinyears,thiswastobeavacationforeverymemberofWendee’scorefamily.Herparents,LeonardandAnnetteWallach,wereespeciallyexcitedaboutthefamilytimeahead.Annettewaswellknownas the formerdirectorofTreasure IslandDay Camp, a Long Island summer camp for several hundred children. Len,retired froma long career indressmanufacturing, hasbeen losinghis sight inrecent years fromglaucoma.Gail, a nutritionist, isWendee’s oldest sister.Ontheway to thedocks sheaskedme ifpeople inConnecticutwouldgetagoodviewoftheeclipse.“WhyConnecticut?”IwonderedasIexplainedthatpeoplein Connecticut, and in all the New England states, would see a deep partialeclipsewiththeSunlookinglikeathincrescent.(Gail’snewboyfriendMarc,Ilearned,livedinConnecticut.)Joan-ellen,aregisterednurse,isWendee’sothersister. It’s fun to seeWendee and her sisters interact-the closeness among thethree is a joy to see. Even Sandy,Wendee’s younger brother, commented onhowgooditwastohaveeveryonetogetheragainasweboardedthe23,000tonRegalEmpressaroundtwoo’clockthatafternoon.

THEOLYMPIA’SVOYAGETODARKNESS“TheVoyage of the Cruise ShipOlympia,” Leif Robinson explains,was “thefirst eclipsemass transit system.”Olympiawasa formernameof theEmpresswhichwewereboardingat thatmoment. In1972, this ship, even thenanold,convertedtroopship,becamethefirstcruisevesseltosailpurposefullyintothepathofatotaleclipseoftheSun.¹ItsailedoutofNewYorkHarbor,asitdidforus,butonJuly8,1972.Oneclipsemorningthepassengerssawaclearskybutcloudswereoneveryhorizon.ItseemedthatOlympiawasinthecenterofaholeintheclouds,andifshewantedherpassengerstoseetheeclipsethatafternoon,hercaptain,JohnKatsikis,wouldneedtosteerhersoutheastwardalongthepathoftotality.Withonlyonesmallcloudtothreatentheclarityoftheskyattotality,the passengers set up their instruments and waited. The cloud faded away inplenty of time. “Several seconds before the first diamond ring flashed intoview,”aSkyandTelescopearticledescribed,“coronalstreamerscouldbeseenprotruding from the east limb of the Sun, if the observer blocked out theremainingbit of photosphere.Then thehush that had fallenover the shipwasbrokenbytheinsectlikeclickingfromhundredsofcameras.”²

The Regal Empress moored off St. Anthony, Newfoundland, August 15, 1999.PhotobyRoyBishop.

Olympia’svoyagewasthefirstmajorcruisespecificallytoseeatotaleclipseof the Sun. Phil Sigler and Ted Pedas, two college and university teachers,thoughtuptheplanandsawitthrough.Thisfirsttripwasaharbinger:By1998some 20,000 people saw the February 26 eclipse aboard cruise ships in theCarribbean,andaboutasmanyheadedouttoseetheeclipseof1999.Allbutoneofthe1999shipswereheadedtotheBlackSea,whichpromisedaclear,hotsky.OnlyRegalEmpress, the formerOlympia, tried to catch the eclipse from theNorthAtlantic.ThetwositesontheAtlantic–1972and1999–werenotfarapart–

6degreesapartinlongitude,and2degreesinlatitude.³In1972theSunwas24degreesabovethehorizonduringtotality;thisyearitwouldbeonly3½degrees.Someyearslater,theshipwascharteredtoseeasecondeclipse.Wewerethereforitsthirdvisit.NowownedbyRegalCruises,theRegalEmpress,theshipthatstarteditall,washeadedforyetanotherrendezvouswithtotality.

Eclipseviewersare transfixedby theunfoldingeclipse,on theRegalEmpress,fiveminutesaftersunrise,August11,1999.PhotobyRoyBishop.

Justasher1972cruisewasuniqueforitstime,theEmpress’s1999cruisewasunique–atripouttoseaforaneclipseatsunrise.Theventurewasrisky–byfarthemajorityofeclipsechasershadinvestedtheirvacationfundsincruisestotheBlack Sea, where theweather prospectswere excellent andwhere the eclipsewouldtakeplacewiththeSunalmostoverhead.TheEmpress’splanwastobeinthepathoftheMoon’sshadowlessthanaminuteafterittouchedtheEarth–andalmost precisely at the spot where she watched the 1972 eclipse–andcoincidentallyatthespotthroughwhichthe1963eclipsehadpassed.In1972theeclipsetookplacelateinasummerafternoonwiththeSunhighinthewesternsky.This time, even if the skywere technicallyclear, lowhazeand fogcouldeasilyblockourviewoftheeclipse.

MEETINGWITHTHECAPTAINTo assess our chances and to position the ship in the best possible place, theleaders of our group met with Captain Peter Schaab on the first night of thecruise.IthoughtthemeetinghadanominousbeginningasIwanderedfromourCabin,No.45on“U”deck,throughobscurepassageways,upanddownnarrowflightsofstairs,andfinally,havingfailedtofindthemeetingplace,madeitbacktocabinU45.Withrainpeltingdownonthedecks,Iwasmostdiscouraged,andif Wendee hadn’t urged me to try again, I would have missed the meeting

altogether.I’mgladIdidn’t.CaptainSchaabisamostexperiencedseacaptain,andwe

wereimpressedwithhisknowledgeoftheeclipsepathandhowtonavigatetheship into it. The rest of us were all experienced eclipse chasers. WeatherforecasterJoeRao,amateurastronomerSamStorch,andAnnBurgess,leaderofNorthstarCruiseswhohadorganizedthetour,satwiththecaptainandtheship’sseniorstaff.Some eclipse tours have had to put up with ship’s officers with little

knowledgeorinterestinnaturalphenomenalikeeclipses.WithCaptainSchaab,we didn’t have toworry. I didn’t even need to show himmy smallmap thattraced the path theMoon’s shadowwould follow; heknewwhere the shadowwouldfall to thenearesthundredthofanauticalmile,andheproposedaroutethatwouldget the ship safelywithin thenarrowbandof totality severalhoursbeforetheeventwastostart-solongaseverythingwentwell.OurschedulehadusstayinginHalifaxuntil4:30P.M.thedayoftheeclipse,andalthoughwewereconcernedthatwewouldn’tmakeittotheshadowpathintime,Schaabassuredusthatwewould.

ACLOUDYNIGHTWaitingformeafterthemeetingwerefiveclosefriendswhowerejoiningusonthe cruise. Leo Enright and Denise Sabatini, two of Canada’s best knownamateurastronomers,had joined the trip from theirhomeonbeautifulSharbotLake, north of Kingston, Ontario. Roy and Gertrude Bishop joined us fromAvonport,NovaScotia.AndPatsyTombaugh,widowofClyde, thediscovererofPluto,waswithusfromLasCruces,NewMexico.Royhadbeensoworriedabout the ship’smaking it to the path of totality in time that he almost didn’tcomeonthecruiseatall.WhenItoldhimoftheCaptain’splan,hefeltreassuredabout theship’scoursebutnotabout theweather forecastWewentouton theship’supperdecktowatchthestorm.Therewasalittlerain, lotsofwind,andoccasional stars. The disturbance we were in was supposed to move out bymorning,butasecondonewascominginadayorsobehindit.Ifthenewstormmovedaccordingtoforecastmodels,itwouldhitusshortlyaftertheeclipse.Wecouldstillbecloudedout.AsRoyand I stood lookingupat theclouds racingby,we thoughtofother

eclipses. I reminded him of the 1970 eclipse, where he was smart enough totraveldifferentlyfromme,andhesawthetotaleclipseandIsawthedarkenedundersideofacloud.Twoyearslater,theyearoftheEmpress’sfirstvoyage,hesawatotaleclipsefromNovaScotiaandIsawapartialfromMontreal.Hereandnow,weweretryingagain-atotaleclipsevisiblefromsoutheastofNovaScotia.

Whateverhappenedthistime–cloudorclear–we’dgothroughtogether.

Notes

1. LeifRobinson,interview,29April,2000.2. EdwardM.Brooks,GeorgeS.Mumford,andLeifJ.Robinson,“The

Olympia’sVoyagetoDarkness.”SkyandTelescope44(1972)154–157.3. 1972position:40.3N,54.5W;1999position:42.1N,+60.8.

ChapterEight:Sailingcloser

As Regal Empress steamed toward Halifax through rough seas and stormyweather,Wendee and I thought about howwe’dbe the first to see the eclipsefromtheEarth’ssurface;lessthanaminuteaftertheMoon’sshadowfirststrucktheEarth,itwouldpassoverourship.Infact,wewouldseetheeclipsesoearlythatwhen totality began for us, the entire shadowof theMoonwould not yethavestrucktheEarth!Attheonsetoftotality,theotherendoftheshadowwouldstillbeinspace!ItoldWendeehow,afteritpassedus,theshadowwouldraceacrosstheAtlantictoCornwall,England,andthentravelnearParis,Munich,andontoRumania,theBlackSea,Turkey,Iran,andIraq.TheshadowwouldleavetheEarthoverIndia,itswholecrossingtakingaboutthreehours.Whileourshipwouldexperiencejust52secondsoftotality,thepeopleinEuropewouldstandundertheMoon’sshadowformorethantwiceaslong.

HOWTOOBSERVETHESUNSAFELYOn this day at sea, the tour leaders gave presentations on these issues. Itwasliterally “astronomy day” on board, with informational sessions about howeclipsestakeplaceandhowtosafelyobservethem.Eclipsescancausepermanentdamagetohumaneyes–mostpeopleknowthat,

butfewknowwhy.WendeetoldmeofafifthgraderinherformerschoolwhoinsistedonstaringdirectlyattheSunduringthe1984partialeclipsedespitehisfriend’seffortstostophim.Helosthissightforthreedaysafterward,shesaid,and was very fortunate to regain it after that. Frankly, I’m not sure how thefoolishboydidregainhissight,andhowitwillbeaffectedinthefuture.Thetruth:LookingdirectlyattheSunisalwaysdangerous.BecauseourSun

is a G-type star, a considerable portion of its radiation is ultraviolet. Ouratmosphere’sozonelayerabsorbsmostofthisradiation,butharmfulamountsofitdobreak throughandreachus.Wewearprotectiveclothingorsunblockingcreams because of this spectroscopic nature of the Sun. “We have the wrongstar,”astronomerClydeTombaughoncetoldme.“IfwewereorbitingaK-typestar,wewouldn’tneedanozonelayer,andwewouldn’thavetoworrysomuchaboutskincancers.”¹

Whatdoesallthishavetodowiththehumaneye?Ultravioletradiationcanbecatastrophic for theeye. Ifyou lookat theSun longenough, theUVradiationcanactuallyburnaholeinyourretina,aneventthatwouldresultinpermanent,thoughpartial,blindness.Mostof the time, theSun’sbrightnesspreventsyoureyesfromremainingopenindirectviewformorethanafewseconds.Duringaneclipse,thenormalglareoftheSunisreducedtothepointthatyoucanlookatitforlongperiodsoftime.However,theremainingvisibleportionstillissendingoutharmfulUVrays.Withoutyoureye’sbuilt-inprotectionsystematwork,youcanlookattheSunlonger,andthereforeyoureyeshaveafargreaterchanceofsufferingUVdamage.Tosafelyviewtheeclipse,wesuggestedthefollowing:1)UseaNo.14Welder’sGlass,orthespecialeclipsesafetyglassesthatthe

shipprovidedtoeveryoneonboard.2)Withasmall telescope,binoculars,oroperaglass,project theSunontoa

white cardboard or a piece of paper. Do not look through an unprotectedtelescope,anddonotuseatelescopeequippedwithafilterattheeyepieceend.ThesefilterscouldeasilyshatterduetotheconcentratedheatoftheSun.3)Put a tinypinhole through apieceof paper, andproject theSun’s image

throughthepinholetoanotherpieceofpaper.Butdonotlookatthesunthroughthepinhole.

THESTARSHUNGLIKEBASEBALLSAsthevesselsteamednortheastward,thestormmovedoffandtheskybegantoclear. TheSun sank in the northwest, givingway to an evening glowingwithstars.Onthebowof theship thatnightdozensofpeoplegatheredforourfirststarparty.Theskywassodarkandclear thatwecould taste thebeautyof theeclipsethatwouldcomewiththerisingSunadayandahalfinthefuture.“Thestarshunglikebaseballs,”mygrandmotherlovedtosayaboutseeingthe

skyfromthemiddleoftheAtlanticOcean.Onthisnight,theSummerTrianglehungoverhead,andthebrightsemicircleoftheNorthernCrownhunghighinthewest.Forthefirsthalfhour,wepointedoutconstellations,joiningmake-believeclassicalGreekfigurelinesintheblacksky.Asthegroupthinned,WendeeandInoticedRoyBishopoffbyhimself,standingagainsttheforwardrail,peeringoffintospacethroughapairofbinoculars.“Take a look through these binoculars,” he said, “and when you find

somethingyou’re interested in, press this button.” I pointed thebinocs towardthe Andromeda galaxy, a dimmisty spot some twomillion light years away.Afterafewsecondsofsearching,thegalaxyswamintothefieldofview.Itriedtosteadymyholdontheinstrument,leaningheavilyontherail.

