3 October 2005: the Ring of Light!

Intro

This was the first time I ever watched an annular eclipse, after the total one back inm 1999. I already knew, but now I can confirm, that annular eclipses are generally less spectacular than total ones, especially in cases where the Moon is known to be significantly smaller than the Sun (the so-called magnitude of the eclipse). Anyway, it's a wonderful natural event which the serious amateur astronomer should never miss, at least once in one's lifetime. Moreover, if one has to "win" his or her eclipse after a long drive and with a little suspense from the weather, well... I must admit it was really worthwhile. But now, sit back and read on to know more about this adventure of mine!

Preparing for the eclipse

The eclipse "totality" area raced throughout Spain all the way from the northwestern coast (near Santiago de Compostela) to the Mediterranean coast south of Valencia; after diving into the sea, it would touch ground again in Northern Africa. Due to the good tradeoff between accessibility and weather statistics, I had decided to go about 100 km south of Valencia near the peninsula of Cabo de la Nao, very close to the central line. However, I had not set the exact spot where to set up for eclipse imaging and observation: once arrived there I would then have decided where to stay. Here's a map of the area (courtesy Jay Anderson):

After spreading the word of an eclipse expedition among many friends of mine, I resolved to go to Spain by car with a good friend of mine, Marco Scardia, who is astronomer with the Observatory of Merate, Italy. Marco and I would then have joined a handful of heroic eclipse chasers (Lorenzo Comolli, Alessandro Gambaro and Alberto Gianni), who had decided to get there by plane.

Around the 25th of september, we started keeping a very careful eye on the weather forecast, which was very bad for Italy and good for most of Spain, except for - guess where? - the southeastern part of the country. But I was determined to watch this eclipse at all costs, including driving further to the west toward Madrid.

We arrived in Denia in the evening of sunday, october 2nd. Meanwhile, Lorenzo and his friends had already found the exact spot for eclipse observation on a hill overhanging the cliffs just near Benitachell (coordinates: lat. 38° 43' 09".7 N, long. 00° 09' 34".0 E, elevation 480 m slm, less than one km from the central line). We met at a local restaurant to discuss the final details, and we agreed to meet at the observing site very early next morning. That night, the weather was good, with clear skies and cool temperature.

The big "surprise"!

Just imagine our disappointment when the early hours of monday, october 3rd, greet us with an almost completely overcast sky: a bank of clouds is just overhead and it doesn't look like it will go away very soon. Here's what weather looked like for Europe at 7.00 CEST (5.00 UT) on monday, october 3rd:

Italy is clearly covered by a very active low pressure area: except for a few people living in the southern part of the country, all other regions will be clouded out. On the contrary, Spain is almost completely clear, apart from some clouds in our neighborhood (the area enclosed by the cyan circle).

I don't have an Internet connection at hand to check out the weather in real time, but I am seriously thinking about driving to the west in search of a break in the clouds. Then the lack of time and Marco's indestructible confidence prevent me from running away. Therefore, we arrive at the observing site around 7.45am: our observing mates have been already there for a few minutes. I start assembling my gear while wholeheartedly hoping for the clouds to vanish as soon as possible.

Click here for part two of this report!