We awoke to blue skies and were psyched at the great possibility of witnessing the solar eclipse while here in Kapp Linne. It was decided that the best view of the eclipse would be from the north end of Lake Linne. But when we got to the east side of the lake where the boats are kept, we changed our minds when we saw the fog was rolling in from the fjord. Off to the south end we went and there we were free from the fog.
The Svalbard REU team waitinig for the magic moment of the solar eclipse
The excitement mounted as the clock ticked closer to the eclipse time. We snuggled on the lee side of the shack bundled in most of our outerwear in order to stem off the brisk Arctic air. Sunglasses on, cameras ready, and then it happened. The moon began to appear on the solar disk, and within about 20 minutes, the solar disk was about 90% covered (what we were expecting here)! We had the best view when there were high level clouds shrouding the sun-moon phenomena. Cameras snapped away behind the safety of sunglasses in hopes of catching this historic event. When we got back to the station and downloaded our pictures, a few were successful in capturing the event. It was a fun diversion and exciting for all of us!
Photo courtesy of Steve Bate
Photo courtesy of Steve Bate
After the solar eclipse we divided into 3 teams: Leo, Anthony, Dave, and Jesse went to the snow patch to make measurements; Steve, Maya, and I went up a Little Ice Age moraine to gather altimeter readings; Al, Mike, Megan, and Emily went to Lake Linne to remove the last 2 moorings. Because of the distance and time factor behind of the tasks at the Linne Valley we finished these tasks early and had an abbreviated afternoon. That was okay for us since we were all anxious to get back and see our pictures!
Be sure to check the photo gallery for additional photos of today's solar eclipse.
Question of the day: What is the difference between a solar eclipse and annular solar eclipse?