Total solar eclipse Aug. 11, 1999
We observed this eclipse at Hasankeyf,
Turkey on the historic Tigris River. See our story at
Calgary
Centre Eclipse Aug. 11, 1999 and Earthquake in Turkey.
This was another eclipse observed under
a perfect but very hot sky. I meticulously studied the
corona, described it on tape and composed
the following sketch based on these observations.
The corona was about the most beautiful,
complex and interesting as I've ever seen. No sketch
can possibly do it justice. After all
how can all the features possibly be recalled with an eclipse
as short as 2 minutes?
These beautiful prominces were sketched
immediately after the eclipse. Note that they are on the "right side" of
the sun in this diagram because the telescope reverses left-right.
In the overall sketch they are shown in their true position on the left
(east) of the sun.
These prominences are also "mirror-reversed".
Especially notable is the detached prominence which looked like a small
cigar and is visible on many photos of this eclipse.
This sketch made right after the
eclipse shows the incredible amouht of complexity of the corona and indicates
the difficulty of sketching it in the very brief time of observation available.