August 1999 (Turkey) Expedition Final Report
Most of the 48 participants departed from the United States on Saturday, August 7 on a variety of different flights and airlines headed for Istanbul, Turkey. Overnight flying times ranged from 9-16 hours. Flight arrivals on Sunday were met throughout the day at Istanbul airport by personnel from VIP Tourism of Istanbul. Participants and their baggage were whisked off to the President Hotel in the old part of the City, where we stayed for most of the expedition. En route, we passed many mosques and the fortress wall that defended the city in times gone by. We caught glimpses of the Bosporus, a channel separating the European and Asian sides of the city.
On Sunday afternoon, participants were free to explore the city on their own (most major tourist attractions were located within walking distance), or to rest and catch up on jet lag, as they preferred. An informal reception that evening allowed participants to meet one another, pick up their ID badges and expedition packets, and enjoy a refreshment.
Everyone soon learned that the Turkish people are friendly and helpful, and most in the tourist areas speak some English. However, they also quickly learned about “haggling”, the Turkish way to conduct business. Whether buying a toy top from child peddlers, seeking a guided tour of the attractions, or doing serious shopping at the gigantic mall known as the “Grand Bazaar”, it seemed that everything was negotiable even though asking prices were already reasonable.
On Monday, we began the day with a cruise on the Bosporus, providing magnificent views of old and new parts of the exotic city on both European and Asian sides. We had lunch at the Topkapi Palace, exploring its museums and courtyards during the afternoon. That evening was our eclipse viewing briefing. Paul Muller, an expert on the analysis of ancient eclipse observations, provided a number of anecdotes about historic solar eclipses. Tom Van Flandern gave details of the selected observing sites, described all the special phenomena to watch for that are visible only during solar eclipses, discussed safe viewing considerations, and showed some short videos of Baily’s beads as viewed from the centerline and the edge of the path. Following questions and answers, many participants chose to go to the dinner show at the nearby Orient House that included an excellent meal of many Turkish favorites, plus Turkish entertainment and Oriental belly-dancers. To cap off the evening, members of the audience representing different groups and nationalities were selected to get a brief belly-dancing instruction, then to compete for the most audience applause in a contest. Our own Paula Foggo was a finalist in this competition.
We arose early Tuesday, the day before the eclipse, to board one of two buses for the long ride through the Turkish countryside to a hotel near Bartin and our observing sites just south of the Black Sea, near the southern edge of the eclipse path. For many, this was their first time in Asia. Some of us were entertained along the way by one of our participants, Carl Webley (a New Zealander), who is a talented singer and guitarist. We had box lunches along the way so that we would still arrive by mid-afternoon.
The new hotel has a large outdoor swimming pool, which many took advantage of after the hot day’s riding. We then enjoyed a sumptuous meal by poolside. After dinner, we jumped aboard one of the buses again for a two-mile ride to a nearby hilltop site away from lights that provided a nice, dark-sky view of the heavens. This was our chance to learn or review our constellations, and to spot the occasional artificial satellite and not infrequent meteor from the annual Perseid shower, already in progress.
On Wednesday, August 11, we rose early in case we might need to cross the mountains to avoid clouds. That contingency proved unnecessary because the day dawned clear (except for a touch of pre-sunrise fog), and stayed completely cloudless all the while we were in that area. Because the viewing site was so close by, we did not need to leave until nearly mid-day. So many took advantage of the extra time for swimming or walking through the countryside.
Our first viewing site was at the gravel-covered lot in front of a small restaurant, where we had lunch in shifts. The alternate viewing site was atop a nearby hill in a cleared field on the property of a Turkish farmer. The farmer’s wife and children served the group a refreshment and enjoyed viewing the eclipse and participating in the excitement of the day.
During the partial stages of the eclipse, many saw or took photos of crescent projections on the ground, where little images of the eclipse in progress would project through any small aperture. Examples included images made by holes between the leaves of trees, through the stitching of sweaters, through straw hats, or simply through everyone’s own portable projector, their crossed fingers. As the partial stages advanced, the landscape grew darker and took on an eerie sharpness that is unaccustomed. All of nature seemed to sense the changes.
