Out of Norm Travels - Solar Eclipse 2016 - Palu, Indonesia: My Feelings Whilst Witnessing my first Solar Eclipse
I had just made an unforgettable trip which took some 8 hours and 1,109 miles (1,784km) for me to reach Palu in Indonesia from Singapore to witness my first Solar Eclipse.
Palu is to be the most optimal place to see the total Solar eclipse in 2016 which is only visible along a narrow strip on Earth. This natural phenomenon is rare as totality only happens when the Moon is close enough to Earth to completely cover the Sun when there is a New Moon.
The word 'eclipse' comes from a Greek word meaning abandonment which literally is seen as the sun abandoning the earth. In Chinese, this is called 天狗食日 which speaks of a dragon or demon who is devouring the sun. Ancient Chinese would produce great noise and commotion by banging on drums and pots to frighten away the dragon during an eclipse.
When I did the set up and test shots, I got slightly worried when I saw a patch of clouds across the Sun (as you can see in the photo below) - this is because cloud cover can easily ruin the viewing of the eclipse just like the viewing of auroras and stars for astro-photography.
However, the fears were allayed when the cloud slowly moved away and I geared up for the first contact when the moon touches the right most edge of sun which marks the beginning of partial eclipse at 7:26:26am. You can see this slight dent on the edge of the sun where I have placed the Chinese phrase 天狗食日 in the photo below:
1st contact at 7:26:26am
As the moon slowly made its way across the sun, I could see the sun slowly being enveloped by the moon as you can see from the series of photos below:
visibility at 7:59:58am
visibility at 7:37:28am
visibility at 8:23:55am
Excitement grew as I neared the point of the second contact which is one hour from the first contact. The aim during the next few contact shots is to take the “diamond shots” and the total eclipse. Here are my attempts of the diamond shots and the total eclipse:
Diamond at 8:35:53am
Total Eclipse at 8:35:53am
Diamond at 8:37:51am
During these brief few mins of totality, I felt a sense of exhilaration coupled with a sense of serenity and peace. This is when I truly felt the power of Mother Nature. I am also blessed to witness this event in South East Asia as the eclipse was accompanied with the sounds of Islamic prayers echoing from the nearby mosque. I personally felt that the melodious prayers lent an additional dimension to mark the significance of this natural event.
I subsequently did follow-up research which revealed that Muslims mark the significance of the eclipses by saying special prayers – here’s a short explanation which I got from a dear Muslim friend regarding the significance of the prayers and a hyperlink with more information regarding this.
During this lovely and brief minutes of absolute bliss, the brightness of day suddenly turned into gradual evening light as I felt the coolness and calmness of the sea Breeze brought about by the coverage of the sun's rays.
Before long, the sun rays peeped out from the moon's shadow and soon enough, I was once again enveloped by the sun's warmth. The solar eclipse continued for another hour half before ending at 9:38:24am when the last bits of the moon left its mark on the sun. Here are my last few shots of the solar eclipse:
Visibility at 8:40:46am
Visibility at 9:16:36am
Visibility at 9:48:49am
end of the Total Solar Eclipse at 9:58:24am
Palu is to be the most optimal place to see the total Solar eclipse in 2016 which is only visible along a narrow strip on Earth. This natural phenomenon is rare as totality only happens when the Moon is close enough to Earth to completely cover the Sun when there is a New Moon.
The word 'eclipse' comes from a Greek word meaning abandonment which literally is seen as the sun abandoning the earth. In Chinese, this is called 天狗食日 which speaks of a dragon or demon who is devouring the sun. Ancient Chinese would produce great noise and commotion by banging on drums and pots to frighten away the dragon during an eclipse.
When I did the set up and test shots, I got slightly worried when I saw a patch of clouds across the Sun (as you can see in the photo below) - this is because cloud cover can easily ruin the viewing of the eclipse just like the viewing of auroras and stars for astro-photography.
However, the fears were allayed when the cloud slowly moved away and I geared up for the first contact when the moon touches the right most edge of sun which marks the beginning of partial eclipse at 7:26:26am. You can see this slight dent on the edge of the sun where I have placed the Chinese phrase 天狗食日 in the photo below:
1st contact at 7:26:26am
As the moon slowly made its way across the sun, I could see the sun slowly being enveloped by the moon as you can see from the series of photos below:
visibility at 7:59:58am
visibility at 7:37:28am
visibility at 8:23:55am
Excitement grew as I neared the point of the second contact which is one hour from the first contact. The aim during the next few contact shots is to take the “diamond shots” and the total eclipse. Here are my attempts of the diamond shots and the total eclipse:
Diamond at 8:35:53am
Total Eclipse at 8:35:53am
Diamond at 8:37:51am
During these brief few mins of totality, I felt a sense of exhilaration coupled with a sense of serenity and peace. This is when I truly felt the power of Mother Nature. I am also blessed to witness this event in South East Asia as the eclipse was accompanied with the sounds of Islamic prayers echoing from the nearby mosque. I personally felt that the melodious prayers lent an additional dimension to mark the significance of this natural event.
I subsequently did follow-up research which revealed that Muslims mark the significance of the eclipses by saying special prayers – here’s a short explanation which I got from a dear Muslim friend regarding the significance of the prayers and a hyperlink with more information regarding this.
During this lovely and brief minutes of absolute bliss, the brightness of day suddenly turned into gradual evening light as I felt the coolness and calmness of the sea Breeze brought about by the coverage of the sun's rays.
Before long, the sun rays peeped out from the moon's shadow and soon enough, I was once again enveloped by the sun's warmth. The solar eclipse continued for another hour half before ending at 9:38:24am when the last bits of the moon left its mark on the sun. Here are my last few shots of the solar eclipse:
Visibility at 8:40:46am
Visibility at 9:16:36am
Visibility at 9:48:49am
end of the Total Solar Eclipse at 9:58:24am
My photography kakis and I marked the end of the eclipse with a round of applause. This is truly a 'once in a lifetime' experience as this rare natural event will not happen in this same location for another 375 years.
Till the next time, onto the world and truly beyond this time!
[UPDATE: 13 March 2016 - the Total Solar eclipse transitions in 1 photo:
Till the next time, onto the world and truly beyond this time!
[UPDATE: 13 March 2016 - the Total Solar eclipse transitions in 1 photo:
Comments
Post a Comment