But if you try sometime, you just might find…
When the astronomer asked for a show of hands of how many people had experienced a total eclipse almost three quarters of the hands went up. When he asked how many had experienced two, only a few hands went down, three, a few more down. Finally, “Who will experience their first total eclipse.” About a quarter of the hands went up.
“Get ready for your new addiction.”
That’s the way it is. This is our third totality.
On the morning and afternoon of the eclipse we had lectures on science and what to expect with this eclipse occurring at sunset.
There was a slide telling us where, from the ship we could best see the eclipse. We are on the Starboard side and it looked like we would be able to see it from our stateroom. During that lecture a voice came from the bridge. “I don’t want to be the Grinch, but we may have to change the position of the ship for the Eclipse. Winds are shifting.” The ship needs its bow into the wind. An equal number of cheers and good natured boos went up from the crowd.
We starboard siders began to gather at the aft pool to grab a vantage point just after an early dinner. People were prepared with special eclipse t shirts.
Others set up their tripods. My family waited in anticipation.
At 7:35 we got the call from the bridge “First Contact, glasses on.” We watched for the next hour as “The Dragon ate the sun.” We had constant commentary from the bridge and the astronomers on board. I took pictures with the mirrorless camera using a strong sun filter.
The air got cooler, a breeze came up, we could see the shadow coming our way. We were experiencing a 360o sunset. It was magic. Just before totality we could see that the thin crescent of the setting sun sinking lower, slipping behind a cloud.
When the call from the bridge announced “Totality, glasses off.” The sun was completely hidden. We did not see totality, we did not see the corona, the Baily’s Beads or the solar prominences. But we did experience the quick change in atmosphere, the quick darkening of the skies, the feel of the cooler breeze on our skin and because we were on the aft deck and not on a balcony with limited view, the cinemascope sunset.
This was not the first time this happened to us. In 1999 we experienced totality on a mountaintop in Austria. One cloud hid the sun completely during the period we were in totality but we saw the shadow run across the mountains, heard the birds quiet, experienced the dark and cool breeze. We did not experience the full surround sunset because of the mountains.
Almost as soon as totality was over and the sun emerged from below the cloud. Our 98 seconds of totality was obscured by a cloud. But the experience was not over. We watched an eclipsing sunset. I’ve never seen anything like it. As the sun finally sank below the horizon the ship let out a cheer.
That night the captain darkened the ship for stargazing. The Perseid Meteor Shower was on and we watched shooting, more accurately streaking, stars across the sky with views of the milky way. I didn’t bring a tripod so didn’t catch streaking meteors but the iPhone caught some of the experience.
…you get what you need.
And the certificate to prove it.
