Thursday, August 06, 2009

An Antarctic Total Solar Eclipse

Explanation: The Sun, the Moon, Antarctica, and two photographers all lined up in 2003 Antarctica during an unusual total eclipse of the Sun. Even given the extreme location, a group of enthusiastic eclipse chasers ventured near the bottom of the world to experience the surreal momentary disappearance of the Sun behind the Moon. One of the treasures collected was the above picture -- a composite of four separate images digitally combined to realistically simulate how the adaptive human eye saw the eclipse. As the image was taken, both the Moon and the Sun peaked together over an Antarctic ridge. In the sudden darkness, the magnificent corona of the Sun became visible around the Moon. Quite by accident, another photographer was caught in one of the images checking his video camera. Visible to his left are an equipment bag and a collapsible chair.

4 comments:

Uruk said...

Totally awesome!

Thanks for posting that. That is so neat!

Stardust said...

Hi Uruk, haven't seen you here for awhile! It is an awesome photo, isn't it? I wish I could have been there to see it in person. Spectacular!

Uruk said...

Yeah, I wish I could have seen it in person, too.

I have had trouble keeping up with all the blogs I like to read. Life gets in the way of how you wish you could live it, sometimes.

BTW, I started reading Carl Sagan for the first time. My brother had a book on his bookshelf called The Demon-Haunted World. Fascinating book, indeed! I've gained a lot of perspective from it. No wonder he is so popular among astronomy enthusiasts, freethinkers, and non-believers.

Stardust said...

Uruk, I've own and have read that book, too. It's provided me with a lot of topics for posts that drive fundies wild! LOL!