Date: 29th of March 2006 Mission: To see the 4th Total Eclipse of the Sun of the
millennium. Tools: A rental car, a brother, and an aunt :), one SLR camera, 2 Digital Cameras, 1 Video Camera, a few lenses, two tripods, one special
Sun filter. Travel to Antalya: By plane Location: Taşağıl (Tasagil) / Antalya
Photos by: Murat AYTUN
Posted: 9th of April 2006
Click on image for full size
WHERE
IN TÜRKİYE?
THE TEAM PICTURES
The Team in Amazement :)
From left to right: Murat (Me), Bora (My Brother) and Semra (My Aunt)
Snow at the peaks!
Yet it was around 21 degrees centigrade (70 fahrenheit) where we were... That's Antalya for you :)
Hospitality to the fullest!
A villager has visited us, and gave us 2 giant lemons and told us that he had a garden close to where we were and that we could pick as many as we want. :)
Double Shadows
No need to adjust your settings... All shadows appeared double during partial eclipse.
Camera Obscura: The Paper Test
When you put a few small holes on a piece of paper, the shadow shows the shape of the sun. This also appears in the shadow of the trees.
My Brother's Comments As A First Timer:
"For many years I heard and read about countless peoples throughout history, civilized or otherwise, feared, worshipped, prophesized the four minutes of Black Sun! It was easy to understand how primitive people were awed by it. How the uninformed masses followed and revered their leaders who used the phenomenon as a tool for prophecies revealed.
Then I saw it myself!
I don’t know what primal coding I have in my science-oriented mind, but I felt the proverbial chills, the overwhelming emotion and even unreasoning fear. It was even more incredible to hear other animals bellowing the same emotions, all around us!
I’m officially an Eclipse Junky! I will try never to miss one again!"
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My Aunt's Comments As A First Timer:
"When my nephews came, one from Istanbul and the other from the US to see the eclipse in Antalya I had a hidden doubt about weather it was really worth coming such a long way. But when time was nearer and we were looking for a good place in the country for our historic experience, I noticed that I was influenced by their excitement. But when it started and the sun light gradually faded, it was not excitement any more, I felt I was being captured by a feeling that I couldn't name. Was I scared? It was neither night nor day time, the whole nature was silent. The red light circling the horizon was only gorgeous!
No, perhaps it was respect. God was showing us his glorious system which has never changed for millions of years.
Oh well... It might be irritation. We were witnessing the challenge of our grand-dad faced moon to the power of the proud sun by covering it altogether. Could it be possible some day for a meteor to block the sun indefinitely? Spooky!
But wow! The sun was embracing the moon with its beautiful corona circling its dark face. Yes, it was admiration!"
You need to have Macromedia Flash installed on your computer to be able to view the eclipse animation and the panorama.
Notes on photos: The photos should not be used elsewhere without my written permission. The TIFF versions of photos without text are available for sale @ USD 2.- each. Just send an e-mail to
.
The time when the eclipse started was approx. 12:40. The totality was at 13:54 (+2 GMT)
The "green" pictures are shot with a filter.
SLR lens is 300 mm with a x2 enhancer (600 mm in total).
The film on the SLR is 100 ISO, negative Kodak film.
The low-res scans from negative film are 1818x1228 JPG.
The hi-res scans are around 5400x3400 TIFF (The ones posted are reduced to 2000x1350 JPG)
The shutter speed setting with the sun filter is 30-60, without
the filter (during the full eclipse) is 1.1 sec. on long exposure
setting.
No filter is used during totality.
Digital camera is 48-240 mm, 7.1 MP.
ECLIPSE
RESULTS
1) Mission accomplished! Promises are made to be kept!
2) It does not get fully dark until the last thin strip of light
is hidden away Then, it gets dark in about
2-3 seconds.
3) Stars and planets come out during the full eclipse, but the horizon is
not dark! (See panorama)
4) Chickens and Hens stop "singing". Cows don't stop :) They shout even more.
5) The sun rose from the south-west.
6) Clouds around the horizon become red during totality, just like
the sun rise.
7) The first timers (who see the totality for the first time) stare in amazement, shout, whistle or are completely quiet with shock!
Other results:
1) You should book your rental car a few months before the eclipse. Otherwise you won't find a car!
2) Antalya is the place to be!
3) You need lot's of idle money if you want to catch every eclipse. :)
4) Had the opportunity to see the hospitality of the Turkish
villagers yet again.
Special thanks to:
Bora Aytun: For flying all the way from the U.S. to accompany me.
Semra Gerger: For the great lunch box. NASA:
For the documentation. K. Uğur Varlı Photography (Sirkeci / Istanbul): For the hi-res scans.
Your comments about the page, or Total Solar Eclipses in general are welcome. Please visit my guest book or send me an e-mail:
