To catch an eclipse (con't)
Two astronomers travel mountains and jungles chasing the ultimate celestial thrill

Sunspots form long horizontal streaks of light called equatorial streamers and shorter vertical polar brushes, which may be responsible for myths of winged Chinese monsters. Many historians and poets look at mythical birds of fire, such as the Assyrian god Ashtar, or the Phoenix of Greece as interpretations of the feathery equatorial streamers, referred to by scientists as "plumes."

Eberts explains that the sun's corona produces an image like veins and bones backlit -- with little red tongues of fire.

"I may be an astronomy lab instructor," he says. "But when I saw that in the sky, I still thought: It's a … dragon eating the sun."

Chasers unite

"It's like a club, when these people get together," says Ted Pedas, cofounder of Voyages to Darkness, the first eclipse-chasing cruise line. "They like to add up how many eclipses they've seen and share their experiences. They even count the minutes."

Despite the sense of community, Pedas insists that the eclipse experience is a personal one, with reactions ranging from tears to elation. But he says the chasers share a curiosity, interest in the unusual and a penchant for travel.

"What has happened in the past two decades, as people live longer and travel more -- they want unique experiences," he says. "It's a thrill."

San Blas, Mexico: July 11, 1991

Just a few degrees south of the Tropic of Cancer, the sun shone almost directly overhead. The beach was clear that morning, but as the moon's first solar contact approached, so did a great bank of clouds.

During this heavenly race of cloud and moon, O'Grady left the crowd and waded out to sea. There he stood among waves as the moon moved between the Earth and sun. The clouds moved across in layers, some glowing silver, some black silhouettes. Lightning bolts struck the horizon, glowing orange on the edges of totality.

"I have to admit," says O'Grady, "standing in the sea in the middle of a natural phenomenon, you can sense a sort of one-ness."

One phrase Eberts repeats as he describes the eclipses is: "The whole is greater than the sum of its parts." He referred to the journey -- the open road, the southern stars, the people and their culture. Others, who respond to the shouts, "See you at the next eclipse," are members of a club, parts of a whole.

The sun and moon's celestial dance was in motion long before the first human looked up at the sky, and it will go on after our eyes are gone.

"At the end of your life, when you're in some nursing home, looking back, it's cool to say you were a part of it all," Eberts says.

The next total eclipse occurs March 29 with the line of totality running through Central Africa, Turkey and Russia.

Anita Martin, BSJ '05, is a writer for University Communications and Marketing.

Posted 1-13-06

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