“Now,push thatbutton!”Roy repeated.Suddenly, the stars in thebinocularfieldstoppedracingabout likefireflies,andthegalaxylookedassteadyas ifIhad mounted the binoculars on a firm tripod. “Wow!” I exclaimed as Idiscovered themagicof image-stabilizedbinoculars. It’sanoptical technologythat allows lenses to act as if they’re floating.Hereweare twodays from theeclipse, and already I have learned something I hadn’t known before. Thetechnology really isn’t that new, actually. I first saw something similar to itduring an Academy Awards presentation, when someone climbed a flight ofstairs holding a camera, and its images were rock-steady. In any event, asWendeeandIexcitedlyheadedbacktowardCabinU45,wewonderedwhatthenextdaywouldbring,and ifacontinuingclearskywouldallowmoreplayingwithfancybinoculars.

Notes

1. ClydeTombaugh,interview,July10,1996.

ChapterNine:HorsetailCirrus!

At5:30AM,Iawokeandlookedtowardourwindow,whichwaspositionedinCabinU45as if ithadbeenaddedasanafterthought.Carefullynavigating theroute fromourbeds to thewindow. I found thesmallcurtainhung lowoverasmallwindow.SomehowIdidn’ttriporbumpmyheadinthesoft,dawnlight.Iopenedthedrapetoseeacalm,blueocean,abrighteningdawn,andabrilliantbluesky. Itwasgorgeous!“Wendee,” Iexplained,“I’vegot to runupandseethesunrisefromtheupperdeck!”Iwasn’t surprised to seeRoy there, carefully scanning the horizonwith his

stabilizingbinocularsandnotingtheship’spositionwithhisglobalpositioningsystem.“Oh!”hesaidonseeingme,“wouldthatwehavethiskindofamorningtomorrow!”Therewasn’tacloudintheentiresky,whichwasactuallysomethingto be concerned about, because fair weather in this part of the world usuallymeans some sort of cloud cover–often a completely clear sky meant that achangeinweatherwascoming.Astheskycontinuedtobrighten,CaptainSchaabappearedondeck.Theman

seemedtobringgoodluckwithhim;justasheappeared,wesawasplashinthedistance,offtostarboard.Abreachingwhale!“We’llseealotmoreofthoseaswe head north toNewfoundland after the eclipse,” the captain said. Being onthat silent ship, aloneatdawnon the sea,with just awhale forcompany,wasmagnificent.Addtoallthis,arapidbrighteningunfoldedintheskytotheeast,andthenaflashofgreenlightasthefirstraysofSunriseshotintothesky.Wewatched silently for a few moments, and then Roy said, “if we see thattomorrow,it’llbejustathincrescentSunrising.”Thatmorningatbreakfast,weheard thatnewspapersaround theworldwere

reportingpreparationsfortomorrow’seclipse.Astronglow-pressuresystemwasheading straight for England,where thousandswere gathering for the eclipse.FranceandGermanywereinthepathofanearlierstorm.Afterbreakfastweallwalked on deck to watch the vessel enter Halifax harbor, site of a greatexplosion in 1918. Today, though, the harborwas calm, beautiful, andwarm,andtheskyaboveitwasclear,withcirruscloudscominginfromthenorthwest.Clouds? What’s this about clouds? Meteorologist Joe Rao walked past,

nervouslylookingupatthoseencroachingclouds.“Thosecloudsarenotagoodsign,”hesaid.Roy lookedup, and shookhis head. “Horsetail cirrus!” theman fromNova

Scotiasaidemphatically.“Seetheshapesofthoseclouds,likehorses’tails?AtleastintheMaritimes,that’sastrongsignoffairweatherahead!”IwouldplacemybetwithRoyanyday.Besidesbeingfamiliarwiththephysicsofclimateandweatherpatterns,thisnativeNovaScotianhasspentmostofhislifeinthehills,valleys,andtidalbasinsofNovaScotia.Youcan’tdothatinthisruralprovinceandnotknowitsweatherpatternsaswellasyouknowtheroomsofyourhouse.SotheRegalEmpresspulledintoHalifax,cutherengines,anddocked.Asa

lone bagpiper played songs of welcome for us, our whole family prepared todisembark–Gail, Joan-ellen,Wendee,Sandy,Mom, andDad in hiswheelchairandme.Ourgoal:adrugstoresomewhereindowntownHalifax,forthiswastobeour“greatFlorineFadventure.”Inrecentyears,Dadhassufferedfromarareafflictionknownasorthostatichypertension,inwhichhisbloodpressurecanfallprecipitouslyandwithoutwarningwhilehedoesanyaerobicactivitynomatterhowmild,andthenrisedramaticallywhenhe’dbelyingdown.HetakesadrugcalledFlorineFthatcontrolsthesymptomstosomedegree,butsomehow,whenhearrivedonboardtheRegalEmpress,hefoundheonlyhadtwoday’ssupplyof this essential drug.Happily,my beloved niece,Dr.Alison Stein, saved theday.Afteraphonecallfromdocksidetogiveher theprecisedosageandotherparticulars of themedication, wewalked up and down the hills in downtownHalifax till we reached the drugstore. One we had the precious pills, wecontinuedontoahistoricparkinviewofHalifax’sCitadel.Wendeenotedthatthe sightofall sevenofuswalkingupanddown thehillsofHalifax,pushingDad,whowasholdingallthepursesandcoatsinhiswheelchair,musthavebeenhilarious.EvenDadenjoyedtheexcursion.On thismagnificent day it looked as though thewhole citywas on holiday

enjoyingtheweather.Irecalledanearliervisittothistown,inDecember1968–Iwas walking through downtown in a blinding snowstorm, with rare winterlightning.Hoping tomake it to the train station in time to take the afternoonDaylinerbacktomyresidenceatAcadiaUniversity,Itrudgedthroughthesnow,enteredthebigoldbuildingandapproachedtheticketcounter.“CanIexchangemyticketfortheeveningtrainfortheearlierone?”Iinquired.“Certainly,” the agent said helpfully, then he stared at me. Tired from my

walkthroughthesnow,Istaredbackblankly.“Well,headded,canIhaveyourticket?”I looked throughonepocket, then theothers. Idon’t thinkIhadmorethanthirtycentsinthem,farlessthantheamountneededtoreplacetheticket–and there was no ticket. With pockets inside out and a forlorn expression, I

admittedthatImusthavemisplacedtheticket.“There’snothingIcando,sir!”Theticketagentsaid,andIwonderedifIhad

enoughchangetoevencallsomeone.Istaredblanklyathimagain,andthenastrangercameup to the ticket counter. “I found this ticket toWolfvilleon thefloor,”hesaid.“Wouldyoulikeitfortwobucks?”“That’s my ticket!” I exclaimed, “and you can have my thirty-five cents!”

Half an hour later the single-car train departed the station, snowplow in front,andwith each turn of thewheels I–minusmy thirty-five cents–moved fartherfrommyembarassingtriptoHalifaxandclosertomyAcadiahome.IresolvedthatdaynevertogotoHalifaxagain.So,hereIwas,withmywifeandfamily,backinHalifaxonourgreatFlorineFadventure,thedaybeforetheeclipse.Wewheeled Dad up and down the same hills, now in reverse order, climbed thestepsandreboardedourship.Justbefore5,PM,theRegalEmpresspulledawayfrom docksidewith three blasts of her whistle, and began her trek out of theharbor. She passed the breakwater at the harbor’s mouth, then turned to thesoutheast.Ourfamily,alongwithRoy,LeoandDenise,Patsy,andanewfriend,Kandra Kargo, were sitting at the stern watching the ship head closer to ourdestination: a patch ofwater at 60 degrees 46minuteswest longitude, and 42degrees7minutesnorthlatitude.Onboard,werelaxedandtalkedaboutthenextday’seclipse.“There’sJoeon

hisknees,”WendeeremarkedasJoeRaocameby,mapinhand,“prayingtotheeclipsegodsthatwehaveclearweathertomorrowmorning!”“There’sthislowpressuresystemthat’sgoingtokeepthenortheastU.S.from

viewing the partial,” Joe answered, launching himself intoweathermanmode.“Weremainunderalittleridgeofhighpressure,aridgeintheupperatmospherethatshouldkeepallbutthehighcloudsoutoftheway.We’redamnedlucky!”Indeed,wereallyseemedluckythatafternoonasRegalEmpresssteamedout

oftheharbor.Wewererightontime.Foraboutfourty-fiveminutesweheadedoutofHalifaxharbor,thenweturnedsoutheast,thensouth,thensouthwest.Aswe lookedon in increasinghorror, itwas1968alloveragainasourboat,ourticket tototalityforwhichwehadnoreplacement,noalternative,washeadingbacktoHalifax!

ChapterTen:AVoyagetoDarkness

FarewelltoNovaScotia,theseaboundcoastLetyourmountainsdarkanddrearybeForwhenIamgoneawayonthebrinyoceantoss’dWillyoueverheaveasighandawishforme

TheSunwassettinginthewest...NovaScotiafolksong

As the Empress steamed back toward Halifax, we felt that the phenomenalweatherwewereenjoyingwasn’tgoingtoamounttomuchiftheshipcouldn’tgetoutofNovaScotia’scapital.AnnBurgessofNorthStarcruises,ourcruiseorganizer,worriedaboutaworst-casescenario,thatoneoftheenginesmightbeon fire. The ship made its turn so wide that most of the passengers seemedunawareofthecoursechange,thoughhalfthepassengers,forwhomtomorrow’seclipsewouldinterrupttheirmorningrunorbingo,wouldn’thavecared.Barringunforseen problems, we were scheduled to steam into the path by 4 A.M. oneclipse day. If the skywere cloudy there,wewould have two hours tomovealongthetrackinsearchofabreakintheclouds.IsawRoywalkupandbackalongthelengthofthedeck,lookingattheshoreandathisGlobalPositioningSystemunit.“TellmeyourGPSdoesn’tshowusheadinginwrongdirection!”“Iquipped I hope thatwhatever is happening isn’t serious,”Roy said, obviouslydismayed.“Atthisrate,we’llmisstotality!”Now I need to emphasize the energy and single-mindedness with which

eclipse-chasersgoaftertheirquarry.Theystudymapsandschedules,andmakearrangementswithshippingcompaniessometimesyearsinadvance.InplanningfortheFebruary1998eclipseintheCaribbean,RoyhadactuallytriedoutasiteonMontserratIslandthreeyearsearlier.Thenbookedthehotelandtravelforagroupof some thirty enthusiasts, includingWendeeandme.WhenMontserratbeganeruptingayearlater,therewasstillplentyoftimeforRoyandhisgrouptomakedifferentplans.Weweresaddenedby theevent,and in1997WendeeandI,thenonourhoneymoon,evenflewovertheeruptingvolcano.Butournew

planfor1998wasalreadyinplace–weweretoseetheeclipsefromnearArubaaboardDawnPrincess.Fortheeclipsethatwouldcomewithtomorrow’sdawn,weknewourchances

ofseeingitwerenotgreatfromthecloud-riddenNorthAtlantic.Thousandsofamateurastronomersdidnotevenconsiderthissite,optinginsteadforthebetterchances on the Black Sea, where skies were usually clear. In fact, Ann hadrecentlyseenthelargegroupshehadorganizedleaveforAthensandtheirBlackSeacruise.Andsoherewewere,peeringatabeautifulsky,aten-hoursailtothepathoftotality,andourshipheadingintheoppositedirection.Idecided to findoutwhy. Iwalked inside,where ImetClodaghO’Connor,

the Empress’s entertainment director. She smiled at me as though absolutelynothingwaswrong,butcruisedirectorsaregoodatthat–ononecruisewhentheship stopped at a rainy port, the cruise director told us to enjoy the liquidsunshine! So I said, “Clodagh,”“why are we returning to Halifax? Is there aproblemwiththeship?”“Oh, no!” she assuredme. “We’re going back to fetch twopassengerswho

missedtheboat.”Thecaptaindidn’twantthemtomisstheeclipse.Iwas tornbetween feeling relievedandannoyed.Vastly relieved thatRegal

