SOLAR ECLIPSE MEXICO 2024
TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSE, 8th MARCH, TORREON, MEXICO 2024
We flew up to Torreon, our target location for the eclipse from Mexico City the day before in preparation for this great astronomical event.
Despite Torreon's location within the centre line of totality and the presumed perfect weather conditions, the forecast was not too encouraging with high clouds predicted for the duration of the eclipse.
Arriving at our eclipse site, the grounds of a university campus we were indeed met with high clouds. There was a strong possibility however that despite this we would most likely be able to observe the eclipse through them.
As we set up in preparation for the start of the eclipse the clouds in our vicinity began to increase in thickness with intermittent breaks for viewing.
The total phase of the eclipse would begin at 12:17.10 and end at 12:21.38 giving us a duration of 4 mins 28 secs. This was to be a long phase of totality due to the moon being at it's closest point to the earth at the time of this eclipse.
First contact where the moon begins to cross the sun would begin at 11:00.24
This would be a difficult eclipse to photograph as at almost midday the sun would be directly above us, so using a camera on a tripod would be a challenge.
As the partial phase began we were able to view the spectacle for a few mis before thick cloud covered the sun for about half an hour with only fleeting glimpses of the sun visible during that time. The cloud began to thin however as we moved towards totality, and fortunately about five mins before the main event the clouds cleared sufficiently to get an unobstructed view.
As the moon completely covered the sun we were greeted with the cheers of the many eclipse chasers that had travelled with us, as the umbral shadow raced across the sky, the temperature dropped as we descended into the eerie twilight.
We could see Baily's beads, the Diamond ring and the Coronal Mass Ejections from the surface of the sun.
All too soon, totality was over and we entered the second partial phase that would last until 13:41.44 when this solar spectacle would end and the sun would become visible again.
We flew up to Torreon, our target location for the eclipse from Mexico City the day before in preparation for this great astronomical event.
Despite Torreon's location within the centre line of totality and the presumed perfect weather conditions, the forecast was not too encouraging with high clouds predicted for the duration of the eclipse.
Arriving at our eclipse site, the grounds of a university campus we were indeed met with high clouds. There was a strong possibility however that despite this we would most likely be able to observe the eclipse through them.
As we set up in preparation for the start of the eclipse the clouds in our vicinity began to increase in thickness with intermittent breaks for viewing.
The total phase of the eclipse would begin at 12:17.10 and end at 12:21.38 giving us a duration of 4 mins 28 secs. This was to be a long phase of totality due to the moon being at it's closest point to the earth at the time of this eclipse.
First contact where the moon begins to cross the sun would begin at 11:00.24
This would be a difficult eclipse to photograph as at almost midday the sun would be directly above us, so using a camera on a tripod would be a challenge.
As the partial phase began we were able to view the spectacle for a few mis before thick cloud covered the sun for about half an hour with only fleeting glimpses of the sun visible during that time. The cloud began to thin however as we moved towards totality, and fortunately about five mins before the main event the clouds cleared sufficiently to get an unobstructed view.
As the moon completely covered the sun we were greeted with the cheers of the many eclipse chasers that had travelled with us, as the umbral shadow raced across the sky, the temperature dropped as we descended into the eerie twilight.
We could see Baily's beads, the Diamond ring and the Coronal Mass Ejections from the surface of the sun.
All too soon, totality was over and we entered the second partial phase that would last until 13:41.44 when this solar spectacle would end and the sun would become visible again.
