Egypt and Libya, March 19 - April 2, 2006 / 20060329m_1230pm_SM_KidsCoronaWatching
Ruth Milner, rmilner plus web at bookofmarvels dot net
12:30pm local time: Sarah and Matthew gazing
at the corona. During totality it was safe to look at it without eye
protection, even with binoculars. The horizon glow was now all around us,
like a 360-degree sunset. It's caused simply by the fact that we're in
darkness, but outside the circle of the moon's shadow, the sky is sunlit -
dim by comparison with a normal day, but still far brighter than the
complete shadow. We were all really excited, and barely noticed that the
temperature had dropped considerably and a cool breeze had sprung up.
Our viewing site was on the centerline of the path of totality, and was
so close to the maximum duration point that we got
only 5 seconds less (so totality for us lasted 4 minutes and 3 seconds).
It's a cliché, but it seems to go very fast, and it's so beautiful
you want to impress it on your memory from start to finish. But of course
you can't completely, and then it's over.
