March – All about the Sun
It was all about the Sun this (last) month. But first, here's a useful link. The Federation of Astronomical Societies publishes an online "what's on" at Federation of Astronomical Societies. I highly recommend that you fit in a 5 minute browse every week or so. Be prepared to be disappointed though, so rich is this resource that you can't possibly participate in everything that you would like to.
On Wednesday March 23rd, Dr Barbara Bromage from University of Central Lancashire gave us a fascinating talk (it has been a busy month, (hence the March Blog in April!) about the Sun, its inner working and some spectacular images from Earth and space based observatories. Despite my interest for over three decades, astronomy has not lost the power to surprise and amaze me. I did not know that the eleven year solar cycle (a repeating period of increased solar activity generating sun spots and intense aurora) was matched by a magnetic field reversal. Such field reversals are well documented and occur on the Earth (a cornerstone scientific evidence for sea floor spreading, plate tectonics and age of the Earth) and take tens of thousands of years, the last one occurring almost a million years ago. I had no idea that something so similar was happing on the Sun every eleven years.
Dr Bromage also went on to remind us of the Maunder minimum when the Sun went AWOL between 1645 and 1715, ignoring this eleven year cycle. To date no one has really understood the mechanism of that minimum and thus unable to predict a potential repeat. Her continuing research and that of the wider Solar scientist community is an essential contribution to informing all of us - media, industrialists, politicians and private citizens involved in the current "hot" debate on global warming. The evidence from such scientific work appears to be clear, global warming is a real and measurable outcome of our way of human life on Earth and should be urgently addressed. In stark contrast are the politically spun comments from many powerful politicians in defence of their short term political goals.
As an academic, a decade ago I was involved in the initial development of distance learning programs. The feeble attempts of those days have now been firmly replaced by high quality courses reflecting the substantial research in pedagogy and a huge development in computer technology and communication. As www.astronomy.ac.uk indicates, the University Central Lancashire along with Liverpool and Manchester offer a series of Astronomy related distance learning courses.
The Solar Eclipse of Wednesday 29th March was naturally the highlight for March and is my excuse for this tardy blog. The flight landed during a thunderstorm at 1.30am on Friday 24th in Antalya, the fastest growing city in Turkey. As we taxied in the deluge, thunder and lightening reminded me of August 1999 in Cornwall. Then I had a plan B, but now, travelling with my wife and her parents, I did not.
Turkey was a good compromise; good weather prospects, easy to travel to and to find accommodation
in, on the centre line, and ample ancient theatres for my classicist wife to visit and explain to me the differences between "Roman", "Greek” and "Amphi-" theatres. The plane stopped and as I waited to disembark, I looked out through the window and saw the baggage handlers handling the baggage with as much delicacy as anyone would in driving rain at 1.30am.
The small town of Cholakli about 65km east of Antalya was going to be our base. Visiting Side (pronounced Seedeh) a further 15km east along the coast on the first day became the first and eventually final option as the observing site. Side's temples of Apollo and Athena, or what was left of them, had long been used as special place for taking sunset photographs and would be an ideal venue for an eclipse. I didn't know it then but the locals, tourists, amateur astronomers, local and foreign media and the local government had also concluded likewise.
I had read "the" source of eclipse information from Fred Espenak and J Anderson. I was set for the over 150km wide moon's shadow racing over the Mediterranean half a km per second across the Mediterranean to provide us with a three and half minutes of totality.
The weather prospects were good, with only one day in the previous ten years when it rained on March 29th. The weather had continuously improved every day of our stay. On the day of the eclipse, we had had an excellent blue sky as had been forecasted. We arrived at ten am in Side and quickly located an elevated area with a good view of the sky, the sea and the temple's white portico. Talking to just a few people it was clear that people had been arriving since four am and apparently a couple had stayed through the night in their sleeping bags.
It was both incredible and fascinating to see that the local council had arranged for a live orchestra to be positioned at the base of the temple. Several media vans with their outstretched satellite dishes were neatly parked to one side, camera crews trailing long black cables had already secured the key positions. Groups of amateur astronomers, some in matching t-shirts, from Spain, Czech republic, Austria, Japan, Germany, England and other places milled around the site. Several had cordoned themselves and their high tech equipment off in various parts of this unique site of historical interest.
By noon, arranged by the local authorities, free wine (red and white) and beer was available, as were baseball caps inscribed with "Side Belediyesi 1989". Not sure what Side commemorated in 1989, but I was feeling the temperature of the rising sun and was really grateful.
As the morning slipped into
the afternoon, the local population density gradually increased. At first contact, the start of the eclipse generated a subdued round of applause, cheering and whistling. More tourists, families, the local police and even a dog wearing eclipse glasses did not look too much out of place. As totality approached, still more people filed in and now in the fading light, the owners of tripods with cameras and telescopes became even more anxious of a passer-by, a mother with a pram or perhaps a short sighted dog, a gentle nudge of a tripod could cause the loss of a long awaited observation.