Empresswashealthy,butwonderingaboutthewisdomofadecisionthatwouldall but wipe out our window. The captain, it turned out, made his unusualdecisionbecause itwas thought that the two tardypassengerswerepartofoureclipsegroup. I rushedbackout tomywaitingfriendsand told themthenewsthattheshipwasheadingpartwaybacktoHalifax,whereshe’drendezvouswithasmallblueboatcarryingthetwopassengers.“How can they do this?”Roywas aghast. “He’s going to have to push his

enginestomakeit!”Evertheoptimist,Iarguedthatsincewedidn’thavetoreturnallthewayto

Halifax,weshouldbeheadingsoutheastsoon.“It’sgoingtobeokay,”Itriedtoassureeveryone.“Thiswillonlydelayusabit.Itcouldhavebeenmuchworse.”Thecaptainthenmadehisannouncementthatwewerereturningtopickuptwopassengers.Wendeewalked toward the rail, and soonwewere allwatching a tiny blue

boatemergefromthecrowdofsailboatsandmotorcruisers thatwereroamingabout theharbor.As theblueboatgrewlarger, theEmpress slowed toacrawlandthesmallboatcamealongside.Theboatpushedupagainstusaswedroppedsomeropesandwaitedasthetwopassengerswerelifteduponebyone.“I’llbetthosetwowillbetooembarassedtoseeanyoneoncethey’reaboard!”Wendeesaidas the firstpassengerwaswhiskedaway.“If Iwere thepassengeron thatlittle blue boat,” Roy added, “I would be too embarrassed to come aboard. I

wouldflytoSt.John’s[ournextstopaftertheeclipse]andthensneakbackon!”A few minutes after the ropes lifted the second passenger, the two vesselsseparated.“Ourfamilyistogetheragain,”thecaptainannouncedasheturnedtheshipinasecondwidearcbacktowardthesoutheast,andsoonwewereheading,onceagain,outofHalifaxharbor.Whatarelief!Havingeffectivelylostonehour,weweregladthatitwasn’tan

engineproblem.Atlonglastwewerefinallyonourway.Butaswesteamedoutof theharbor to the spotwehadpassedbefore,Roy lookedathiswatch, thentowardWendeeandme,andshookhishead.Weknewthatthosepassengershadcost us almost everyminute of our two-hourwindow.We had to hurry ifweweretomakeourrendezvouswithamajorcosmicevent,nowjusttwelvehoursaway.Quiet, friendly conversation lasted late into that evening. “I saw an eclipse

whenIwasachild,.”Wendee’smothersaid.“InNewYork,around1925.”“Theedgeoftotalitywasatabout89thStreet,”Royasked,“wasn’tit?”“Yes,”Motheragreed.“Itgotverydarkandwindy.Irememberwonderingif

theeclipsewouldchangethewaytheworldis.”“DidyoucheerwhentheSuncameback?”Joanieasked.“No, I was seven. They said that if you didn’t cover your eyes you’d go

blind.”Patsy joinedus later at the ship’s stern as theSun set in thenorthwest.We

couldstillseethedistantcoastlineofNovaScotia.ThiswasthesecondeclipsecruiseonwhichPatsyjoinedus;wehadalsowatchedthe1998eclipsewithher.Doing astronomical things is bittersweet for her, since they remind her of thelongandhappymarriagesheenjoyedwithClyde,amanweknewwellandforwhom,weunderstood,astronomywaseverything.Thesky,wenoted,wasquiteclear save for somecirrus low in thewestandnorth.Weweren’t tooworried.Joe Rao’s weather charts us still had us firmly in themiddle of a weak highpressuresystem.As the stars began to comeout that night, somehow I remembered a night-

before-the-eclipse long ago, back on July 19, 1963. I telephoned the recordedweather service to hear these ominous words, spoken with a strong Frenchaccent: “Chances for viewing eclipse in southwesternQuébec, poor.” I didn’texpect to see the eclipse the following day. A fortuitous break in the cloudsallowedme,myparentsandmyfriendPaulAstroftogetabeautifulviewofthesixtysecondsoftotality.Tomorrow,ifallwentwell,wewouldseethiseclipseagain.Theweatherforecastwasgreat,andifthosepropellerskeeptwirling,weshouldmakeit!Northern summer twilights seem to go on forever. On this night the stars

appeared lazily, one by one, as the Sun seemed to lie in waiting below thenorthwestern horizon. It was almost two hours before the faint arch of theSummerMilkyWayunveileditsfullmajestyacrossthesky.Whatamarvelloussight!Thesmall“circlecitadel”ofCoronaBorealis,hanginglikeacuphighinthewest,remindedmeofwhatGerardManleyHopkins,thegreatEnglishpoet,wroteinFebruary1877.

Lookatthestars!Look,lookupattheskies!Olookatallthefirefolksittingintheair!Thebrightboroughs,thecircle-citadelsthere!¹

“Wow!”someonesaidasameteorpunctuatedthenight.Withjusttwonightsto go before the maximum of the Perseid meteor shower, this shooting starremindedus that theeclipsewasnot theonlyshowatsea.ThebrightglowingtrailofthemeteorwascausedbyatinyspeckofdustcrashingintotheEarth’supper atmosphere, andheating the surrounding air somuch that it glows.ThedustwasapartofaswarmthattheEarthencounterseveryyearasitorbitstheSun, debris fromComet Swift-Tuttle, discovered in 1862 and seen again 130yearslaterin1992.Thisdebrisspreadsaroundthecomet’sorbit,andeveryyear,whentheEarthcrosses thatorbit, thedustenters theEarth’satmosphere,heatsuptoincandescence,andweobservemeteorshowers.Asthehourgrewlater,WendeeandIheadedtotheship’ssternforamidnight

snack.AnnBurgesswasthere,alsounabletosleepthenightbeforeaneclipse.Annregaleduswithstoriesofothereclipsecruisesshehadorganized,includingonewithaCaptainwhoinsistedon turning theshiparoundandaroundduringtheminutesof totality!Hedidnotunderstand that suchaplanworkedagainstanyonetryingtophotographtheeclipse,letaloneseeitcomfortably.ButshehadhighpraiseforCaptainShaabasoneofthebestshehadeverworkedwith.Then we returned to our cabin. Although I wanted to observe all night,

WendeesuggestedthatItryatleasttosleepforacoupleofhours.Welaydowninbedandtalkedawhile.ButIcouldn’tsleep.Ihadseeneclipses,butneveroneat sunrise on the ocean. At 3:45 I quietly left the cabin, and headed to theforwardpromenadedeck.

Notes

1. GerardManleyHopkins,“TheStarlightNight,”GerardManleyHopkins,ThePoeticalWorksofGerardManleyHopkins,ed.NormanH.Mackenzie(Oxford:ClarendonPress,1990),139.

ChapterEleven:AloneonTwoWide,WideSeas

Alone,alone,allallalone,Aloneonawide,widesea

–SamuelTaylorColeridge,TheRimeoftheAncientMariner,1797–1978

When I arrived at the ship’s forward promenade deck at 4AM, the skywasclearandsparkling.Standingoutnearthebow,myorangetelescope(whichwecalled Pumpkin) in hand, I saw the ocean stretching out toward the horizon.CoronaBorealis,highintheskyjustafewhoursago,nowsatlowinthewest.Toward the north, another vessel’s lights shone in the distance. As it sailednorthward,afterhalfanhouritslightsdisappearedonebyoneasitdippedbelowthehorizon toprove,onceagain, that theEarth is round.Therewerenootherships,andnoplanesabove–justthemovingship,thesea,andthesky.Suddenlyafaintflashof lightbroughtmebacktoEarth.Startled,Iwheeled

around and lookedup.Twodecks aboveme, a bridgeofficerwas lightinghiscigarette.Enclosedbythewindowssurroundingthedarkenedbridge,theofficer,responsiblefordirectingthevessel’sspeedandbearing,mightaswellhavebeeninadifferentuniverse–that’showdarkandquiet itwason thatdeck,andhowaloneIfelt.Itwastimetogetbusy.Standingtherewiththetelescope,Ifeltlikeanoldsea

captain myself. Pumpkin, however, was a lot more powerful than the smallrefractorsthattheypeeredthroughtosighticebergs,land,anddistantships.ButPumpkinhadnointerestinthoseearthlythings.Forthenexthour,theobjectsIwassearchingforwerenoticebergsatseabutthoseinthesky:comets.

ICEBERGSINTHESKYSuddenly realizing this relationship between comets and the sea, I felt that asearch for comets from aboard shipwas a totally logical thing to do. Cometsactuallyconsistofacombinationofices(notjustwaterice),androck.Icebergsdepartfromthegreaticefieldsinthefarnorthandsouth,andthendriftthroughtheoceans,occasionallyendangeringpassingships,asthepassengersofTitanic

foundtotheirhorrorin1912.Cometsbegintheirjourneysbyleavingoneoftwolarge comet fields, theKuiperBeltwhere Pluto lies, or theOort cloud,muchfartheraway.IthoughtofPatsynowsleepingseveraldecksdown,andhowherhusbandClydehadunderstoodthattheicyplanethe’ddiscovered,Pluto,wouldhavebeen“acomet for theages”had it changed in itsdistantorbit and flownneartheSun.Ascometsleavethespacedocksoftheirbirths,theydriftthroughtheoceanofspacewheretheycanoccasionallyendangerpassingplanets,asthedinosaursfoundtotheirhorror65millionyearsago.Thismayseemacuteanalogy,butforme,onthatmorning,itwasquitereal.

AsIstoodonthebowoftheship,Istaredoutintotwooceans,theAtlanticandthe sky.Both stretchedout as far as I could see, and theoceanwas socalm Icouldseestarsandconstellationsreflectedinit: inasense,Icouldn’teventellthemapart.With this feelingofunity, calm,andutteraloneness, Ipointedmytelescopetowardthenortheastandbegantosearchforicebergsinthesky.

ACOMETSEARCHSearching for comets is a happy pastime that has occupiedmany ofmy cleareveningsandmornings since Ibegan theprogramonDecember17,1965. It’slikebeinganightwatchman.Duringthemorethan2,500hoursIhavespentwithmy eye at the eyepiece, moving a telescope up, down, then up again, I havediscovered8newcomets.Andthroughaphotographicsearchprogram,Carolynand Gene Shoemaker and I discovered another 13 comets, including thecatastrophic Shoemaker-Levy 9 that collided with Jupiter in 1994. The quietsearchhourshavebeenbothproductiveandpleasant.EvenifIdonotfindanewcomet on anygivennight–and that’s true for all but eight of the thousands ofnightsI’vespentlooking–attheendofanight’ssearchIinvariablyhaveagoodfeelingofaccomplishment;Ihavesearchedacertainareaofskyanddeclareitfree of comets, or at least comets bright enough to be captured through mytelescope.Thuseachnight’swatchingiscompletedsuccessfully.BecausecometstendtobebrightestwhentheyareclosetotheSun,Iusually

searchtheregionofskythatisclosesttowheretheSunhassetorwhereitwillrise,andso,onthismorning,Imovedthetelescopebackandforthinhorizontalsweepsacrossthenortheasternsky.AsweracedtowardourrendezvouswiththeMoon’s shadow in just two hours, I expected that the vessel’s pitch and rollwould make viewing through a telescope impossible. But tonight’s view waspristine:Theseawascalmandtheship’smotionresultedinonlymildshiftsofnomore thana thirdof thefieldofviewin the telescope’spositionas Isweptslowlyacrosss thesky.Evenbetter,northwesterlywindswerefollowingus,sotherewasvirtuallynowindtobothermeupattheship’sbow.Sincelookingfor

cometsisanactivitythatinvolvesabsolutelynomentalconcentration,asmyeyefocusedonwhat the telescopewas showingme, Iwas free to contemplate thedarknessofthenightandthesublimemeetingoftwomagnificentoceans.ThenImovedthetelescopeoveronemorefield,andmybrainslowlyshifted

itsconcentrationtothefaintfuzzyobjectthatsuddenlywasstaringatme.Thisregionofthesky,nearAurigatheCharioteer,isfamousforitsseveralclustersofstars.ButthefuzzyobjectIwaslookingatwastotallyunfamiliar tome.Foramomenttheunlikelywasarealpossibility–justtwohoursbeforeatotaleclipseoftheSun,couldIactuallyhavediscoveredanewcomet?As it turned out, Iwas looking at a comet,my first iceberg sighted on this

voyage.Butitwasn’tanewone.IlateridentifieditasCometLee,acometthathadbeen in theeveningskyandwhichhad recentlymovedfarenougheast toenter themorningsky.Thecomet incidentaddedto theuniquefeelingofutteraloneness–not loneliness, but a feeling, indeed, of being alone on two infiniteseas.

SunsettingbehindthetelescopesofKittPeakNationalObservatory.PhotobyDavidH.Levy.

Then, near the horizon in the east, stars were disappearing. As the skybrightenedwiththeonsetofdawn,Icouldseewhy–cloudswerestartingtobuildinthedirectionwewereheaded.

ChapterTwelve:Eclipse!

Withtheonsetofdawn,myprivatereveriecametoanend.Roywasthefirsttoappear.Hewantedtocomeouttoseethezodiacallight,anditwasthere,afainttepee-shaped arc of light leaning at a sharp angle from the northeast horizonalmost half way to the zenith. Thenmeteorologist Joe Rao appearedwith hisfriendSamStorch,anavidastronomyteacherwhoemphasizesthecommonaimsofscienceandphilosophy.Adeeply religiousman,Sam tries toblendscienceand philosophy, and even religion, in what he teaches his students. “There’snothing you can do to change an eclipse,” Sam thought about the upcomingevent.“Itwasordainedfourbillionyearsagothatthiswouldhappen,today,nomatterwhat. I think it’s an obligation to be here; youwant tomeshwith themechanicalgearingofthesolarsystem.”Meanwhile, Joe had more earthly concerns. “Where’d those clouds come

from?”helookedupandaskedofthesky.“We’rewithinthepathoftotality,”RoyvolunteeredasheexaminedhisGPS.

