Memories of
Curaçao
by Cathy McWatters
A small group of NYAAers set off for the south at the end of February to see
a solar eclipse and cure a severe case of observing withdrawal. Toronto was
in the ten percent eclipse zone, but we lusted for more. Our entire group,
consisting of people from across Canada, gathered in Miami for the short hop
across the Caribbean Sea to Curaçao. We arrived at the Miami airport four
hours early, but still took off late anyway. First, ten people had to give
up their seats - "Not from our group!", we said. The second delay came when
the engine had a small explosion that kept us grounded on the runway.
Really, it was nothing...
We arrived in our garden paradise in Curaçao, and, being hardy astronomers,
headed straight for the beach and pool.
On Monday night we went observing and saw many bright and wonderful objects.
David Lane brought his 13-inch telescope. With this we saw Hale-Bopp again.
It was wonderful. Some people liked Eta Carinae in the club's 5-inch
Astrophysics refractor with an OIII filter. Canopus was so high and Orion
was just about overhead. I personally enjoyed sitting on the beach listening
to the waves and crickets, feeling the warm air and watching the Southern
Cross rise. It was tough... We enjoyed every aspect of this small island
and still had an eclipse to see!
February 27th dawned cloudy, but not to have the sky clear wasn't even part
of our picture; by mid-morning the sky was perfect. A dust-blown plain at
the edge of a rocky beach on the north end of the island was reserved for
eclipse chasers. Local authorities provided all the amenities from
refreshments, to first aid, to windbreaks. Set-up was uneventful, so much so
that Andreas, 30 minutes before first contact, decided to move the entire
refractor to a 'better' site.
About half way into totality I noticed that our shadows had lost their
diffraction. Ten or fifteen minutes to totality Venus became visible and
people got really excited. When the shape of the sun looked like a 4-day old
crescent moon, time did this weird speeding up thing. The darkness raced
upon us. Shadow bands waved from the ground, telling us to look up. Then
totality exploded into the sky. Mercury and Jupiter flanked the Sun/Moon
combo. The corona was absolutely incredible, as SOHO said it would be. With
the planets and the corona the entire scene was about ten degrees across,
set in the most unbelievably deep blue sky. The 1500 people gathered
frantically took pictures. The solar prominences were best viewed with a
telescope or a pair of binos. All too soon the sky lightened in the west,
the sun flashed back into daylight and the shadow bands waved goodbye. I
stood there with tears in my eyes. I wanted more.
Such was our trip to the south. We resumed our tourist life and flew back to
reality. How noble of us to continue observing at 45-degrees north in this
soup bowl of the great lakes.
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