Thin cirrus cloud had appeared and although unlikely to impact the visual spectacle of totality, it would be sufficient to influence exposure settings and our ability to see Mercury and Mars. About five minutes before totality, Venus shone brilliantly through the thin cloud. Thinking totality was imminent, I prematurely removed the filter from my video camera only to replace it quickly. There was still about another minute to go. The cheering and whistling grew as the horns gradually moved in and the crowd exploded in cheers as if someone had scored at Old Trafford, as the diamond ring appeared. In October 1995 in India, the diamond ring was brief and almost instantaneous, but here it appeared to linger for about four seconds. The chants, whistling and applause continued into totality accompanied by cameras (and mobile phones) clicking and flashing.
Scanning the corona with binoculars I could see at least two prominences and the naked eye brilliance of the corona was surprising, since there had not been much time for dark adaption. The magnetic field lines were clearly visible arcing on either side just like iron filings and a bar magnet but lacking the perfect symmetry. A couple of minutes into totality I took the camera off the eclipse and panned all the way around my twilight horizon as if the sun was setting in every direction. The cheering, whistling and applauding was now accompanied by a multitude of conversations, perhaps exchanges of awe from those overwhelmed or "is that it?" from those with no sense of wonder. The now even brighter Venus was impeccably placed above the temple, a tour ship bearing eclipse observers was visible sailing slowly between the pillars, and an enterprising observer had hired a Cessna 172 circling Side through the space between the eclipsed sun and Venus. Given the number of upturned cameras, the light aircraft probably made for some unique pictures for some and ruined others.
The end of totality came when I was not looking and the sudden brightness was a surprise
which immediately turned to disappointment that it was all over. The moment was marked once again by whistling, cheering and clapping. On previous eclipses someone somewhere always kicks off a version "2001 A Space Odyssey" on a CD player, but not today. I then noticed that the orchestra had not really made any contribution at the start, during or end of totality, no doubt wishing to experience the event in full themselves.
A couple of minutes later a huge exodus started, believing that the end of totality was the end of the eclipse. At the nearby Side theatre the wonderfully named Museum of Science, Art and Human Perception from San Francisco teamed up with NASA had set up shop for a live webcast. Their excellent webcast is available for download in streaming video from their archives. Don't try it unless you have broadband and even then go for the twenty two minutes "highlights" rather than the full one hour and sixteen minutes "webcast".
I know you were wondering. A Greek theatre is the oldest and with a circular orchestra in front of a raised and rather short stage; Roman theatres have a semicircular orchestra with a longer stage and frequently in Turkey are Greek theatres renovated by Roman builders. An amphitheatre is not really a theatre at all but more like a football stadium or a circus ring with spectators seating all the way round.
On Wednesday March 23rd, Dr Barbara Bromage from University of Central Lancashire gave us a fascinating talk (it has been a busy month, (hence the March Blog in April!) about the Sun, its inner working and some spectacular images from Earth and space based observatories. Despite my interest for over three decades, astronomy has not lost the power to surprise and amaze me. I did not know that the eleven year solar cycle (a repeating period of increased solar activity generating sun spots and intense aurora) was matched by a magnetic field reversal. Such field reversals are well documented and occur on the Earth (a cornerstone scientific evidence for sea floor spreading, plate tectonics and age of the Earth) and take tens of thousands of years, the last one occurring almost a million years ago. I had no idea that something so similar was happing on the Sun every eleven years.
Dr Bromage also went on to remind us of the Maunder minimum when the Sun went AWOL between 1645 and 1715, ignoring this eleven year cycle. To date no one has really understood the mechanism of that minimum and thus unable to predict a potential repeat. Her continuing research and that of the wider Solar scientist community is an essential contribution to informing all of us - media, industrialists, politicians and private citizens involved in the current "hot" debate on global warming. The evidence from such scientific work appears to be clear, global warming is a real and measurable outcome of our way of human life on Earth and should be urgently addressed. In stark contrast are the politically spun comments from many powerful politicians in defence of their short term political goals.As an academic, a decade ago I was involved in the initial development of distance learning programs. The feeble attempts of those days have now been firmly replaced by high quality courses reflecting the substantial research in pedagogy and a huge development in computer technology and communication. As www.astronomy.ac.uk indicates, the University Central Lancashire along with Liverpool and Manchester offer a series of Astronomy related distance learning courses.
The Solar Eclipse of Wednesday 29th March was naturally the highlight for March and is my excuse for this tardy blog. The flight landed during a thunderstorm at 1.30am on Friday 24th in Antalya, the fastest growing city in Turkey. As we taxied in the deluge, thunder and lightening reminded me of August 1999 in Cornwall. Then I had a plan B, but now, travelling with my wife and her parents, I did not.