“Maybeweshouldmovetheshipawayfromtheclouds.”JoelefttoconferwithCaptainSchaab.Thecloudswerenotthick,buttheyseemedtobeconcentratedtotheeast,directlyintheship’spath.Andastheskycontinuedtobrighten,theydidnotseemtogetanyhigher.Thatwasagoodsign.Uponthebridge,thecaptainnotedthecloudsalso.“By5:30inthemorning,”

he toldme later, “Iwas apprehensive about them. I didn’t know exactly howtheyweremoving;whethertheyweremovingfurtherintothepathornot.”Thesinglelayerofstratocumuluswasquitelowanddidnotseemtobegrowinginsizeormovingtowardus.Itwas time towakeeveryoneup.Returning toourcabin, I satdownon the

bed.“Isittime?”askedWendeedrowsily.“Itistime,”saidI.Assheawakenedand prepared to join me top-side, I went down one deck to make sure PatsyTombaughandherfriendwereready.“It’smostlyclear,”Isaidcheerily,“andIthinkwe’regoingtodosomeeclipsingtoday!”Backinourcabin,Wendeewasnowreadyforherday.Wetooktheelevator

up five decks andwent to our site, high on the promenade deck not far fromwhereIhadbeenobservinghalfanhourbefore.Itsoonbecameobvious,though,

thatourprimesitewouldn’tdo.IfCaptainShaabweretoturntheEmpresstothenorth, our site would not get a good view. Sowewandered to starboard andchoseanewsitenearthefrontendofthestarboardsundeck.Theskywasbrighteningfast,andtheRegalEmpress’ssundeckwasfillingup

withgroupsoftravelersstakingouttheirviewingsites.Patsyremindedusthatshehadseenthiseclipsebefore,twosaroscyclesago,

in1963.ButClydewassointerestedinhavinghertimehisexperimentsduringtheminuteandahalfoftotalitythatshebarelygottoseeanything.Wehopedtocorrect that oversight thismorning, as the results of our planning and hopingwere already coming to bear–the partial phase had already started, and wewaitedtosee itwhentheSunrose in theeast.Thateventwasnowjustfifteenminutes away, and still the ship was cruising eastward. The passengers weregettingrestless,especiallyRoy,whohadabevyofcamerassetupataspotthatwasnotpointinganywhereneartherisingSun.“David,”hesaid,“aretheygoingtoturnornot?”Frustrated,IjumpedovertheropethatsaidCrewOnlyandracedupthesteps

twoatatimetowardthebridge.Theretheothertourorganizershadsetuptheirspots, andwith a full view of the sky all around, they did not understand theconfusiontherestofuswerefeeling.IwastoldthattheshipwasdoingafinalpositioningtogettheSuninbetweenthetwoareasofdistantcloudstotheeast.WhatIdidn’tknowatthetimewasthatthecaptainwasasanxiousasanyof

ustostoptheshipandpositionit,butJoewasstilltryingtokeeptheshipgoingfurther south, away from the clouds. Captain Schaab now felt that furtherfiddlingwas justplainunnecessary.“By tenpastsix,quarterpastsix,”he toldme,“Iknewthat thecloudswerenotmoving.Wehadobservedandmeasuredthem for a good hour, and I was confident that it was going to work out.”Althoughthiswouldnotbehisfirsteclipse,itwasourcaptain’sfirstasanadult,andhewasasanxiousastherestofustoseeit.“WeviewedthefirstonewhenIwas about five years old, with a small black glass burned over a flame,” heconfidedlater.“IsawtheoutlineoftheSunandtheblackshadowmovingoverit.”AlthoughJoewasstillpushingformoremaneuvering,CaptainSchaabfinally

hadenough.“Joe,”hesaiddecisively,“Ihavefiddled,andIhavefiddled,andIwillfiddlenolonger.Iamturningtheshiptoport!”

SUNRISEIreturnedtoourdeckandtoldRoyandtheothersthattheshipwasabouttoturntoport.Butall thewhile,somethingamazingwashappeninginthesky,whichhadbeenbrighteningrapidlywiththeapproachofsunrise.Nowtheincreasein

sky brightness slowed down, then strangely stopped, and began to reverse-theskybegantogetdarkerjustbeforesunrise.ThenathincrescentSunroseoutofthesea,andasitclearedthehorizonitjustsatthere,itsbottomcusprestingonthe waves like a sunbather dipping an idle toe in the pool. “The first specialeffect,”Wendeewouldwriteaftertheevent,“wasthesightoftheSunrisinginpartialeclipse.ThecrescentSunwasphenomenal,andmadethiseclipseuniqueinitself.”WhentheSunortheMoonisthatlowinthesky,itlooksmuch,muchbigger

thanitiswhenithassomealtitude.Itiscalledthe“Moonillusion,causedthebyfactthatourmindshavehorizonmarkerstocomparewiththesizeofthedistantMoon or Sun.When the orbs are high in the sky, we have no such basis ofcomparisonandtheyseemsmaller.Onthismorning,bothMoonandSunwerelockedinagiantMoonillusion,andsoclosetotheseatheylookedevenlarger.AsthecrescentSunrosehigher,itrapidlygotthinner.Theshipwasstrangely

quietaswelookedouttoseaandtriedtotakeinthewholeunearthlyscene.Anditwasn’tjusttheSun.Theskywasnowdarkeningsteadily–itwasmuchdarkerthanithadbeenafewminutesbeforesunrise.Andwiththedarkeningsky,thesea seemed to be quieting down. Even though the starboard side was nowcrowdedwith passengers, I felt just as I had a fewhours earlier, aloneon theship,aloneonawideanddarkeningsea.

Sunrise at 42 degrees 10 minutes N, 60 degrees, 39 minutes W. 6:10 a.m.,August11,1999.PhotobyRoyBishop.

TheSunwasnowwelloverthedistantlowclouds,andtheship,herstarboardside facing the Sun as planned, slowed down. After all the waiting anduncertainty,withlessthana20percentchanceofseeingthiseventinaperfectsky,itwasnowcertainthatweweregoingtoseeitinaperfectsky.Royturnedawayfromhiscameraandtripod,walkedover,andweembraced.WendeeandIhuggedeachothertoo.

THECRESCENTGETSTHINNERAll the passengers were reacting to Nature’s mood of quiet suspense.Conversation slowed down; people seemed to talk in shorter sentences. Theevent at sea had all our attention. I suggested that everyone watch the skydarken.With protective glasses on, we couldwatch the solar crescent shrink.Then,with glasses off,wewatched the skydarken as fast as though someonehadjustthrownacelestialdimmerswitch.Wendee’sdad,witheyesightsopoorhe can no longer drive, was nonetheless able to make out the crescent Sunthroughhisspeciallyfilteredglasses,andhereadilynotedthedarkeningskyandtheshadowoftheMoonracingtowardsusat12,900milesperhour(that’s215milesperminute).Patsywasoverwhelmedby theeventandher surroundings.“Thisissuchaquiettime,”shesaidsoftly,asifwewereallgettingreadyfortheendoftheUniverse.Wecouldeasilyseehowancientcultureswouldbeterrifiedbyasolareclipse.Evenwithmyownsenseofunderstanding,somethinginsidemewantedtoreachoutandstoptheoncomingtideofdarkness.Therewerefourminuteslefttototality,andstilltheskygrewdarker.“Lookhowdark thewater is,”Wendee pointed out.TheEmpresswas now

heading northwest at a snail’s pace, just fast enough to let her water-filledstabilizerskeepthevesselsteady.TheAtlanticwassostill thatwecouldseeahundred-thousand crescent Suns poetically reflected in the water. Roy andWendee were snapping pictures of the dying cresent Sun, now risen to threedegreesabovethehorizon.Therestofusjuststared.

Astheeclipse turns intoadiamondring, theshadowisabout to leave theSunandcontinueonitsjourneyacrosstheAtlantictoEngland.PhotographbyKandraKargo.

After it left us, the shadow crossed the Atlantic and over Europe. In thisEuropeanMeteosat6 image from22,000milesup in space, the shadow racesoverEasternEurope.

Thedarknesswascominginwaves.Ilookeduptoseeaskythatwasdarkerthan ithadbeenbeforesunrise. Itwasunnatural, sosoonafter sunrise, for thesky to be returning to night.We all seemed to realize that the eclipse, at thispoint,wasfarmorethananembracebetweenMoonandSun.Thedarkeningofthe sky was accelerating. The sea was still displaying its million thinningcrescents.Allaroundustherewasanunearthlyhush.Andstilltheskygrewdarker.

ChapterThirteen:ADiamondintheDark

Withthecrescentnowjustathin,curvedline,everythingwasstill–thesky,thesea, even the crowd. Some could actually start to see the Moon’s shadowdropping out of the sky to thewest. “Look how dark it’s getting!” Joan-ellenexclaimed.Patsy watched the crescent Sun shrink from a curve, to a thin line. Then

somethingstartledher–arippleofdarknessrushedbeneathherandracedouttosea. She had caught the rarest phenomenon of the eclipse, an effect calledshadowbands.“IthoughtIwasseeingthings,”sheexplainedlater.Shewasnot.“The shadowwent right undermyglasses.”The shadowbands occur secondsbeforeorafter totalityassunlightracesthroughvalleysat theveryedgeoftheMoon.EdwardDoyle,apassengerfromManhattan,alsosawtheshadowbandsdescribingthemas“aseriesofmovingshadows,veryfaint,andveryfast.Theylastedlessthanasecond,comingfromthefronttothebackoftheship.”“On my mark,” Joe Rao’s voice crackled through the ship’s loudspeaker.

“Sixty seconds to totality!” I rememberedmydad’swords from1963:“Pleasegivemy son a break in the clouds.” This time his prayerwould be answeredfully, for the skywasalmostcompletelyclear.Through the special sun filters,thesolarcrescentwasshrinkingtobarelyaspot.JustthenWendeeremovedherglasses to snapapictureof theSun.Shewas about to replace themwhen sheglancedup–“OhDavid-David-DAVID!Diamondring!”Irippedoffmyglassesandlooked.Thecrescentwasnowjustabrightpoint

ofsunlight,andthecoronasurroundingtheSunwasburstingintoview.“Glassesoffeveryone!”Iyelled.Iwastryingtoensurethateveryonetooktheirfiltersoff,forduringthetotalphaseofaneclipse,whentheSuniscompletelycoveredbythe Moon, there is no danger in looking directly at the sight “Ahead ofschedule!” JoeRao’s understatement came through the loudspeaker.ThequietontheshipendedinaburstofexcitementjustastheSunvanished.Initsplacewasajewelledcrown.Mytelescopewaspatientlywaiting;ifitwastogetused,nowwasthetime.I

yankeditsfilteroffandpeeredthrough,thensilentlygaveittoWendee.“Oh David! There’s prominences all over it! Joanie, come look!”Wendee

explained that theprominences looked likea ringof rubies. Joan-ellenputhereyetothescopeandutteredoninvoluntary“Ohwow!”Thoserubyprominenceswere thehighlightof theview through thescope, shesaid later.Wecouldseethemforthetonguesofflametheywere,eachonearcingmajesticallyawayfromtheSun,eachonefullycapableofswallowingtheEarth.I’veseenthesebeforeduringeclipsesbutneversolargeorsoruby-red–theirclosenesstothehorizonmusthaveintensifiedtheircolor.

Prominences erupting from the southern edge of the Sun;August 11,1999.PhotographbyGregBabcock.

While the rest of the group was looking through the telescope, I glancedtowardthehorizonagain.Thesecondsweretickingby.Thetotaleclipseutterlydominated,butitdidn’tcompletetheview.SurroundingtheSun,andextendingmorethanhalfwayaroundthesky,wasthecigar-shapedribbonofdarknessthatwastheshadowoftheMoon,moreclearlyvisibleinthedarkskythanIhadeverseen it before. But it wasmoving fast–rocketing past us at more than twelvethousandmilesperhour.Likeagreathourhand,theshadowspunaroundtothenortheast.Very little of it remained southwest of the Sun, and itwasmovingawayfast.Oneofmyfellowtravelersnotedhowmystical,howquiet itwasattotality: “I thought of the primitive people being absolutely terrified. Iwasn’tterrified but I had the feeling of people who used to be.” I also noticed thatlookingouttosea,allwasincrediblyquiet.Millionsofpeoplewouldwatchthiseclipse as the shadow continued its journey, but not here, and not yet. Therewerenoplanesoverhead andnovessels aroundus.Noone. Just our ship, thesea,thesky,andthespectacle.“Iexpected thediamond ring,” Joan-ellensaid later, “but Iwasn’t ready for

therubyprominencesaroundtheMoon.AlsonotpreparedforhowbrillianttheSunwas around theMoon. It never got totally dark. I was not ready for thatcorona. Iwas so impressed. Idonotwant tobuyapicture,because that’snot

whatIsaw.Iwillhavethememoryforever.”“This eclipse was completely different from what I was used to.” added

Denise,whohasseenseveralothereclipses.“Itjustoverwhelmedme.ThefactthatIwasabletoseetheprominenceswiththenakedeye!”Despitehispooreyesight,LenWallachhadnotroublediscerningthedetails

ofthecorona.“Itwasveryimpressive,”hesaid.“Overpowering.”Standingnexttohim,Annettefeltthechillofacoolbreeze.Thentherewasabrighteningnearthe topof theSun.A second later, a spectacular shaft of sunlight burst past amountain at the edge of the Moon. “A beam shot out,” Annette recalled asanotherspectaculardiamondringmarkedtheendofthetotalphase.Asfastasithadbegun,itwasover.“Irealizedhowlittleweare.”Upnearthebridge,SamStorchstaredinsilenceasthediamondringwidened

intoashaftofsunlightandthenathincrescent,anddidwhatseemedthenaturalthing.Withsubduedemotion,hebegantopray.“BaruchatohAdonai,elohenumelechha-olam;osayma-ah-sayvareyshees.”Thetranslation:“Blesedartthou,Oh Lord our God, King of the Universe, who has created the wonders ofheaven.”We stood there for a second, moved beyond words. Joan-ellen broke the

silencewithasimplestatementoffact:“What-a-show.”Asthoughadamhadburst,peoplestartedcheering,yelling,andhugging.On

thebridge,Joenotedthatoftheeighttotaleclipseshehasseen,“ThisistheonlyoneduringwhichnocloudswereencroachingontheSun.”“Shall Iblowthewhistle?”acrewmemberasked.And theresponsewasan

enthusiastic“Yes!”Thus,RegalEmpressjoinedinthemayhem;standingalonein theAtlantic, three loud, longblastssoundedasalute to theSun, in thankfulfarewell to the shadowyvisitor from space that had visited us ever so briefly.“This eclipse went right to the marrow of my bones,” said the captain. “Theenthusiasmofthisgroup–evenbeforetheeclipse–reallygotmegoing.WiththeSun,theMoon,andalittlebitofhelpfromJoeRao,Idon’tknowhowitcouldhaveworkedoutanybetter.”“This,”Wendeeemphasizedtoherwholefamily,“iswhatpeoplechase.This

iswhatpeoplespendalifetimechasing.”

