Many Chinese cities, such as Chongqing and Wuhan in west and central China, turned off many street lights to allow the public to better observe the total eclipse, which lasted about four minutes there.

“This total solar eclipse is just fantastic, you just can’t get that feeling from the video or pictures,” said Paul Maley, from the U.S. NASA Johnson Space Center Astronomical Society, who watched the eclipse in Wuhan, capital of Hubei Province.

He was accompanied by 40 astronomic amateurs from the United States, Germany and New Zealand to Wuhan for the observation.

Many Chinese cities, such as Chongqing and Wuhan in west and central China, turned off many street lights to allow the public to better observe the total eclipse, which lasted about four minutes there.

“This total solar eclipse is just fantastic, you just can’t get that feeling from the video or pictures,” said Paul Maley, from the U.S. NASA Johnson Space Center Astronomical Society, who watched the eclipse in Wuhan, capital of Hubei Province.

He was accompanied by 40 astronomic amateurs from the United States, Germany and New Zealand to Wuhan for the observation.

This first report just arrived from Fengxian – Shanghai, China from a friend who was lucky enough to be able to travel there.

Well, the total solar eclipse came and went – and our group (I hooked up with Griffith Observatory/ UCLA-Far Horizons expedition) got well and truly eclipsed… Between first and second contact, the sun kept appearing through the haze – tantalizing us and giving us faint hope… but minutes before totality, a dark, menacing cloud descended over the sun’s disk – and by the time we were plunged into darkness by the eclipse itself, it was solidly overcast. At the moment totality ended, we were hit by a torrential downpour – the final indignity. The darkness during totality was startling – easily the darkest I’ve ever experienced. Same for Dr. Edwin Krupp, my friend and eclipse-chasing colleague from Los Angeles.

The overall scene, including wildly bizarre cultural context – we were next to a run-down, second rate amusement park by the beach – made it an interesting, even remarkable experience. We mainly felt sorry for those amongst us who had never seen a total eclipse before and had come all this way with such high hopes. Ed had done his best to prepare people for the reality of it, based on weather statistics, but of course the irony is that for the past several days, we have had almost perfect eclipse viewing weather. How unlucky can you get?

I can’t complain… My record is now 14 for 15, and the extraordinary luck was due to run out at some point. And it was still a great adventure. No complaint.

Well, the total solar eclipse came and went – and our group… got well and truly eclipsed… Between first and second contact, the sun kept appearing through the haze – tantalizing us and giving us faint hope… but minutes before totality, a dark, menacing cloud descended over the sun’s disk – and by the time we were plunged into darkness by the eclipse itself, it was solidly overcast.

At the moment totality ended, we were hit by a torrential downpour – the final indignity. The darkness during totality was startling – easily the darkest I’ve ever experienced… The overall scene, including wildly bizarre cultural context – we were next to a run-down, second rate amusement park by the beach – made it an interesting, even remarkable experience. We mainly felt sorry for those amongst us who had never seen a total eclipse before and had come all this way with such high hopes…

The irony is that for the past several days, we have had almost perfect eclipse viewing weather. How unlucky can you get?

…My record is now 14 for 15 [total eclipses observed], and the extraordinary luck was due to run out at some point. And it was still a great adventure. No complaint.

During March, Comet Lulin will move through Cancer and into Gemini. In the second week of the month the Moon will brighten the sky and make it harder to observe the comet. To see the map, click on the little dark square here to link to Flickr and then click ALL SIZES and view at the largest size.

The previous blog post shows the part of the sky with Comet Lulin. This map has the path of the comet, as seen from Earth, for the remainder of February. Click the image to go to Flickr, and choose “ALL SIZES” to see the map with full detail. Best of luck spotting the comet. Please consider commenting here if you do. If you don’t see the comment field, click on the title, Comet Lulin’s Path (above) to look at this single post. The comment field will be below.

Comet Lulin will be at its closest to the Earth on February 24.

I made this map to show the position of the stars and the comet just before midnight on the 24th at any northern mid-latitude.

The comet will be faint, but if you have a dark sky and a telescope or 7×50 binoculars, you might see it as a tiny and hazy spot of light. This is a thumb’ so click it to go to Flickr and then click for the largest size image to see the detail. If the sky is clear, Saturn will be easily visible, and it is near the comet.

If you are reading this and are thinking that you’d like to join us, please contact Anar at Roseway Travel soon at 1 (North America) + 604 926 4344. There is no obligation for calling, but knowing of your interest will help us in our planning.

When the circumstances are described it does not sound very special: the Moon passes between us and the Sun and for a few moments the Sun’s light is blocked. Big deal! Well, it is. Those of us who have seen several total eclipses are willing to save our pennies so that we can travel half way around the world to once again stand in that magic pool of darkness and witness the next show.

This year we are looking forward to an eclipse with the longest period of totality in the 21st century. It is truly a once-in-a-lifetime event.

So, today I created this blog to tell you about eclipses, this year’s journey, and about some of my past adventures with eclipses. Maybe, when you have read some of this, you will want to see a total solar eclipse for yourself.