Turkey was a good compromise; good weather prospects, easy to travel to and to find accommodation
in, on the centre line, and ample ancient theatres for my classicist wife to visit and explain to me the differences between "Roman", "Greek” and "Amphi-" theatres. The plane stopped and as I waited to disembark, I looked out through the window and saw the baggage handlers handling the baggage with as much delicacy as anyone would in driving rain at 1.30am.The small town of Cholakli about 65km east of Antalya was going to be our base. Visiting Side (pronounced Seedeh) a further 15km east along the coast on the first day became the first and eventually final option as the observing site. Side's temples of Apollo and Athena, or what was left of them, had long been used as special place for taking sunset photographs and would be an ideal venue for an eclipse. I didn't know it then but the locals, tourists, amateur astronomers, local and foreign media and the local government had also concluded likewise.
I had read "the" source of eclipse information from Fred Espenak and J Anderson. I was set for the over 150km wide moon's shadow racing over the Mediterranean half a km per second across the Mediterranean to provide us with a three and half minutes of totality.
The weather prospects were good, with only one day in the previous ten years when it rained on March 29th. The weather had continuously improved every day of our stay. On the day of the eclipse, we had had an excellent blue sky as had been forecasted. We arrived at ten am in Side and quickly located an elevated area with a good view of the sky, the sea and the temple's white portico. Talking to just a few people it was clear that people had been arriving since four am and apparently a couple had stayed through the night in their sleeping bags.
It was both incredible and fascinating to see that the local council had arranged for a live orchestra to be positioned at the base of the temple. Several media vans with their outstretched satellite dishes were neatly parked to one side, camera crews trailing long black cables had already secured the key positions. Groups of amateur astronomers, some in matching t-shirts, from Spain, Czech republic, Austria, Japan, Germany, England and other places milled around the site. Several had cordoned themselves and their high tech equipment off in various parts of this unique site of historical interest.
By noon, arranged by the local authorities, free wine (red and white) and beer was available, as were baseball caps inscribed with "Side Belediyesi 1989". Not sure what Side commemorated in 1989, but I was feeling the temperature of the rising sun and was really grateful.
As the morning slipped into
the afternoon, the local population density gradually increased. At first contact, the start of the eclipse generated a subdued round of applause, cheering and whistling. More tourists, families, the local police and even a dog wearing eclipse glasses did not look too much out of place. As totality approached, still more people filed in and now in the fading light, the owners of tripods with cameras and telescopes became even more anxious of a passer-by, a mother with a pram or perhaps a short sighted dog, a gentle nudge of a tripod could cause the loss of a long awaited observation.Thin cirrus cloud had appeared and although unlikely to impact the visual spectacle of totality, it would be sufficient to influence exposure settings and our ability to see Mercury and Mars. About five minutes before totality, Venus shone brilliantly through the thin cloud. Thinking totality was imminent, I prematurely removed the filter from my video camera only to replace it quickly. There was still about another minute to go. The cheering and whistling grew as the horns gradually moved in and the crowd exploded in cheers as if someone had scored at Old Trafford, as the diamond ring appeared. In October 1995 in India, the diamond ring was brief and almost instantaneous, but here it appeared to linger for about four seconds. The chants, whistling and applause continued into totality accompanied by cameras (and mobile phones) clicking and flashing.
Scanning the corona with binoculars I could see at least two prominences and the naked eye brilliance of the corona was surprising, since there had not been much time for dark adaption. The magnetic field lines were clearly visible arcing on either side just like iron filings and a bar magnet but lacking the perfect symmetry. A couple of minutes into totality I took the camera off the eclipse and panned all the way around my twilight horizon as if the sun was setting in every direction. The cheering, whistling and applauding was now accompanied by a multitude of conversations, perhaps exchanges of awe from those overwhelmed or "is that it?" from those with no sense of wonder. The now even brighter Venus was impeccably placed above the temple, a tour ship bearing eclipse observers was visible sailing slowly between the pillars, and an enterprising observer had hired a Cessna 172 circling Side through the space between the eclipsed sun and Venus. Given the number of upturned cameras, the light aircraft probably made for some unique pictures for some and ruined others.
The end of totality came when I was not looking and the sudden brightness was a surprise
which immediately turned to disappointment that it was all over. The moment was marked once again by whistling, cheering and clapping. On previous eclipses someone somewhere always kicks off a version "2001 A Space Odyssey" on a CD player, but not today. I then noticed that the orchestra had not really made any contribution at the start, during or end of totality, no doubt wishing to experience the event in full themselves.A couple of minutes later a huge exodus started, believing that the end of totality was the end of the eclipse. At the nearby Side theatre the wonderfully named Museum of Science, Art and Human Perception from San Francisco teamed up with NASA had set up shop for a live webcast. Their excellent webcast is available for download in streaming video from their archives. Don't try it unless you have broadband and even then go for the twenty two minutes "highlights" rather than the full one hour and sixteen minutes "webcast".
I know you were wondering. A Greek theatre is the oldest and with a circular orchestra in front of a raised and rather short stage; Roman theatres have a semicircular orchestra with a longer stage and frequently in Turkey are Greek theatres renovated by Roman builders. An amphitheatre is not really a theatre at all but more like a football stadium or a circus ring with spectators seating all the way round.
