Annular Solar Eclipse of 2019 December 26
 from Saudi Arabia

Saudi astronomers, the local population, and the media, gathered for the annular solar eclipse in the suburbs of Al-Hufuf at the "Four Mountains" encampment. They were more than 2,000 people.
However the previous annular in Saudi Arabia wasn’t in 1901 but rather in 1922, contrary to what’s indicated on the poster. Then the next annular will be already next year, i.e. 2020, however in an uninhabited area Saudi Arabia with extreme temperatures most likely. The next total solar eclipse will be 2027 August 2^nd followed shortly by 2034 March 20^th, while the previous one was 1952 February 25^th.

As for myself the goal was to view the annular at sunrise from the Devil’s Thumb near Judah in Saudi Arabia. The main reason being that thanks to atmospheric refraction the annular phase would occur with the Sun at about one degree elevation which means that the whole event could be continuously observed naked eye and photographed without any solar filter. This played out quite nicely as you will see below.
Lets begin first by the eclipse circumstances computed using my tools.

Viewing annularity at sunrise is not easy as getting a clear sky down to the horizon is mandatory! Unfortunately haze and/or dust are quite frequent in the area and on eclipse morning, unlike the two previous days, although the sky was completely clear there was a strong wind coming from the southeast and bringing in some desert dust. While driving 1.5 hours in the dark to reach the viewing location this wind gusts could be felt. The satellite imagery at 00:30 UTC (3:30am local) before leaving the hotel was encouraging even though not as great as in the previous days. One can notice that the view from Qatar or the Omani coast would have some clouds during the eclipse, something that later prove to be true.

And now the more accurate predictions using my Solar Eclipse Maestro software. Do note that I use a true photospheric solar radius of 959.98" at 1AU and not the usual 959.63" of the IAU because this value, even though official, is too small as I have already demonstrated this past few years.

During the few days leading to the eclipse it was paramount to do some scouting in order to validate the viewing location. Going to the Devil’s Thumb is not as easy as it may seem because you need to find a dirt track without any indication, moreover you have to do it when it’s dark and the last part is across the desert with some sandy parts. Also you need to time the drive carefully to make sure you leave the hotel early enough. In short a studious Christmas!

Looking good on December 25^th with a nice sunrise and green flash. This Christmas day will be a long one because once back in Al-Hofuf, after a good three-hour drive and an extremely early wakeup, I have to attend a half-day solar eclipse conference at the King Faisal University where I was cordially invited to give a talk in English as my Arabic was a little rusty ;-). At least I can see the Saudis are using my eclipse maps :D. One last thing I noticed is that the women and men were in two separate halfs in the conference room, the dividing wall being opaque and about two meters high.

Then later in the afternoon we inaugurated a three-month solar eclipse exhibit inside the Al-Ahsa musueum.

After a very long Christmas day, it was time to "eclipse" myself as I needed some sleep before another extremely early wakeup and night drive! Alarm clock set at 3am and departure before 4am.

The altazimuth mount didn’t operate properly due to an issue with the 10-AA battery holder which broke down at the beginning, and no way to find a quick solution! Bad quality Chinese made plastic… and debatable engineering. Replacing the battery holder with a small rechargeable powerbank is now likely the best solution, even though its air transportation becomes harder and restricted.

The sky is clear, yet the morning haze quite thick with a strong headwind blowing desert dust filtering even more the solar rays; however this is perfect naked eye and there no problem continuously looking at it to enjoy the marvelous show. Do take note that all the pictures are straight out of the camera without any post-processing.

Six seconds before second contact the reddish chromosphere is clearly visible naked eye, a fantastic sight and most likely a world premiere during an annular.

Two seconds before second contact some nice Baily’s beads with mingled reddish chromosphere. Once more the simulation made with Solar Eclipse Maestro does perfectly match reality which implies again that the true photospheric solar radius is larger than the value commonly in use.

That’s it we have annularity and all this without any solar filter or eclipse glasses.

The show is ending and we have again Baily’s beads at third contact with the brightness increasing noticeably.

From then on the use of a solar filter is required.

This annular eclipse will remain as an unforgettble memory. At the Four Mountains location in the southern outskirts of Al-Hofuf, about 2,000 people gathered for the annular eclipse. It was the place chosen by the Saudi authorities but also the astronomers, where all the media were. My presence being cordially desired, I therefore had to exercise a lot of diplomacy to avoid this circus because I suspected that I was going to be interviewed for television and/or newspapers! I kindly left this honor to one of my acquaintances :D.

My interactive eclipse maps did receive quite a few visitors for this annular solar eclipse.

Now some bonus pictures. One of the many attractions in Saudi Arabia is Al-Ula in the northeast of the country where the Nabataean civilization flourished in the Neolithic era. What I could see rivals without any question with Petra in Jordan and there is currently a nice exhibition from October 9, 2019 to January 19, 2020March 8, 2020 in Paris at the Institute of the Arab World; all the Saudi guides I met spoke about it and were very proud to have been able to visit it. I had the privilege of visiting Madâin Sâleh as a VIP with driver and guide being the only one on-site, a real pleasure when you see the hordes of tourists in Petra.

The guides, usually very competent women, wear several badges which shows that the Vision 2030 project is indeed at the heart of the deep changes underway in Saudi Arabia.

The light pollution in Saudi Arabia is quite high, hopefully the Saudis will learn to cut it down around nice locations!