SECONDSUNRISE“Ladies and Gentlemen,” Joe intoned. “A little ahead of schedule, butnonethelessyou’vejustseenthelasttotaleclipseoftheSuninthemillennium!”(Actually,itwasn’ttheeclipsethatwasaheadofschedule,butourship,asJoelatercalculated.Wewerepositionedclosertothewesternedgeofthepath,theverybeginningof theshadow’s trek thatday, thanhehadrealized.) I replaced

the filter on the telescope, and let people look at the Cheshire Cat grin of acrescentthatnowwastheSun.Andastimepassed,otherpassengerssharedtheirown views ofwhat they had experienced. “This is themost striking eclipse Ihaveseen!”Royexulted.“Theskywasclear, theSun threedegreesabove theocean, and there was a necklace of rubies. There was a less than 20 percentchance forwhatwe had!” I agreed.WithWendee, her family and our friendswithuswatchingthejewelledcrownhangingovertheseawasanexperienceIwon’tforget.“Eclipses have personalities,” said Ann Burgess. “The 1998 eclipse had a

purplishqualitytothesky,perhapsbecausetotalitywaslonger.Thisoneseemedmorejoyful,partlybecausetheSunwasjustrisingandwehadthewholerestofthedayafterit.”“Itwas so emotional after totality,”Wendee said. “All over the shippeople

werehuggingeachother,tearyeyed.“Hoursafterward,”someoneadded,“whenIthoughtofwhatIsaw,Iburstintotears.”

ChapterFourteen:HereComestheSun!

‘The moving finger writes and, having writ, moves on.’ Like a movingfingerofdarknessthecone-shapedshadowofthemoonhaddippeddown,scrawleditsbrieftwominutemarkofnightacrossthelandandthenmovedon,stillwriting,butnowwithinvisibleinkupontheemptypageofspace.

LeslieC.Peltier,StarlightNights,1965.

Acrossmilesofoceanandhalf a continentaway,ClarkandLyndaChapmanwere quietly sleeping in their RockyMountain home nearBoulder, Colorado.Clark is a planetary scientist who has spent the last several years studyingimages of moons that are more distant than ours. A member of the Galileospacecraft’simagingteam,hewaslookingforwardtospendinghisdaystudyingthelatestspacecraftimagesofJupiter’senigmaticandice-coveredmoonEuropa.AsClarkawoke,helazilyturnedonhisradio,andwasstartledtohearmyvoicedescribingtheeclipseIhadseenmomentsearlier.AstheshadowoftheMoonracedacrossthecloudyAtlantictoitsrendezvous

withEngland,atoursitetheSunwasacrescentonceagain,butnowfacingtheotherdirection.Ilookedatmywatchandheadedinsidetoourcabintoawaitthattelephonecall,viasatellite,fromNationalPublicRadio.Ireturnedtotheemptycabinandsatonthebed,relievedforacoupleofminutesofprivacy.ThecabinwasbrighteningrapidlyastheSun’spresencegreweverstronger,andthenthetelephonerang.Whataway,Ithought,tobeginanewday.IseeatotaleclipseoftheSun,and

thenIgettodescribeittotheworld!AndasClark’sradioprogramwentontotherestoftheday’snews,hewaspleasedthat,inaworldwhosedaywasfilledwith a war in Indonesia and a shooting in California, that the radio stationalloweditslistenerstoleaveEarthforafewmomentstojointhemoonshadowasitpaiditspreciousvisittous.Theinterviewcompleted,Iheadedbacktotheappropriatelynamedsundeck,

ajumbleofchairsandtablesstillinplacefortheeclipse.Now,however,therewassomefriction.Apassengerwhoeitherdidn’tknoworcareabouttheeclipsewasunhappythatthepathofhermorningwalkwaspartiallyblockedbypeople

staringattheSunthroughstrangeglasses.Thebestpartoftheeclipsewasover,butamillioncrescentSunswerestilltobeseenreflectedintheoceanwaves.

SHADOWMOVESON...Althoughwewereprobablythefirst tosee theshadowfromthesurfaceof theEarth, we were not the first to see the eclipse. According to associate editorDennis di Cicco of Sky and TelescopeMagazine, the first expedition to seetotalitywasprobablytheoneledbyJohnHopperfromMassachusetts.Flyingat41,000feetinathree-engineFalcon900B,hisgroupactuallysawovertheedgeoftheEarthandwitnessedtensecondsoftotalityjustbeforetheshadowstrucktheAtlantic.Dennishimselfwaspartofthesecondgroupthatwatchedfromanairplane as the shadow swooped out of the sky. “The view from 25,000 wasstunning,” he wrote to me. “We had plotted a very careful course andprogrammedtheaircraft’sautopilottoflydirectlydownthecenterline.Ididnotexpecttheviewwegot–horizoncolors,prominences,andshadow,plusaMoonillusion enhanced view of the corona made the naked-eye view spectacular.”Denniswassurprised thatourviewwasasgoodas itwas.“At thestartof thetrack (a littlewest of us) it looked 100 percent cloudy below, but therewerebreaksbelowusevenat the shortdistanceup the trackwe flew.Actually, thecolumnofsunlightreflectedfromthewaterinthemomentsbeforetotalitywasstunning.”¹AlreadytheshadowwasreachingCornwall,England,wheremassivecrowds

were braving skies made doubly dark by heavy clouds and the eclipse. NearParis,theeclipsehadaspecialmajesty,foritwasatriumphofpredictionbyoneof the great 19th-century French popularizers of astronomy, CamilleFlammariom. Writing in his book Popular Astronomy in 1885, Flammarionnoted that the track of the August 11, 1999 eclipse would pass right throughParis.Themapwasalittleoff–theeclipsetrackedjustoutsidethecity–butitwascloseenoughtobeaconsummationforamanwhobadlywantedtoseeatotaleclipseoverhisbelovedhome.IwasespeciallyworriedaboutmyfriendPeterJedicke,whowaswatchingthe

eclipsewith his family inGermany.SincePeter’s viewof the 1991 eclipse inHawaiihadbeenblockedbyanunusualsummerlowpressuresystem,hereallydeserved to see this one. But the uncertainties of weather and climate aren’tnecessarilyfair,andPeterwasforcedtoendureheavycloudsforasecondtime.The shadow then crossed over themuch clearer sky of the Black Sea, wherethousandsofpeoplestoodaboardshipsalllineduptoobservetheeclipse.As the eclipse advanced through Italy,Pope JohnPaul II enjoyed its partial

phases, as didEgypt’sPresidentHosniMubarak fromCairo and Israeli Prime

MinisterEhudBaraka shortdistanceaway in Israel.But theeclipsedidbringouttheworstinsomepeople.EventhoughBrazilwasnowherenearthepathofthe eclipse, according to one newspaper, a policeman in Picul released threeprisonersbecauseheallegedlythoughttheworldwasabouttoend.Atelevisionstation inBulgaria did not cover the eclipse at all, and later apologized to itsviewersthatitscameracrewwasdelayedinaneroticfilmshoot.Inadditiontothesebizarreevents,therewereatleasttwotragicones:InCairo,Abdul-NasserNuredeenwaschargedwithkillinghiswifeaftersherefusedtomakehimacupoftea,preferringinsteadtowatchtheeclipse.InRomania,wheretheeclipsewastotal,a31-year-oldmotherkilledhernewbornbabybecauseshefearedthattheeclipsehadcursedit.²BackontheEmpress,aboutaquarter-hourafter totality, thecaptainturnedthevesselslightlytothenortheast,andpickedupspeedasitbeganitsjourneytoSt.John’s,thecapitalofNewfoundland.Alltherestofthatdaywewereatsea,outofsightoflandandothervesselsascloudsfromanapproachingstormbegantobuild.Bytheendofthedaytheskywasmostlycloudy.Afterdinner,wesatasusualnearthestern,relaxingandgoingovertheeventsoftheday.Aswetalkedinthedimmingtwilight,wenoticedthattheshiphadslowedtoaveryleisurelypace.Wedidn’tknowitat thetime,butapistonhadbrokeninoneofthetwogiantengines.Theship’sengineerwasmiraculouslyabletoinstallanewpiston,but we were delayed several hours getting into St. Johns. That engine couldeasilyhavediedadaysooner,anddespiteaclearskyandcalmsea,wewouldhavemissed the total eclipse.As it turnedout,weenteredSt. Johns’beautifulharboratsunset,andenjoyedaclearskyandthemaximumofthePerseidmeteorshower with members of the St. John’s Center of the Royal AstronomicalSocietyofCanada.A few nights later and accompanied by breaching whales,Regal Empress

rounded the northeastern tip of Newfoundland and entered the Strait of BelleIsle, and a day later the Gulf of St. Lawrence.Wewere at our northernmostpoint.WendeeandhersistersGailandJoan-ellenwerehopingforaviewoftheNorthernLights.Itwascloudythatnightandthenextdayitrained,buteveningbrought a crystal clear sky. I walked back to my now-favorite spot near theEmpress’sbow.Althoughitwasn’tlate,nooneelsewasthereandIhadtheseaand the sky tomyself, just like that never-to-be-forgottenmorning before theeclipse.But this nightwas different.Wewereno longer on the ocean.To thesouthlaythenorthcoastofNewfoundland,andtothenorthIcouldseeQuebec.Therewasalsoabrightglowinthenorthernsky.AuroraBorealis!Duringtheeclipse,wesawplentyofsunspotscrossingthe

Sun, sowe knew that the Sunwas active enough to produce a display of the

northern lights. Just at thatmoment,Roy appeared. “Roy!We’vegot aurora!”Werushed toourcabins togetWendeeandGertrude.“Well?”askedWendee.“It’shappening!”Passing thewordon tohersisters,werushedbackup to thedeck.Over the next two hours the crowd thickened as word about the display

spread.Theship’sstaffensuredthatall forwardlightswereoff toenhanceourview–andwhataview!Westoodspellboundasthegloweruptedintoabeautifularcwith shimmeringgreenand red searchlight rays climbing the sky.Beneaththat arc was a smaller, more distant arc, also with gossamer rays pointingupward.Theshowwasvisibleinthesky,anditwasreflectedinthesea.ItwasnotenoughfortheSuntobethestarofatotaleclipse.Onthisnightthe

Sunperfectedourcruise,andanastronomicalexperiencenevertobeforgotten,byproducing itsdazzlingencore inashowof thenorthern lights.“At first theaurorasimplylookedlikeathickcloudarcingacrossthesky,”Wendeewroteinher diary. “Then it began to swell and light shafts formed above andbelow ituntilithadtheillusionofbeingbacklitbyspotlightsfrombelow.Weevensawabriefshowofredflames.”Aswestaredatthesky,wefeltasthoughNaturewasperformingjustforus.

Voyage end; packing up to leave: l-r: Gail Zimmer, Denise Sabatini, LeoEnright,DavidandWendeeLevy,MichaelandLilyFalk,andGertrudeBishop.PhotobyRoyBishop.

Notes

1. DennisdiCiccotoDavidH.Levy,1September,1999.2. Thesestoriescomefrom“NewsoftheWeird:EclipseMadness,”acolumn

inChicagoReader,17October,1999.

AppendixA:HowtoViewanEclipseSafely

1. Looking directly at the Sun is always dangerous. Its ultraviolet radiationcan be catastrophic for the eye. If you look at the Sun long enough,UV canactually burn a hole in your retina, an event that would result in permanent,partial, blindness. Most of the time, the Sun’s brightness prevents your eyesfrom remaining open, in direct view, formore than a few seconds.During aneclipse,thenormalglareoftheSunisreducedtothepointthatyoucanlookatitforlongperiodsoftime.However,theremainingvisibleportionstillissendingoutharmfulUVrays.Withoutyoureye’sbuilt-inprotectionsystematwork,youcanlookattheSunlonger,andthereforeyoureyeshaveafargreaterchanceofsufferingUVdamage.2.UseaNo.14Welder’sGlass,orspecialeclipsesafetyglassesthatareoften

availableatcameraandtelescopestoresbeforeaneclipse.Or3.Witha small telescope,binoculars,oroperaglass,project theSunontoa

white cardboard or a piece of paper. Do not look through an unprotectedtelescope,anddonotuseatelescopeequippedwithafilterattheeyepieceend.ThesefilterscouldeasilyshatterduetotheconcentratedheatoftheSun.Or4.Put a tiny pinhole through a piece of paper, andproject theSun’s image

through the pinhole to another piece of paper. But do not look through thepinhole.5.YoucanseeacrecentSunprojectedbyspacesbetweenleavesbylookingat

thegroundintheshadowofatree.6.Duringthetotalphaseofeclipse,whentheSun’scoronaandprominences

arevisible,butnotthebrightphotosphere,itiscompletelysafetolookdirectlyat the Sun, even through a telescope. Protection is needed as soon as thephotospherereappears.

