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 Annular Solar Eclipse of 2014 April 29
 from Antarctica

To observe the 2014 April 29 non-central annular eclipse, I wanted to go back one more time to Antarctica, the only location where this eclipse was annular. However viewing this eclipse meant wintering over for about eight months: it would have been another unforgeatable adventure, but difficult work constraints decided otherwise. No human being, and likely no living species, were in the area where this eclipse was annular. Only the people wintering-over at the Concordia (reasonnably clear sky with a low temperature around -65°C or -85°F) and Dumont d’Urville (cloudy with wind) research stations had the possibility to observe a deep partial barely over the horizon.

Adrianos and Paride, who both are wintering over at Concordia, have taken a few pictures from outside the research station located at the edge of the visibility region. The eclipse was only partial at there, although very deep at its maximum, and did allow an in-depth study of the atmospheric refraction and terrain elevation even with the poor quality of the pictures. Indeed the eclipse was only visible because of a combination between atmospheric refraction and terrain declivity in the direction of the eclipsed Sun (refer to the map below).

You can use this solar eclipse calculator to compute the local circumstances of the eclipse, and the solar eclipse timer notifies the beginning of the various events. A time exposure calculator is there to help you choose your camera settings.


Click on thumbnails for a larger version

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Concordia Dôme C Antarctica
Concordia Dôme C Research Station in April

Eclipse Map Terrain Elevation Profile Concordia Dôme C Antarctica
Eclipse map with terain elevation profile from the Concordia Dôme C Research Station
(with the help of the atmospheric refraction and the terrain declivity most of the eclipse will be visible)

For Paride Legovini, taking the pictures was a very difficult task because of the weather conditions outside the Concordia research station: -65°C or -85°F with haze over the horizon. The following images were taken with a 50mm lens on an Olympus OM-D E-M5 camera. There are no pictures when the partial phase was deeper as the photographers had to go back inside the station to warm up. Unfortunately close-up pictures from Adrianos Golemis didn’t turn out well. In the end no human being managed to observe the annular phase.

Annular Eclipse 2014 Concordia Antarctica Legovini
Sun at 04:34:34 UTC,
about 10 minutes before first contact

Annular Eclipse 2014 Concordia Antarctica Legovini
Eclipsed Sun at 04:54:28 UTC,
about 10 minutes after first contact

Annular Eclipse 2014 Concordia Antarctica Legovini
Eclipsed Sun at 04:54:56 UTC,
about 10 minutes after first contact

Annular Eclipse 2014 Concordia Antarctica Legovini
Eclipsed Sun at 04:57:19 UTC,
about 12 minutes after first contact

At best the next 35 minutes would have been seen before the eclipsed Sun was below the frozen horizon. Maximum eclipse couldn’t be viewed from this location.

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Last page update on April 30, 2014.
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