Chasing The Eclipse

This is the story of three friends, Pete, Tony and Marcus. It took seven years in three countries, but finally we got to see the total solar eclipse on 29th March 2006.

From 1999 in Noyon, 2005 in Ibiza and 2006 in Side; this is a pictorial story of our attempts to stand in the shadow of the moon. And now, with additional pictures of the Lunar Eclipse.

Noyon, France
11th August, 1999
Total Solar Eclipse

Video View

Because this was the first eclipse in many years to pass over the mainland UK, this event had attracted much media attention. It was enough to capture our interest, and plans where drawn up to view it for ourselves.

As it turned out, guesthouses in the south western corner of the UK where the eclipse track passed were all sold out, and trains to the area were also full - ruling out a day trip. Undeterred, Tony investigated further, and figured out if we all drove down to France, we'd not only beat the traffic, we'd also be able to spend the day in the same field as the European Space Agency (who had decided to set themselves up in the city of Noyon north of Paris).

Unfortunately, it was very cloudy, with only the odd glimpse of the partial phases through the thick soup above Noyon.

Ibiza, Spain
3rd October, 2005
Annular Solar Eclipse

In between 1999 and 2005, the only eclipses crossing land did so in places which were either too remote or too expensive to get to (with the exception of the Annular Solar Eclipse of May 31 2003, which appeared early morning across the very northern parts of Scotland. We just forgot that one.)

However, in 2005, an annular solar eclipse was due to cross mainland Spain, and the western Med before rushing south east across Africa. Since we had friends on the island of Ibiza, and that lay in the path of the eclipse, we decided to go there.

On the morning of the 3rd October, everything looked good, but by 10am local time the clouds started to roll in. By the point of maximum eclipse, it was thick cloud. We were beginning to see a pattern. Ironically, only a couple of hours after the eclipse had passed, the sky was gloriously clear.

Side, Turkey 29th March, 2006 Total Solar Eclipse Video View The 'Composite' Video (Anyone who was with us on the day can contact me to get a DVD high-quality version of this)		The track of the 2006 total eclipse started at the tip of Brazil, crossed the Atlantic, Africa, Eastern Europe, Russia and ended in Mongolia. The point of maximum eclipse was in Lybia, but a combination of dust storms, cost and security convinced us that Turkey would be a better bet. Even the best predictions only suggested that there was a 50/50 chance of seeing the eclipse from the location we had choosen, and given our history, we continued to call this our trip to "look at clouds". The few days before the eclipse looked encouraging. The morning of the eclipse was clear. And even though we had learnt that this meant nothing when it came to eclipse viewing, we were feeling positive. First contact came, and not a cloud in the sky. It was perfect viewing conditions for totality - and it was the first time we got to see an eclipse, after being 'bitten' seven years earlier. Despite our lack of practise, we also did rather well with our photos. Many thanks to Reinhard Becker & Heiko Egenolf who where also at the Kamelya Selin with us and shared their photos here. Also thanks to Wolfgang Schindler, who has shared a very nice wide-angle shot taken from the Sunrise Queen hotel further down the beach in Side.
Photo: Pete Shaw ©2006	Photo: Pete Shaw ©2006	Photo: Pete Shaw ©2006	Photo: Pete Shaw ©2006
Photo: Pete Shaw & Tony Samuels ©2006		Photo: Pete Shaw ©2006 Photo: Reinhard Becker ©2006
Photo: Wolfgang Schindler ©2006	Photo: Pete Shaw ©2006	Photo: Pete Shaw ©2006	Photo: Pete Shaw ©2006
	Photo: Marcus Beattie ©2006	Photo: Heiko Egenolf ©2006

Reading, UK 3rd March, 2007 Total Lunar Eclipse		Whilst Lunar Eclipses are easier to see than their Solar cousins, this was to be the first Total Lunar Eclipse in three years over the UK, and the last one in Reading was a very cloudy affair. But for this one, there were clear skies until well after totality. And, just to be artsy, I've included a composite shot of my Total Solar and Total Lunar Eclipse.
Photo: Pete Shaw ©2007	Photo: Pete Shaw ©2007	Photo: Pete Shaw ©2007	Photo: Pete Shaw ©2007
Photo: Pete Shaw ©2007	Photo: Pete Shaw ©2007	Photo: Pete Shaw ©2007	Photo: Pete Shaw ©2007
Photo: Pete Shaw ©2007	Photo: Pete Shaw ©2007	Photo: Pete Shaw ©2007	Photo: Pete Shaw ©2007

	Merchandise Roll up, roll up! Gifts for Granny		Yes, I've gone all commercial. In an effort to earn a fast buck (and pay the exhorbitant web hosting charges!), I've emblazoned some specially selected items with some of my favourite snaps. Cross the palms of those good people at Cafe Press with a few pieces of silver, and you too can own one of these charming items of marketing tat. If these are popular, I can no doubt exploit the idea even further with caps, mugs and possibly even skimpy underwear.

Wanna Share?

If you have stories and images from your eclipse chasing adventures, feel free to send them to pete@peteshaw.com and I'll stick them on here for all the world to see.