The correct way to view the partial phases of a solar eclipse, using No. 14welder’sglass.July11,1991,Santiago,BajaCalifornia.PhotobyRoyBishop.

AppendixB:FutureSolarEclipses

Inthenext twentyyears,eclipsesof theSunwillcrossavarietyofpathsoverthe world. Here is a list of what’s in store: (Total eclipses are in bold:)Remember:DonoteverlookattheSunwithoutproperprotectionforyoureyes.Permanentblindnesscanresultfromevenaquicklook.NormallytheSunissobrightthatyoureyesareforcedtosquint,thenquicklyturnaway,asabuilt-inprotection.Butduringaneclipse,whentheSunispartlyobscuredbytheMoon,youare tempted to lookat it longerandmore intensely.TheSun’s ultravioletrays can actually burn a hole in your retina, resulting in permanent, partialblindness.AWelder’sglass(No.14strength),orspecializedeclipseglassesthatareavailable from telescope stores,willblockenoughof theSun’sUltravioletraystomakeitsafetolookthrough.Duringthetotalphaseofasolareclipse,whentheSuniscompletelycovered

bytheMoon,itiscompletelysafetolookattheSun.Protectionmustbeinforceagain,however,rightaftertheendoftotality.

Date: Saros Type DescriptionDecember25,2000

122 Partial AdeeppartialeclipsecoveringallofthecontinentalUnitedStaresandmostofCanada.

June21,2001

127 Total SouthernAtlantic,Angola,Zambia,Zimbabwe,Mozambique,Madagascar

December14,2001

132 Annular CrossesthePacificOceanandCentralAmerica

June10,2002

137 Annular AlsocrossesthePacificOcean;partialinU.S.

December4,2002

142 Total StartsoffthecoastofAfricaandcoversasmallareaalreadycoveredbythe2001eclipse,includingAngolaandZambia,thenthroughBotswana,

Zimbabwe,SouthAfrica,Mozambique,thencrossestheIndianOceantosouthernAustralia.

May31,2003

147 Annular Arctic;partialinAsia

November23,2003

152 Total Antarctica

April19,2004

119 Partial SouthAtlantic

October14,2004

124 Partial Pacific

April8,2005

129 Annular/Total SouthPacificandnorthernpartofSouthAmerica;EclipseistotalineasternPacificonly.

October3,2005

134 Annular Africa

March29,2006

139 Total EasternBrazil,Atlantic,AfricaincludingEgypt

September22,2006

144 Annular SouthernAtlantic

March19,2007

149 Partial DeeppartialeclipseinEasternUSandCanada

September11,2007

154 Partial SouthAmerica,Atlantic

February7,2008121

121 Annular Antarctica

August1,2008

126 Total HighArcticinCanada,Greenland,ArcticOcean,Russia,Mongolia,China

January26,2009

131 Annular SouthPacific

July22,2009

136 Total Asia

January15,2010

141 Annular IndianOcean

July11,2010

146 Total SouthPacific,EasterIsland,Chile,andArgentina.

January4,2011

151 Partial Africa

June1,2011

118 Partial NorthernpartofNorthAmerica

July1,2011

156 Partial Africa,SouthPacific

November25,2011

123 Partial Antarcticregion

May20,2012

128 Annular PacificOcean,westernU.S.

November13,2012

133 Total NorthernAustralia,SouthPacific

May10,2013

138 Annular SouthPacific

November3,2013

143 Annular/Total Atlantic,centralAfrica(totalexceptforbeginningandendofpath.)

April29,2014

148 Annular Justoneplacenearsouthpole

October23,2014

153 Partia WesternNorthAmerica

March20,2015

120 Total NorthAtlanticOcean,NorthofScandinavia

September13,2015

125 Partial SouthernIndianOcean

March9,2016

130 Total WesternPacificOcean

September1,2016

135 Annular Africa,westernPacific

February26,2017

140 Annular SouthAmerica,WesternAtlanticOcean

August21,2017

145 Total PacificOcean,Oregon,Idaho,Wyoming,Nebraska,Missouri,Illinois,Kentucky,Tennessee,NorthandSouthCarolina,AtlanticOcean

February Antarctica

February15,2018

150 Partial Antarctica

August11,2018

155 Partial DeepPartialinEurope

January6,2019

122 Partial DeepPartialinthePacific

July2,2019

127 Total SouthPacific,Chile,andArgentina.

December26,2019

132 Annular IndianOcean

June21,2020

137 Annular IndianOcean

December14,2020

142 Total Pacific,Chile,Argentina,Atlantic

and,forgoodmeasure:

April8,2024

Total Mexico,Texas,Oklahoma,Arkansas,Missouri,Kentucky,Illinois,Indiana,Ohio,Pennsylvania,NewYork,Vermont,NewHampshire,andMaine,NewBrunswick,andNewfoundland.

AppendixC:FutureLunarEclipses

Eclipses of theMoon take place less frequently than their solar counterparts,butsinceeachoneisvisibleovertheentirehemisphereoftheEarthoverwhichtheMoonisinthesky,theyaremorefrequentlyvisible.UnlikeSolar eclipses, lunar eclipses can do no harm to your eyes; they are

completelysafetoviewthroughunaidedeye,binoculars,ortelescope.ThedatesareinUniversalTime,soarecorrectatthelongitudeofGreenwich,England.

UniversalDate: Saros Type DescriptionJanuary9,2001 134 Total Asia,Africa,endingineastNorth

AmericaJuly5,2001 139 Partial Asia,Africa,Austalia,farwestN.

AmericaDecember30,2001

144 Penumbral OverNorthAmerica

May26,2002 111 Penumbral Asia,Australia,NorthAmericaJune24,2002 149 Penumbral ShadingtoolighttobedetectableNovember20,2002

116 Penumbral NorthAmerica,Africa,Europe,Asia

May16,2003 121 Total NorthAmericaNovember9,2003

126 Total NorthAmerica,Europe,Asia,Africa

May4,2004 131 Total Europe,AfricaOctober28,2004 136 Total NorthAmerica,Europe,Asia,AfricaApril24,2005 141 Penumbral Pacific,westernNorthAmerica,eastern

AustraliaOctober17,2005 146 Partial Pacific,westernNorthAmericaMarch14,2006 113 Penumbral NorthAmerica,Europe,AfricaSeptember7,2006

118 Partial Asia

March3,2007 Africa,NorthAmerica,Asia

March3,2007 123 Total Africa,NorthAmerica,AsiaAugust28,2007 128 Total Pacific,westernNorthAmericaFebruary21,2008

133 Total NorthAmerica

August16,2008 138 Partial Europe,AfricaFebruary9,2009 143 Penumbral WesternNorthAmerica,Asia,AustraliaJuly7,2009 110 Penumbral ShadingtoolighttobedetectableAugust6,2009 148 Penumbral EasternNorthAmerica,Europe,AfricaDecember31,2009

115 Partial Europe,Asia,Africa

June26,2010 120 Partial NorthAmerica,Australia,PacificDecember21,2010

125 Total NorthAmerica,Pacific

June15,2011 130 Total Asia,Africa,IndianOceanDecember10,2011

135 Total Asia,Australia,westernNorthAmerica

June4,2012 140 Partial Australia,Pacific,westernNorthAmerica

November28,2012

145 Penumbral Asia,Australia,westernNorthAmerica

April25,2013 112 Partial Africa,IndianOcean,AsiaMay25,2013 150 Penumbral ShadingtoolighttobedetectableOctober18,2013 117 Penumbral NorthAmerica,Africa,Europe,AsiaApril15,2014 122 Total Pacific,NorthAmericaOctober8,2014 127 Total Pacific,westernNorthAmericaApril4,2015 132 Total Pacific,farwestNorthAmericaSeptember28,2015

137 Total EasternNorthAmerica,Europe,Africa

March23,2016 142 Penumbral PacificwesternNorthAmericaFebruary11,2017

114 Penumbral NorthAmerica,Europe,Asia,Africa

August7,2017 119 Partial Africa,Asia,AustraliaJanuary31,2018 124 Total Asia,Australia,farwestNorthAmericaJuly27,2018 129 Total Europe,Asia,Africa,AustraliaJanuary21,2019 UnitedStates,SouthAmerica

January21,2019134 Total

UnitedStates,SouthAmerica

July16,2019 139 Partial SouthAmerica,Europe,Asia,AfricaJanuary10,2020 144 Penumbral Europe,Asia,Africa,AustraliaJune5,2020 111 Penumbral ShadingprobablytoolighttobevisibleJuly5,2020 149 Penumbral ShadingprobablytoolighttobevisibleNovember30,2020

116 Penumbral NorthAmerica

AppendixD:ACanonofEclipsesIHaveSeen

Hereisalistofthe54timesthatI’vebeentouchedbythewanderingshadowsof Earth and Moon. This personal canon of eclipses begins with an almostcloudedoutpartialsolareclipseonOctober2,1959.OnMarch12,1960,Motherpromisedmealunareclipse,butsinceIdonotrecallseeingit,thateventmighthave clouded out also. (The fire eclipses that are lettered, not numbered, areeventsIplannedtoseebutdidnotsee.)However,accordingtothiscanon,Ididseethateclipse-perhapsnotin1960,butwhenlunarsaros122repeateditselftwocycleslateronApril4,1996.Myfirsttotalsolareclipse,onJuly20,1963,wasapartofsaros145,onJuly

20,1963.IsawitagainonAugust11,1999.Whenthecyclesofthesolarsystemconvergeagain,Ihopetoenjoytheeclipseonemoretime,whenitcrosses theUnitedStatesonAugust21,2017.¹1.October2,1959.SessionNo.1S.SolarSaros143.Thispartialsolareclipsewaseclipsedbycloudsuntilitsfinalfifteenminutes.AbeautifulsunriseviewofapartiallyeclipsedSun.A.March12/13,1960.LunarSaros122.Mymotherpromisedmeaviewofthiseclipse,butIdonotrecallseeingit–theskymusthavebeencloudy.

2.August25/26,1961.Session*7EM.LunarSaros137.ApartialeclipseoftheMoon,butsince99.2%oftheMoonwascoveredbytheshadowoftheEarthatitsmaximum, thiseclipsewasasclose to totalasyoucangetwithoutactuallybeingtotal.Skywaspartiallycloudy.IwatchedthefirstpartoftheeclipsefromtheObservatory of theMontrealCenter of theRoyalAstronomical Society ofCanada, which coincidentally happened to be located a hundred yards to thewestofMcGillUniversity’sMolsonstadium,inwhosestandsmyparentswere,atthesametime,watchingaMontrealAlouettesfootballgame.Thegameendedbeforetheeclipsedid,soweleftandwatchedtherestofitfromhome. 3. July 20, 1963. *338S. Solar Saros 145. Total eclipse of the Sun, at LakeWilliam,Quebec.Seechapter2. 4.December 30, 1963. *409M.Lunar Saros 124. Total eclipse of theMoon.One of the darkest eclipses ever, thanks to an volcanic eruption which filledEarth’satmospherewithsulfur.At totality, theMoonwascompletely invisible

tome.AccordingtoConstantinePapacosmas,whosawtheeclipsefromadarksite, the fullMoon,which is usually as bright asmagnitudeminus12,was asfaintasafifthmagnitudestar.FromourMontrealhome,theweatherwasverycoldthatnight.5.June24,1964.*519E.LunarSaros129.TotaleclipseoftheMoon.Despiteaclear morning, clouds and thundershowers moved in by early evening,completelywashingoutourchancesofseeingthetotalpartoftheeclipse.Thecloudsdidclearintimeforourgroupdidseethelastpartofthepartialphase. 6. December 18/19, 1964. *720EM. Lunar Saros 134. Total eclipse of theMoon.The lastofanunusualseriesof three total lunareclipsesvisible fromasingle site. Sky was clear. Our group, the Amateur Astronomers Association,enjoyed theeclipseandmadea tape recordingof theevent.When theshadowpassedover the sea ofCrisis, a call ofMareCrisium soundedverymuch likeMerryChristmas,andwepatrioticallyfinishedtheeventwitharousingrenditionoftheCanadiannationalanthem.7.April12/13,1968.2045EM.LunarSaros131.TotaleclipseoftheMoon.AbeautifullyclearandwarmPassoverevening;theeclipsewaiteduntilafterSederended.Wewenttoacoupleofsites–atone,itappearedthathalfofthepeopleofMontrealwereoutwatching!8.March7,1970.2275S2.SolarSaros139.TotaleclipseoftheSun.AlthoughourgroupwasundertheshadowoftheMoon,cloudsobscuredourviewofthetotallyeclipsedSun.However,Ihaveneverseenadarkertotaleclipse.Thethicklayer of stratus clouds amplified the effect of the Moon’s shadow, whichswoopedinfromthesouthwestandplungedusintoalatetwilight.Aftertotalityended,wecouldseetheshadowracingawayoverthedistantclouds.9.August16,1970.*2328EM.LunarSaros110.Partialeclipseof theMoon.This event coincided with another one: The official opening of the CampMinnowbrook summer Olympics! My preparations for observing the eclipsewere hindered somewhat bymy also having to help organize children for thegames.10.February10,1971.LunarSaros123.TotaleclipseoftheMoon.“Justbefore2A.M.,”IwroteinmyJournal,“theEarth’smainshadowattacked,andinaslowbut steadyadvancedarkened theMoon toabeautifulcoppery red.AndbeforetheMooncouldthrustawaythisbloodycloak,theEarthsentcloudstocoverthesky,therebypreventinganyonefromwitnessingtheMoon’sultimatevictoryinitsbriefbattlewiththeEarth.”11. January30,1972.1972–12LunarSaros133.A total eclipseof theMoon,seen from the roof of the 14-storyTower residence atAcadiaUniversity.Theeclipse was accompanied by astronomical tides. After the eclipse ended we

