Picture Gallery 2006

After our long trip in the early morning it's good to park up the coach and get on the centreline at last. The sign says "Welcome to Tobruk - Eclipse Group 2006", and yes the sky really was that blue!	Time to set up the equipment and start tracking the sun. Note the shaded area in the background, provided as part of the tented camp.

And after literally years of anticipation, first contact finally arrives! (top left). A very long 78mins then pass as the moon slowly covers more of the sun's face. [As with other eclipses, the slight purple tinge is due to the filter in use.]

As the last sliver of sun gradually disappears it's safe to take off the filter and prepare for fireworks! The final vestige of brilliance eventually dims enough to reveal a giant prominence. The light does not extinguish uniformly though, as the moon's surface is not smooth. Light shining between the lunar mountains produces a violin-shaped effect known as Baily's Beads before the advancing moon shuts off sufficient light to reveal the full arc of the chromosphere.

A closeup of the largest prominence reveals a hint of wispy detail at its very tip. Prominences are huge plumes of gas as large as the Earth which live for a day or so and can, if very large, produce solar flares which often interfere with radio reception.

A composite of several images shows the chromosphere becoming visible, with its prominences, as Baily's Beads disappear and then the corona beginning to shine out as the moon hides more of the sun's edge.

As the sky darkens, Venus could be seen to the far bottom right of the Sun - in fact for the second time that day as we had also seen it just before dawn! Mercury should have been visible between them, but in practice was not bright enough to be picked out (either by eye or by camera).	During the eerie darkness of totality the horizon, and thousands of onlookers, are illuminated by a golden glow from areas not "under the shadow". The satellite dish of Libyan TV can be seen far right.

When the sun's light is completely obscured, the delicate glow of the corona comes into view all round the moon's disc. The corona consists of very diffuse, very hot gas and extends for many sun-radii each side of the sun. Longer time exposures enable the fainter outer layers to be captured, at the expense of an over-exposed inner region.

Combining several different exposures shows the superb radiance of the full corona at totality. Note that the plumes are definitely aligned to each side of the sun, not equally distributed all round. This is characteristic of the corona near a "sunspot minimum" period and should be contrasted with the view in 2001 which was at a maximum point. The effect of the sun's magnetic field on the corona is also well shown, causing the plumes to curve round from the poles.

Image (c) Philip Hadley 2006

Of course if you're using a digital camera the increased sensitivity means you'll be able to get excellent resolution of the outer corona without the need to combine exposures! Thanks to Philip Hadley, a fellow "shadow-chaser", for this shot.

And talking of digital, if you apply some computer trickery to the composite image the detail in the corona can really be brought out. This view isn't particularly "true to life" but does show the incredible fine structure in the plumes and tendrils. The way the corona is deflected away from the sun's poles is particularly dramatic. To find out how I made this image, have a look at the last paragraph of the Technical Info page.

Image (c) Philip Hadley 2006

Another of Phil's images, where we find that by greatly over-exposing a shot of totality, strange things can be made to appear. If you look closely at the centre of this image you will see dark and light patches - this is not just "flare", they are in fact the seas and plains of the moon! Light reflected from the Earth has illuminated the side of the moon turned towards us, which makes it just visible when direct sunlight is blotted out. This phenomenon is called "Earthshine" and can often be seen if the moon is just a thin crescent, when the unlit part of the disc also glows faintly.

By cutting out the central portion of the above image and enhancing the contrast, the details become much more apparent. The dark area on the left is Mare Nubium, that in the centre is Mare Vaporum (with Mare Imbrium above) and on the right we have Mare Serenitatis (top) and Mare Tranquillitatis (below). If you turn your head to the right you'll even see the eyes, nose & mouth of The Man in the Moon!

After the shortest 4mins of our lives (!) the corona starts to fade away and the appearance of prominences on the opposite side of the sun signals that totality is nearly over. Baily's Beads return, then the sudden brilliance of the Diamond Ring tells us it's time to put those eclipse specs back on again. Everyone agrees that "once is not enough", so here's to the next time!