Bob & Claire the Magnificent,
welcome you to their eclipse page.
We'd like to share with you some
of our memories of Turkey and
the total eclipse of August 11.
Total Solar Eclipse-Turkey 1999
| The Sultan and
Sultana of Chicago, Bob & Claire the Magnificent, welcome you to their eclipse page. We'd like to share with you some of our memories of Turkey and the total eclipse of August 11. |
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Phases of the eclipse
photographed by Claire Gadbois at Lake Hazar near Elazig.
This was our third eclipse trip, the previous being to Bolivia in 1994 and to Aruba in 1998. We hope to be at the next one in Africa in 2001. All our trips were with Spears Travel together with Astronomical Tours. We are members of the Chicago Astronomical Society and were seduced into being eclipse chasers by our club friend Mike Barrett. Bolivia retains a special place in our hearts because of its magical qualities and because we were privileged to get acquainted with Ken Willcox who passed away in January 1999. Our thoughts were with him through the Turkey trip. In Ken's absence the tour was handled flawlessly by Gary Spears with the expert advice of NASA's foremost eclipse expert, Fred Espenak.
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The Blue Mosque |
City of Istanbul |
Town of Elazig |
| The country of Turkey,
to which we traveled, was a wonderful surprise: great cultural contrasts, great history and beauty, and wonderful people. Their hospitality was second to none. We consider them as friends, and it is especially painful to us to see the terrible tragedy that befell them in mid-August 1999 when the country was devastated by a catastophic earthquake. Please remember them, and give generously to the relief effort. |
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| Tour leader Salih |
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Lake Hazar observing site |
Fred Espenak |
The Approaching totality shadow |
There were perfect skies at Lake Hazar. The observing site, while hot, had every amenity one could want, including water in which to cool off. The totality, at just over 2 minutes, was too short, but what a wonder it was to behold! At a period of maximum solar activity the sun put on its greatest show yet to us. The corona streamed equally in every direction to distances we never saw before. Solar prominences were everywhere. Two videographers even captured what looked like a satellite traveling past the sun's proximity at totality's end. Another captured the shadow bands. And that was just video. The eclipse "virgins," of whom there were many, were simply awstruck. It was wonderful.
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2nd Contact |
Prominences |
Corona |
3rd Contact |
Diamond Ring |
The 5 photos above were taken by Claire Gadbois using
an old Canon F1
attached to a Celestron C90 1000mm scope.
Note: Click above
images for a larger view.
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This image to
the left is from Hi8 video shot by Bob Gadbois during totality. Click on the image to see a continuous animation of 3 back-to-back clips showing 2nd contact, totality and 3rd contact. |
PSST!! Want to hear what it was like? Try this edited sound clip.
Questions? Comments? E-mail us.
