Ecliptomaniacs, Umbraphiles & Eclipse Chasers !

                These are the terms that have become synonymous with travel, adventure, photography and sometimes even dangerous sports. Consider these excerpts:

The adventure began earlier in Dusseldorf, Germany and was arranged by the air charter company Deutsche                 Polarflug (AirEvents) which has operated previous successful over-flights of the North Pole an LTU Airbus                 A330-200 long-range jet. Glenn Schneider, Umbraphile, on hand for his 27th total eclipse, worked out the                 flight plan to rendezvous with the moon’s shadow. This morning’s flight was unique in the annals of solar                 eclipse chasing since there were no other records of any total eclipse observations in such close proximity                 (approximately 500-miles) from the North Pole. Utilizing Schneider’s data, Captain Wilhelm Heinz,                 maneuvered the aircraft into the track of the moon’s dark shadow. What a view! This jet, surmounted                 more than 75-percent of the atmosphere, providing an opportunity to see what happens in the Earth’s                 upper atmosphere when the sun is switched off, so to speak. Minutes before totality, the light inside the                 cabin faded, much in the same manner as lights in a theater dim before the start of a show. As the last of                 the sun’s rays slipped behind the jagged lunar edge it produced a beautiful and long-lasting “Diamond                 Ring” effect. The dark lunar shadow then swept in from the west and enveloped the plane in an eerie                 darkness. The sun’s beautiful corona heralded the beginning of the total phase. It appeared to throw off                 several long streamers. Adding to this scene was an array of four bright planets arranged to the lower left                 of the darkened sun: Mercury, Venus, Saturn and Mars. Some observers searched near the sun for a                 small, faint comet that was discovered on SOHO satellite imagery some hours before the eclipse......
                (Joe Rao, instructor and guest lecturer at New York’s Hayden Planetarium)

“Don’t dream your life, live your dreams” “The world is a book, and those who do not travel, read only one                 page” quotes Xavier Jubier.
                Xavier Jubier went to Antartica for 2008 February 7th’s annular eclipse. He decided to view it from atop                 Vinson Massif, whose summit (16,062 feet or 4,897 meters) is the highest in Antarctica. To get there, he                 first flew on an Ilyushin IL-76 jet from Punta Arenas, at the southern tip of Chile, to the Patriot Hills                 “depot” in Antarctica, and from there he took a Twin Otter flight to the Vinson base camp. A couple of                 staging camps later, he was ready for the arduous trek to the summit, where temperatures near -40°F                 (-40°C) awaited him. And, yes, he did make it, as the following brief post to an eclipse-watcher mailing list                 attests: “Managed to see annularity through a thin layer of clouds. However it was quite windy up there                 and taking eclipse pictures was a real challenge, not to mention various camera/lens problems. Came                 back safely to high camp after an exhausting 21-hour journey and now preparing to descend the headwall                 before the next storm comes in. The return to the base camp will likely be after the storm.”!

"1995 October 24th, Barkakana, Ranchi, 70 seconds";
"1999 August 11th, Metz, France, 135 seconds";
"2006 March 29th, Side, Antalya, Turkey, 225 seconds".

I have totaled 7 minutes 10 seconds under the enthralling shadow of the Moon, looking at the Silky White corona                 shining over me at a million degrees. There is no adventure more grandoise than the one directed &                 produced by nature itself, just for mankind. (Ajay Talwar, Head of Observation & Instrumentation, SPACE)

                I ask myself, where will I be, When the Greatest Eclipse of 21st century, casts its shadow over India & China for 6 minutes and 39 seconds of totality? Thats easy for me to answer, July 22nd, 2009 (350 days from today) I will be right on the centerline in China between Shanghai and Hangzhou. January 26th, 2009 Bandar Lampung, Indonesia; January 15th, 2010, Kanya Kumari; July 11th, 2010, exotic Hikueru island near Tahiti, French Polynesia........ the list goes on and on. My dates with the Lunar Umbra are fixed, and I confess I am an Umbraphile!
                Let me ask YOU, where are you going to be on these dates? But wait, these are in the far future, Where will you be on 26th January 2009? Whats happening on 26th? you ask!