LEAF-go-VSO   

Altay

Back in February, Ali had noticed that there was to be a total solar eclipse across parts of northern China on August 1st 2008. A total eclipse occurs at any one point on Earth every 375 years so we thought we would make the effort to see this one. This is why we came to Altay, tucked up in northern Xinjiang close to the borders of Kazakhstan, Russia and Mongolia. It proved to be one of our most memorable China experiences!

       
We flew from Urumqi to Altay across the very inhospitable-looking desert basin of the Junggar Pendi, about as far away from the sea as you can get on the planet! In fact, the acknowledged "Centre of the Earth", where the Crane brothers cycled in 1986 (we've read the book!), is Dzoosotoyu Elisen (46° 17'N, 86° 40'E), a staggering 2648km from any ocean, and only a little west of our flightpath. Amusingly, there was no lifejacket demonstration during our preflight safety routine! In fact, Altay itself is very pleasant destination, nestled in a fertile valley leading into the hills of Mongolia. Freda and Edie enjoyed our visits to the river Kelan upstream from town where they cavorted naked in the muddy boulders. It was strange to think that this river flows west, then north and eventually into the Arctic Ocean. The surrounding countryside was a mix of barren mountain, forest (pine and silver birch) next to the river, and farmland (mostly maize) worked by the population of ethnic Kazakhs. Winter comes early here, and snow can lie for as long as 6 months of the year.

Here's the eclipse's path across Russia, Mongolia and northern China. Altay looked like an interesting and pleasant place to visit and our research indicated that there was a good chance of excellent weather (ie. no clouds!). So it proved ... eclipse day turned out to be a perfect cloudless day! Pheww...

   
We had met up with a large group of (mainly) American eclipse-spotters from the Planetary Society in our hotel. One of them (thanks Dan!) kindly gave us 4 pairs of special "eclipse shades" (for direct solar viewing), so we didn't have to bother with pinhole cameras or risk our eyesight using old x-ray films and spray-painted shards of glass like many of the citizens of Altay! After lunch we started the sweaty climb up Camel Hill, a rocky outcrop topped by a pagoda which stands 150m above the town. This proved to be an excellent vantage point with potential for finding a quiet spot for a bit of family eclipse watching.

A few minutes before full totality the sunlight's intensity began to diminish and the air temperature dropped appreciably. Lesley is enjoying the spectacle from the cliff-edge atop Camel Hill with the town of Altay spread out below. In the background, grasslands lead NE to the foothills of the Altai Shan and the Mongolian border.

       
Full totality lasted a brief 90 seconds. The suddenness of the onset of darkness was startling, considering how slowly the moon had been creeping across the face of the sun for the past hour. The swell of cheering which erupted from far below in the town, and the sparkling christmas-light effect of a thousand camera flashes popping made the moment a special one. The middle picture captures the brief flare of light (in the SE quadrant) as the sun re-appeared from behind the moon at the end of totality. Freda and Edie were transfixed for most of the event... Edie likened the sun during the eclipse to a pancake with a bite taken out of it, an appropriate analogy as the Chinese for eclipse is rishi, literally "eat the sun". The right hand picture is ©NASA!

For more on the 2008 eclipse visit the NASA site here. You might be interested to know that another total solar eclipse will be visible next summer (22nd July 2009) across a huge swathe of central China from northern Yunnan, through Chengdu and Wuhan, to Shanghai. Totality will last for about 5 minutes, the longest this century. Click here for more info...

       
We stayed on in Altay for a couple more days after the eclipse, enjoying the river and a hot and dusty hillwalk, and waiting for a cheap flight back to Urumqi! The alternative was a long sleeper bus journey around the periphery of the Junggar Pendi which didn't sound very appealing! Next on the itinerary was the desert oasis town of Turpan.