远赴中国杭州日全食观测 - 2009年世纪终极日全食...WHEN THE HEAVENLY DOG ATE THE SUN

July 29, 2009

WHEN THE HEAVENLY DOG ATE THE SUN. Capturing the total solar eclipse of the sun in the fabled eastOn July 22, beginning at 8.20am, the sun began to disappear, as if swallowed by a ravenous serpent, a bit at a time. With an hour and 16 minutes elapsed, the whole of Hangzhou was plunged into darkness and people staring directly at the sun would notice the diamond ring before the Sun being swallowed by the Moon’s disk totally.

Our group of 20 amateur astronomers was at Hangzhou on a mission to photograph the total solar eclipse which would cover large swaths of eastern China in darkness. Our vantage location meant we had prime seats to this natural phenomenon as it was ground zero to witness the rare occurrence of the 'diamond ring' effect, Bailey’s beads, prominences and corona whereby the sun's outer reaches flares over the darkness of the moon which would be orbiting directly in the pathway between the sun and earth.

We also participated in a discourse on astronomy with students of the Hangzhou High School which yielded interesting opinions and insights. Our solar eclipse observation took place nearby the school, at West Lake which also offered a good platform for the photography.

As the event of the eclipse drew closer, we readied our cameras, gazing patiently at the viewfinder to ensure the angle and composition was perfect. We were also hoping that the weather would hold up and that rain and clouds would not spoil the party for us. Slowly, but surely, as the seconds ticked away, we felt the strange sensation of the eclipse, something that seemed to sweep over the whole group.

Once the dark shadow began to creep across the burning ball of fire, our cameras clicked away, each trying different filters and lens, making sure the perfect degree of exposure was achieved.

At the end of the day, we were delighted with the outcome of our photographic efforts. This was a trip that has been in planning for the past four years, and to finally have realized it, and with such successful results was something which we could all take home, with great contentment.

2009年7月22日，在中国长江河流域一带，成千上万的人民在这天观赏了本世纪全食时间最长的日全食。据统计，当天早上已经有高达约200,000人次聚集在杭州观测这次的日全食。本次日全食从早上8时20分开始以日偏食阶段上映，到了9点32分，观测者们都开始呼叫起来，这时的太阳已剩下一丝余辉了，很快的，在约5秒钟的时间里，钻石环现象出现了！这时大家的情绪更是高涨，呼叫声此起彼落；之后就是黑夜的降临。

马来西亚天文摄影社（天影社）为了不错过这次的世纪日全食，早在4年前已经开始筹备，联合中国浙江省杭州高级中学举办了这个名为“马来西亚远征中国日全食观赏团”，筹备期间也得到马来西亚佳能公司，亚州航空及APD Sigma的赞助与支持，一团人在20日从吉隆坡廉价航空航厦出发了。

抵达杭州后，当地人们都对日全食这个话题议论纷纷，电台及电视台也已经不断的报道有关全中国各地的日全食观测活动，世界各方天文学单位也举办了很多的观赏活动，预测已经有50万来自世界各国的日全食追逐者到达了浙江省一带地方准备进行观测。马来西亚远征中国杭州的观测团把团员们都分派到几个不同的观测地点去，一部分团员在杭州著名景点西湖中心、有的在西湖附近的宝石山上拍摄西湖与日全食的结合等等，都是为了能够拍到不同景点与日全食的结合。

22日这天来临了，很不幸的，杭州在天还未亮时，天气已经非常的差了，云层布满了整个天空，连一点蓝天都看不见。大家的心情都有点失望，大家唯有不断的祷告，期待天气好转。很庆幸老天爷听到了我们的祷告，天气渐渐好转了。到了接近日食早上8时21分，初亏开始了，虽然天空还有薄云，但透过镜头观测，我们还是隐隐约约的看到日食的开始，大家的心情开始紧张起来了，不断的在按相机快门，大约1小时16分钟后，日全食食既就将开始，这个时候我们观测到日全食必看、最经典的画面之一，钻石光环及贝利珠现象，整个杭州随后瞬间的变暗了，仿如黑夜那样的暗，大家都感动得欢呼起来，有些人还在大喊大叫呢！过后就是长达5分钟21秒的日全食（全食最长持续时间是6分钟39秒，在太平洋发生，而杭州只能观赏到5分钟21秒），大家都很享受把这紧要时刻拍下来，肉眼还看到很壮观的日冕呢！除了被月亮遮掩的黑太阳，这时刻我们还能看到金星和火星就在太阳的西边，还有在白天原本不可能出现的亮星，这时候也能观测到。

大约再过了一个半小时后，整个日全食也完毕了，大家的情绪还停留在刚才那5分钟多的黑暗大地当中的情形，带着依依不舍的心情离开观测点，而我们天影社也成功地把这整个过程拍录了下来，也一起见证了这历史的一刻。