drove around the desolate, frozen wasteland that was the Minas Basin andnearbyGrandPreatlowtide.Tallfrozenicebergsseemedtostandonadesertofwhite, and to thewestof the eerie scene, theMoon, almost emerged from thepartialphaseoftheeclipse,wassinkingintothewest.12.July10,1972.RVH-1.SolarSaros126.Apartialeclipseof theSun.Ihadhopedthatthiswouldbemythirdtotaleclipse,butsinceIwasillIwatchedtheeclipsefromhospitalgrounds.Thiseclipsewas,infact,theonegloriousmomentofanotherwiseunhappysummer.Itdidn’tstartthatway–densecloudsandrainpreventedanyviewoftheeclipseatfirst,butat4:55PM,justatthemomentofmaximumeclipse,withtheSunmorethan80%covered,thecloudsbrokeandIwasabletoseethecrescentSunandphotographit.B.July25,1972.LunarSaros138.PartialeclipseoftheMoon.Cloudedout.C. January 18, 1973. Lunar Saros 143. Penumbral eclipse of the Moon.Cloudedout,butsawfullMoonlater.D.Friday,December13,1974.SolarSaros151.ApartialeclipseoftheSun.This was to be a great opportunity for public viewing; ConstantinePapacosmasandIsetupan8-inchtelescopeinfrontof theArtsBuildingatMcGill University, the single most heavily traveled point of the wholeinstitution.Weexplained telescopesandeclipses tomanypeople,butheavyclouds obscured the entire event. This last eclipse in this particular sarosseries, incidentally, took place as a small partial eclipse near the pole onDecember2,1956.ThefollowingonewasaneclipseofgreatermagnitudeonDecember 23, 1992. It will not be untilMay 16, 2227, that this saros willshowitsfirsttotaleclipse.

13.May24/25,1975.LunarSaros130.AtotaleclipseoftheMoon.Acontrastto the last eclipse, this onewas observed from Jarnac Pond,Quebec, under acompletelyclearsky.SKYWARD.14. November 18, 1975. Lunar Saros 135. A total eclipse of theMoon, seenthroughahazyandpartlycloudyskyfromMontreal,Canada.15.April3/4,1977.*3234E2.LunarSaros112.APassoverpartialeclipseoftheMoon.16.October 12, 1977. *3451S. Solar Saros 143.A partial eclipse of the Sun,viewedfrommyhomeinAmherst-view,Ontario,andfromWendee’shomeinLas Cruces, NewMexico. (12 pics) 17. February 26, 1979. ***3861S. SolarSaros 120. The last total eclipse of the Sun to touch the North Americanmainland in the20thcenturycrossed itsway fromWashingtonState, and intoManitoba. I observed this eclipse from Lundar, Manitoba. “During yourlifetime,”Iwrote,“sometimewhileyoucanstillwalkandbreathe,youmusttrytoobserveatotaleclipseoftheSun.Ihaveyettoseeaspectaclethatripstothe

coreofmybeingmorethoroughlythansuchanevent.AslongasIliveIshallneverforgetmyfeelingsasIwasgrippedbytheshadowoftheMoonduringthe1979eclipse.”18. September 5, 1979. *4050AN3. Lunar Saros 137. A total eclipse of theMoon,seenwithastronomerGeraldCecilafewdaysafterImovedtoTucson.19. August 25/26, 1980. Session *4782E. Lunar Saros 147. Penumbral LunarEclipse.Definitebutveryslightshading.Watchedthisonewhilenursingtheflu,lyingonmybackonacouchbyawindow.20. January19/20,1981.*5098M.LunarSaros114.PenumbralEclipseof theMoon.ObservedandphotographedfrommyhomenearTucson.21.July16/17,1981.Sessions*5302EM3,*5303M4,5304MP5,5305MP6,and5306M7. Lunar Saros 119. Partial eclipse of theMoon observed, with friendCarlJorgensen,fromseveralsitesaroundMontreal.22. July5,1982.Sessions*5894AN2.LunarSaros129.A total eclipseof theMoon,whichIsawaftertheafternoon’sraincloudsgrew,thendissipated.ThiswasalsotheeclipsewhereastronomerBrentArchinal,firstmethisfuturewifeJoAnne at an eclipse viewing party in Columbus, Ohio. Archinal observed itfromtheroofofthePhysicsbuildingwithfriendsfromtheOhioStateUniversityastronomy club. The dome grew crowded as students from astronomy classesjoinedthem.Latethatevening,Archinalwalkedtwoofthewomenbacktotheirdorm.“Oneofthewomenwasinterestedintalkingtome,”Archinalremembers.“IfoundouthernamewasJoAnne”23.December30,1982.Session*6117EMLunarSaros134.ThistotaleclipseoftheMoonwasvisibleonlyinitspartialphasefromTucson,sinceheavycloudsobscuredthecentralpart.ObservedwithcometdiscovererRolfMeier.24.June24,1983.Session**6347AN.LunarSaros139.PartialEclipseof theMoon. Transits of two of Jupiter’s moons were taking place simultaneously,with shadowsofbothvisibleon the faceof Jupiter.Sowe saw three shadowsthatnight–twoofJupiter’smoons,andoneoftheEarth.25.December19/20,1983.Session6468E.LunarSaros144.PenumbraleclipseoftheMoon.Skyclearedenoughtogetgoodviewsjustaftermaximumeclipse.StructuraldetailseenontheMoon’sdarkedge.E.May15, 1984.LunarSaros111.No recordofme seeing this penumbraleclipse.Wasitcloudy?

26.May30,1984.*6594M.SolarSaros137.AnnulareclipseoftheSun.IsawthiseventfromNewOrleans,La.Theshadowswoopedoutof theskyandleftus, all in a few seconds. The Moon and the Sun were virtually identical inapparent size for this unusual eclipse. “Time stopped,” I wrote, “then startedagainastheannularphaseended.Diditlastfiveseconds,oraweek?”Observing

fromIasCruces,Wendeewrote:“Todaywasexciting.TherewasapartialsolareclipsethisA.M.Theskygotdusk-likeanditgotbreezy.”27. April 24, 1986. Session *7098M2. Lunar Saros 131. Moderately bright;Danjonlumonisityscale2½to3.Somestratocumuluscloudsbutgenerallyafineview.Dawnbeganabout15minutesaftertotalitybegan.28.October3,1986.Session*7249S-B.SolarSaros124.Partialeclipseof theSun.ThiswasaneclipsewithasecondoftotalityfartothenortheastofmysiteatthesouthwesternedgeofNewMexico.

TheprogressoftheJuly1982eclipsefromtenminutesaftertotalitytothelatepartialphaseisshowninthesethreeviews.PhotographsbyBrentArchinal.

29.April14,1987.Session*7397E.Lunarsaros141.Penumbrallunareclipse,again on Passover. EclipsedMoon beautiful rising over the mountains to theeast.UsedanantiqueRamsdentelescope,sometwocenturiesold, toviewthiseclipse.30. October 6/7, 1987. Session 7533E. Lunar Saros 146. Penumbral lunar

eclipse.Sharpdarkeningnoticed.Clearshapesofmountainsseenonlunaredge,aswitheclipseno.29andotherpenumbraleclipses.Discoveredacomet threenightslater.SteveandDonnaO’Mearaweremarriedonthedayofthiseclipse.FamedAstronomersandvol,theyweremarriedonaneruptingvolcano.31.August26/27,1988.Session*7786MSaros118.SanFrancisco,California.Isetthealarmfor4AMbutthereweredenselowclouds.Idecidedtogobacktosleep,but10minutes later I gotup again andwentoutside, just in case.Nowtherewerebreaks in the rapidlymoving cloudbank, and soon the 1/3 eclipsedMooncameintoview!Itwasverynice,theeclipsedMooninonedirection,SanFranciscoskylineinanother,andafoghornsoundingevery20seconds.32.February20,1989.*7945M.Lunarsaros123.Interestingeffect justbeforesunrise–EarthshadowseennearEarth,andpartiallycoveringMoontoo!33.March7,1989.Session*7956S.SolarSaros149.PartialeclipseoftheSun,withalargesunspotgroupontheSunatthesametime.(Observedwithmytwocats.)34.August 16/17, 1989. Session **8054EM. Lunar Saros 128.Nova-searcherPeter Collins and I left Tucson under solid clouds. Forecasts showed thatheadingwestwouldgiveus thebest chanceof clear sky.Wedrove throughamassive lightning storm. Immediately after the rain stopped, sky cleared fromwest,andwesawtheeclipsedMoonjustafter thirdcontact.85%of theMoonwas still covered by the Earth’s shadow. Setting up on the side of a desertedroad,weobservedamarvelousskywithlightningandtheeclipsedMoon.35.July21/22,1990.Session**8318SE.SolarSaros126.PartialeclipseoftheSun. Eclipse began at 8:05:30 P.M. with the sun already partly below thehorizon–A“marveloustension”astheSunstartedtosetandwewonderedifwehadsomehowmiscalculatedandwouldmissit.Withthe“Moonillusion”effect,theSunappeared tobemuch larger thannormalsince itwasnear thehorizon,theMoonappearedtocutquiteawayintotheSun,asseeninthephotograph,inthethreeminuteswehadtoseethiseclipse.36. July11,1991.Session***8597S.SolarSaros136. “TheBigOne”–withatotalityofalmost7minutes,thissolareclipse,nearnooninLaPaz,Mexico,wasa marvellous event. The sky at totality was not as dark as expected, due toatmospheric effects from the recently erupted Pinatubo Volcano in thePhilippines.37.January4,1992.Session8724S.SolarSaros141.AnnulareclipseoftheSunseen from, the west side of Palomar Mountain, with Gene and CarolynShoemaker, JeanMueller,LonnyBakerandToddHansen, andTimandCarolHunter.Theskywasverycloudyuntil themomentofmaximumeclipse,whentheSunappeared,formostoftheseveralminutesofannulareclipse.

38. June 15, 1992. Session *8843EM.Lunar Saros 120.Unusally dark partialeclipseoftheMoon,duetoatmosphericeffectfromPinatubo.39.December9, 1992.Session*8908E.LunarSaros125.Total eclipseof theMoon. Observed the eclipse just after moonrise with Clyde Tombaugh,discovererofplanetPluto,andhiswifePatsy.Wendee tried tosee it fromherhomethatnight.40.June4,1993.Session*9005M2.LunarSaros130.PredawntotaleclipseoftheMoon.Timedcontactsof theshadowonTycho,Plato,MareSerenitatis.Areallylovelyeclipse.41.May 21, 1993. Session *8987ANS.Solar Saros 118. Partial eclipse of theSunseenthroughabankoffogfromPalomarObservatory.42.November29,1993.Session*9094EM.LunarSaros135.TotalEclipseoftheMoon.1.5onDanjonscale,meaningaquitedarkeclipse.43.May10,1994.SolarSaros128.Session9214S.AnnulareclipseoftheSunviewed fromLasCruces,NewMexico,withClyde andPatsyTombaugh, andBrad Smith, imaging team leader of theVoyager spacecraft. Nearby,WendeeWallach was leading an observing session with children from Sierra MiddleSchool,duringtheirphysicaleducationclass.44.May24/25,1994.*9224EM.LunarSaros140.VeryslightpartialeclipseoftheMoon, just a small amount ofMoon covered by the shadow of theEarth.ObservedwithvariablestarobserversJohnGrieseandCharlesScovil.Verynicethroughsmalltelescope.45.November18,1994.Session*9296M.Lunarsaros145.ApenumbraleclipseoftheMoon,observedwithastronomersPeterandDianneJedicke.VeryslightpenumbralshadingonnorthsideofMoon.46.April 4, 1996. Session **9673E.Lunar Saros 122.Another Passover totaleclipse of the Moon seen from Montreal. Moon was a medium-bright red;brighterlowerpart,muchdarkerattop.SawCometHyakutakeaswell.47.September27,1996.Session*9813E.LunarSaros127.TotaleclipseoftheMoon.IobservedthiseclipsethroughdensecloudsafteralectureatBallStateUniversityinIndiana.TheaudienceandIwatchedastheMoonapproachedtotaleclipse.Meanwhile,Wendeecouldseetheentireeclipseunderaclearskyfromourhome inVail,Arizona. “Once itwas about 75%eclipsed, it looked like acarrotcakecupcakewithwhiteicing,”shewrote.“Onceitwastotal,theMoonlookedlikeahigepieceofamberhanginginthesky....OncetheMoonbeganbrightening[aftertotality,]thecopperglowturnedintosilver/white.”48. March 23/24, 1997. Session ***10063SEM2. Lunar Saros 132. Partialeclipseof theMoon.Thiswas theprimeevent at ourwedding reception,heldoutdoorsatourhome.Theskywasbeautiful.Theeclipsewasspectacular,and

wealsosawCometHale-Bopp.49. February 26, 1998. Session *10,401MS.SolarSaros 130.TotalEclipse oftheSunseenfromtheDawnPrincessnearAruba.Skywasadark,crispblueattotality,withseveralplanetsvisible.Coronaandprominenceswerespectacular.50. March 12/13, 1998. Session *10,413EM. Lunar Saros 142. PenumbralEclipse of the Moon. Not really detectable with naked eye, but dark andbeautifulwithtelescope.EdgeoppositeshadowwasbrightbycontrastwithrestofMoon.Seenthroughclouds.51. September 5/6, 1998. Session *10,642M2. Lunar Saros 147. PenumbralLunarEclipse.Lunarrayspronouncedduringthisecliose,astheyarewithmostpenumbralecliopses.52.August11,1999.Session***11177SANS.SolarSaros145.TotalEclipseoftheSun,asdescribedinthisbook.53.January20/21,2000.Session*11434EM2.LunarSaros124.TotalEclipseoftheMoon.54.July15/16,2000.LunarSaros129.ThisisthethirdtimeI’veseenthisTotalEclipse of theMoon, but it was visible just as a partial fromArizona, whereWendee and I saw it with Stephen James O’Meara. Donna O’Meara, Steve’swife,observedthetotalphasefromtheirHawaiihome.“ThemoonlookedlikeitwasdippedinHershey’smilkchocolate,thereddish-brownkind.ComparewithWendee’sdescriptionofeclipseNo.47.

