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The total solar eclipse of 2008 crossed central Asia. Northern China attracted many eclipse chasers because of its favorable weather prospects on the edge of the Gobi desert. NASA's 2008 total eclipse website has detailed predictions and maps of this remarkable event.
Gary Spears (Spears Travel) and I led an expedition to the northern China for the eclipse. Our August 1st rendezvous with the Moon's shadow took place in Gansu provence, just south of a small city named Jinta. There in the desert, our Chinese guide Xuebiao LIN and his staff had erected a wonderful observing site with shade canopies, a mess tent and a latrine.
I arrived at the location the day before the eclipse to make final preparations for our site and to unpack and set up my equipment. My primary telescopes were a Vixen 90mm f/9 fluorite refractor (fl=810mm) and a TeleVue Ranger 70mm f/6.8 (fl=480mm). A Nikon D300 (12.1 megapixel) and D200 (10.2 megapixel) DSLR's were attached to these instruments. The telescopes were bolted in tandem on an Orion Sky View equatorial mount.I also had five additional digital cameras and three video cameras.
Below is a small selection of photos obtained with this equipment from north China.
Click on each image below to see a larger photo.
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Partial Eclipse - Magnitude = 0.297 (T08-1024w) Nearly 1/3 of the Sun's diameter is eclipsed. (10:34 UT) Total Solar Eclipse of 2008 Aug 01 (Jinta, CHINA) |
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Partial Eclipse - Magnitude = 0.506 (T08-1037w) About 1/2 of the Sun's diameter is eclipsed. (10:46 UT) Total Solar Eclipse of 2008 Aug 01 (Jinta, CHINA) |
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Partial Eclipse - Magnitude = 0.701 (T08-1048w) Over 2/3 of the Sun's diameter is eclipsed. (10:57 UT) Total Solar Eclipse of 2008 Aug 01 (Jinta, CHINA) |
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Partial Eclipse - Magnitude = 0.898 (T08-1059w) Six minutes before totality begins and nearly 90% of the Sun's diameter is eclipsed. (11:08 UT) Total Solar Eclipse of 2008 Aug 01 (Jinta, CHINA) |
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2nd Contact Diamond Ring: T - 20 seconds (T08-1065w) 2nd Contact Diamond Ring: 20 seconds before contact. (11:13:22 UT) Total Solar Eclipse of 2008 Aug 01 (Jinta, CHINA) |
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2nd Contact Diamond Ring: T - 4 seconds (T08-1086w) 2nd Contact Diamond Ring: 4 seconds before contact. (11:13:38 UT) Total Solar Eclipse of 2008 Aug 01 (Jinta, CHINA) |
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2nd Contact Beads: T - 2 seconds (T08-1090w) 2nd Contact Baily's Beads: 2 seconds before contact. (11:13:40 UT) Total Solar Eclipse of 2008 Aug 01 (Jinta, CHINA) |
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2nd Contact Beads: T - 1 second (T08-1092w) 2nd Contact Baily's Beads: 1 second before contact. (11:13:41 UT) Total Solar Eclipse of 2008 Aug 01 (Jinta, CHINA) |
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Inner Corona (T08-1121w) Inner Corona (11:14:12 UT) Total Solar Eclipse of 2008 Aug 01 (Jinta, CHINA) |
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Middle Corona (T08-1123w) Middle Corona (11:14:13 UT) Total Solar Eclipse of 2008 Aug 01 (Jinta, CHINA) |
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Outer Corona (T08-1126w) Outer Corona (11:14:15 UT) Total Solar Eclipse of 2008 Aug 01 (Jinta, CHINA) |
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Far Outer Corona (T08-1128-37w) Features on the dark side of the Moon are visible in a long exposure of the far outer corona. (11:14:16 UT) Total Solar Eclipse of 2008 Aug 01 (Jinta, CHINA) |
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3rd Contact Beads: T + 1 second (T08-1147w) Baily's Beads at 3rd Contact: 1 second after contact. (11:15:22 UT) Total Solar Eclipse of 2008 Aug 01 (Jinta, CHINA) |
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3rd Contact Beads: T + 2 seconds (T08-1149w) Baily's Beads at 3rd Contact: 2 seconds after contact. (11:15:23 UT) Total Solar Eclipse of 2008 Aug 01 (Jinta, CHINA) |
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3rd Contact Diamond Ring: T + 13 seconds (T08-1170w) Diamond Ring at 3rd Contact: 13 seconds aftre contact. (11:15:34 UT) Total Solar Eclipse of 2008 Aug 01 (Jinta, CHINA) |
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3rd Contact Diamond Ring: T + 20 seconds (T08-1180w) Diamond Ring at 3rd Contact: 20 seconds aftre contact. (11:15:41 UT) Total Solar Eclipse of 2008 Aug 01 (Jinta, CHINA) |
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Partial Eclipse - Magnitude = 0.898 (T08-1189w) Nearly 90% of the Sun's diameter is still eclipsed. (11:21 UT) Total Solar Eclipse of 2008 Aug 01 (Jinta, CHINA) |
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Partial Eclipse - Magnitude = 0.694 (T08-1200w) Over 2/3 of the Sun's diameter is still eclipsed. (11:32 UT) Total Solar Eclipse of 2008 Aug 01 (Jinta, CHINA) |
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Partial Eclipse - Magnitude = 0.506 (T08-1210w) About 1/2 of the Sun's diameter is visible. (11:42 UT) Total Solar Eclipse of 2008 Aug 01 (Jinta, CHINA) |
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Partial Eclipse - Magnitude = 0.297 (T08-1221w) About 1/3 of the Sun's diameter remains eclipsed. (11:53 UT) Total Solar Eclipse of 2008 Aug 01 (Jinta, CHINA) |
All photographs, text and web pages are © Copyright 2008 by Fred Espenak, unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. They may not be reproduced, published, copied or transmitted in any form, including electronically on the Internet or WWW, without written permission of the author. The photos have been digitally watermarked.
The photographs may be licensed for commercial, editorial, and educational use. Contact Espenak (at MrEclipse) for photo use in print, web, video, CD and all other media.
WebMaster: MrEclipse
Last revised: 2008 Aug 12