Because the skies were so clear and we were observing from near the path edges, every totality phenomenon put in an appearance. Although we could not see the Moon’s shadow approach from the northwest because a nearby hill blocked our view out over the Black Sea, we could see it recede after totality across the distant inland mountain ranges. Naturally, Venus put in its usual appearance, as eventually did Mercury, although the latter was close enough to the Sun to be only barely visible.
At the path edges, it becomes safe to look directly at the Sun without protective glasses about three minutes before totality begins. Near the centerline, the Sun is still way too bright to begin looking that early. About two minutes before totality, shadow bands began spreading all over the landscape, easily visible wherever the surface was bright white, as on sheets spread on the ground. They persisted for better than a minute, then faded, only to return for another minute or more after totality. With just under a minute to go, a huge diamond began to form at the last contact point, and the Sun’s corona began to become visible as a glowing ring around the black lunar disk. The official diamond ring effect lasted 20-25 seconds before and again after totality. But as always, it is spectacular, and raises the excitement level rapidly as everyone knows that totality is closing in fast.
As the Moon’s limb was close to covering the entire disk of the Sun, craters and valleys along its edge allowed beads of sunlight to peer through. Many of these formed, as is typical at the southern edge of the path, and their locations progressed along the limb to the last contact point. That last contact consisted of the brightest bead of all. Moments before totality, that last bead split into two beads, and many of us caught a glimpse of a rare double-diamond effect as the diamond ring disappeared and the eclipse shadow swept over us.
Now the Sun’s atmosphere, its corona, was the main source of illumination for sky and ground – a glowing ring of light around the black disk of the Moon. The southern edge was graced by the ruby red chromosphere, the Sun’s inner atmosphere normally seen only during total eclipses, which remained visible throughout our 50 seconds of true totality and added color to all our photos. Several prominences (eruptions projected along the Sun’s limb) reminded us that the Sun was approaching sunspot and solar activity maximum sometime next year or in 2001 as part of its 11-year sunspot cycle.
The shrieks of excitement from the group as totality approached were replaced by a hushed silence as viewers watched in awe of the spectacle. The only sound was the faint clicks of numerous cameras trying their best to capture the moment. Somehow, they never succeed because a total solar eclipse is truly a multimedia, multi-sense phenomenon. The moment lasted forever because it is indelibly etched into our memories. But however long the eclipse, it always ends before anyone is ready for it to end. But the magic is repeated as beads of sunlight form again along the limb, a new diamond ring appears, shadow bands resume their dance, and the lunar shadow can be seen racing away across the mountains at a speed of over 1000 miles per hour.
We chatted excitedly for a while, then thanked our gracious hosts, who were fairly overwhelmed by the experience themselves, it would be fair to say. We then boarded our buses to begin our long journey back to Istanbul. En route, we stopped at an excellent restaurant overlooking the Black Sea and watched a beautiful sunset as we enjoyed a buffet with seemingly endless selections to choose from. Once back, the group fell into bed, exhausted but pleased to have been there for the day’s events.
Thursday was free time to see some of the many attractions of Istanbul according to personal tastes. St. Sophia, the Blue Mosque, and the Grand Bazaar probably drew the most visitors from our group. In the late afternoon, we held an informal astronomy discussion, discussing matters as far ranging as the speed of gravity and possible artifacts at Cydonia on Mars. That evening was our closing banquet. An Eclipse Edge tradition is that participants show their videos taken during the eclipse. It is amazing how each view captures some different aspect of the eclipse, often unseen in other views. No camera can see it all.
The final event of the expedition was a short presentation about plans for future expeditions. A brief mention of these plans and pointers to more details is repeated at the end of this bulletin. A surprising number of people expressed interest in an expedition to Antarctica for the 2003 eclipse. Then on Friday, August 13, participants either returned to their home countries, or joined one of the extension tours to places such as Cappadocia, Troy, or Munich.
About ten of our group were still in Turkey the following Tuesday when the major earthquake struck. However, fortunately, they were on the European side of the Bosporus where damage was minimal. No tourist attractions or hotels were damaged, no tourists were killed anywhere in Turkey, flights remained on schedule, and most highways remained open despite the great damage and loss of life the event caused. The worst damage was in areas near the epicenter at Izmit, 100 km from Istanbul. Those still at the President Hotel either slept through the earthquake or were awakened and fled the building as a precaution. The Hotel kindly provided its guests with coffee and blankets until they felt it was safe enough to return to the building. All returned home safely without further incident.