LunarEclipseofMarch23,1997.MultipleexposurebyKeithSchreiber.

Notes

1. ThetermCanonwasfirstusedin1887todescribealistofeclipsesbyTheodorvonOppolzer,whoseCanonofEclipseslistedallsolareclipses,

andallbutthepenumbrallunareclipsesfrom1208BCto2161.

AppendixE:EclipseSong

Duringtheship’svarietyshowonthe lastdayofourcruise,GertrudeBishopsang thesewords in honor ofRoy.Tune:Tara’s Theme (MyOwnTrueLove)fromGonewiththeWind.

IseethemoonlightIseethestarshineTheNorthernLightsUponthesea

ButwhentheSunIskissedbyMoonItfillsthesoulWithwondrousjoy

IroamedtheEarthinsearchofthisIknewI’dknowyou,knowyouBythelight

AndbythelightEclipsedatseaAsacredmomentWilleverbe

ThelightofMoonMarriedtoSunTheydancedatdawn,dawnOnthesea

AndbythisgiftOfshininglight

We’reeachapartofTheUniverse.

INDEXAfrica,totalsolareclipseinAircraft,solareclipseofAugust11,1999viewedfrom

Alaska,solareclipseinAmateurAstronomersAssociationAnnulareclipsesofJune17,1909ofJune6,1891ofMay10,1994ofMay1984

Archinal,BrentArchinal,JoAnneArubaAscendingnodeAsia,totalsolareclipseoverAstrof,PaulAstrometristsAstronomicaltidesAtlanticOceansolareclipseover

AurigaAuroraBorealis

Babcock,GregBajaCalifornia,totalsolareclipseoverBaker,LonnyBarak,EhudBayofFundy,astronomicaltidesinBinocularsimage-stabilizedviewingeclipseswith

Bishop,GertrudeBishop,RoyBlackSea,solareclipseoverBlindness.SeeEyes

Bok,BartBrazil,solareclipseoverBurgess,Ann

Canada,solareclipseoverCanonCaribbean,solareclipseoverCecil,GeraldChaldeans,saroscyclesdiscoveredbyChant,C.A.Chapman,ClarkChapman,LyndaChromosphereCirruscloudsClarke,ArthurC.,IColeridge,SamuelTaylorCollins,PeterCometHale-BoppCometHyakutakeCometLeeCometsbeyondNeptunecompositionofdiscoveredduringsolareclipsessearchingfor

CometShoemaker-LevyCometSwift-TuttleConnecticut,partialsolareclipseinCopernicuscraterCornwall,England,solareclipseofAugust11,1999over

Coronacolorofheliumdiscoveredinduringsolareclipsestemperatureof

CoronaBorealisCoronalstreamersCruiseships,viewingeclipsesfrom

DawnPrincessDeimosDeltaGeminorumDescendingnodeDiamondringeffectdiCicco,DennisDinosaursDouglas,A.VilbertDoyle,EdwardDyson,Frank

EarthinannulareclipsesineclipsesorbitoforiginofinsaroscyclesduringsolareclipseofAugust11,1999solareclipseson,asseenfromMoontidesand

Earthquakes,tidesandEclipses.SeealsoAnnulareclipses;Lunareclipses;Partialsolareclipses;Solareclipsesannularcyclicnatureoforiginofsolarpredictingsafeviewingoftotalsolarviewedbyauthor

Eclipseseason“EclipseSong,”EclipseyearsEclipticEdberg,StephenJ.Eddington,ArthurStanleyEgypt,solareclipseover

Einstein,AlbertEnergy,equivalenceofmassandEnright,LeoEspenak,FredEuropaEurope,solareclipseoverExeligmosEyes,damageto

Falk,LilyFalk,MichaelFilters,viewingeclipsesthroughFlammarion,CamilleFullMoon

GalileospacecraftGeneraltheoryofrelativitytesting

Germany,solareclipseofAugust11,1999over

GlobalPositioningSystem(GPS)GravityascurvatureofspacelightandofMoonNewtonianofSun

Greeks,saroscyclesdiscoveredbyGreenland,annulareclipseoverGriese,JohnG-typestars

HalifaxHansen,ToddHantsportPier,astronomicaltidesatHawaii,totalsolareclipseoverHelium,discoveryofHerschel,JohnHerschel,William

Hopkins,GerardManleyHopper,JohnHorsetailcirruscloudsHunter,CarolHunter,TimHyadesstarcluster,solareclipseinHydrogen,insolarprominencesHydrogengas,solarsystem’soriginfrom

Ice,incometsIcebergsImage-stabilizedbinocularsIndianOcean,solareclipseoverIsrael,solareclipseoverItaly,solareclipseover

Janssen,PierreJarnacObservatoryJedicke,DianneJedicke,PeterJewishcalendarJewishNationalHomeforAsthmaticChildren

JohnPaulII,PopeJorgensen,CarlJupitercometimpactonsatellitesofsolareclipsesat

Kargo,KandraKatsikis,JohnKirschberg,LeoKirschberg,LeonaK-typestarsKuiper,GerardKuiperBelt

Leapmonths

LightEinsteiniandeflectionofgravitationalbendingofNewtoniandeflectionof

Lockyer,J.NormanLunareclipsesofApril12,1968ofApril14,1987ofApril24,1986ofApril3,1977ofApril4,1996ofAugust16,1970ofAugust16,1989ofAugust25,1961ofAugust25,1980ofAugust26,1988ofDecember18,1964ofDecember19,1983ofDecember30,1963ofDecember30,1982ofDecember9,1992EarthseenfromMoonduringofFebruary10,1971ofFebruary20,1989ofJanuary18,1973ofJanuary19,1981ofJanuary20,2000ofJanuary30,1972ofJuly15,2000ofJuly16,1981ofJuly25,1972ofJuly5,1982ofJune15,1992ofJune24,1964ofJune24,1983ofJune4,1993ofMarch12,1960ofMarch12,1998ofMarch23,1997

ofMay15,1984ofMay24,1975ofMay24,1994ofNovember18,1975ofNovember18,1994ofNovember29,1993ofOctober6,1987ofSeptember27,1996ofSeptember5,1979ofSeptember5,1998tableoffuture

Lundar,Manitoba,totalsolareclipseat

MareCrisiumMarseclipsesonoriginof

Mass,equivalenceofenergyandMassachusetts,partialsolareclipseinMeier,RolfMercuryorbitalprecessionoftransitsof

Meteors.SeealsoPerseidmeteorshowerMeteosatMetonMetoniccycleMexico,totalsolareclipseoverMilkyWayMilkyWaygalaxyMinasBasin,NovaScotia,astronomicalin

Months,MoonandMontrealpartialsolareclipseovertotalsolareclipseover

MontserratIslandMooninannulareclipses

astronomicaltidesandeclipsesasviewedfromgravityofMetoniccycleandorbitalperiodoforbitoforiginofphasesofinsaroscyclesshadowofduringsolareclipseofAugust11,1999insolareclipsestidesand

MoonillusionMoslemcalendarMountRoyalLookoutMubarak,HosniMueller,Jean

NationalPublicRadioNeptune,cometsbeyondNewfoundlandNewMoonastronomicaltidesand

NewOrleans,annulareclipseatNewton,IsaacNewYork,solareclipseoverNewYorkHarborNodesinorbitssaroscyclesand

NorthPole,partialsolareclipseatNovae,discoveriesofNovaScotiaastronomicaltidesinfolksongabouttotalsolareclipseinweatherpatternsof

Nuredeen,Abdul-Nasser

Observer’sHandbookOccultationsO’Connor,ClodaghOlympia,solareclipsesviewedfromO’Meara,DonnaO’Meara,StephenJamesOortcloudOzonelayer

PacificOcean,solareclipseoverPapacosmas,ConstantineParis,solareclipseofAugust11,1999

PartialsolareclipsesofApril17,3009ofJanuary4,1639ofOctober2,1959

Pedas,TedPeltier,LeslieC.PerigeePerseidmeteorshowerPhobosPhotography,fortestingtheoryofrelativity

PhotospherePhysics,EinsteinandPlessisville,Quebec,solareclipseatPlutodiscoveryof

Principe,totalsolareclipseatProjection,viewingeclipsesviaProminencescompositionof

Pumpkintelescope

Quebec

Rao,Joe

RegalEmpresseclipseofAugust11,1999viewedfromstarsasseenfromvisittoHalifaxon

RimeoftheAncientMariner,The(Coleridge)

Ringeclipses.SeealsoAnnulareclipsesRobinson,LeifRock,incometsRomania,solareclipseoverRussiaannulareclipseovertotalsolareclipseover

Sabatini,DeniseSagan,Carl,ISt.John’s,NewfoundlandSaroseclipsesofSaroseclipsesofSaroscyclesScandinavia,totalsolareclipseoverSchaab,PeterSchreiber,KeithSchuster,ArthurScotti,JamesV.Scovil,CharlesShadowbandsShoemaker,CarolynShoemaker,EugeneSiberia,annulareclipseoverSigler,PhilSky,asseenfromRegalEmpressSkyandTelescopeSmith,BradSolareclipses.SeealsoAnnulareclipses;Eclipses;Partialsolareclipsesof1925of1991

ofAugust11,1999ofAugust18,1868ofAugust21,2017ofDecember13,1974ofDecember2,1956ofDecember23,1992EarthviewedfromMoonduringofFebruary25,2324ofFebruary26,1979ofFebruary26,1998ofJanuary4,1992ofJuly10,1972ofJuly11,1991ofJuly20,1963ofJuly21,1990ofJuly31,1981ofJuly9,1945ofJune25,2522ofJune29,1927ofJune8,1918lastofMarch7,1970ofMarch7,1989ofMay10,1994ofMay16,2227ofMay17,1882ofMay21,1993ofMay29,1919ofMay30,1984novaediscoveredafterofNovember1,1948ofOctober12,1977ofOctober2,1959

ofOctober2,1978ofOctober3,1986originofpartialofSeptember12,2053

ofSeptember22,2035ofSeptember9,2648tableoffuturetotalultravioletradiationduringviewedfromOlympiaviewedfromRegalEmpress

Solarsystem,originofSouthPole,partialsolareclipseatSovietUnion,totalsolareclipseoverSpace,gravitationalcurvatureofSpecialtheoryofrelativityStarlight,solardeflectionofStarsmeasuringgravitationaldisplacementoflightfromseenfromRegalEmpress

Stein,AlisonStorch,SamSuidasSuninannulareclipsesastronomicaltidesandatmosphereofcometsearchesneareclipsebyEarthofeclipseviewedfromMooneclipseviewedfromspaceineclipsesgravityofasG-typestarMercury’sorbitaroundobservingcoronaoforiginofinsaroscycles

Sun(cont’d)tidesandintotalsolareclipsestransitsof

Sunrise,ofpartiallyeclipsedsunSunspotcycleSurveyorspacecraft

TelescopesforfindingcometsPumpkinfortestingtheoryofrelativityviewingeclipseswith

Theoryofrelativitytesting

TidesastronomicalearthquakesandMoonandandmotionsofEarth,Moon,andSun

TitanicTombaugh,ClydeTombaugh,PatsyTransitsTychocrater

Ultraviolet(UV)radiationdamagingeffectsofduringsolareclipsesfromSun

Venustransitsof

VoyagerspacecraftVulcan

Wallach,AnnetteWallach,LeonardWhalesWinnipeg,Manitoba,solareclipseat

Zimmer,Gail