NASA/Marshall Solar Physics


Two terrific drivers and two white vans handled our transportation while we were in Lusaka, Zambia. It is hard to believe that around 29 people were able to fit into two vans! They were equipped with jump seats. Pretty cool.


The group from Williams College set up their equipment both at the CYP and at the Hotel Intercontinental. This shot is of the Williams' set-up at the Hotel. Do you think we had enough equipment?

image of astronomer on phone

Here's Mitzi talking to the folks back home. It took us one full day to set up the internet connection, power, and the tent itself. We had excellent assistance from members of the hotel staff and management, including Ivan, Mr. Adams, and Mr. Mclachlan.

image of solar crescents through pinholes

Can you see the crescent shaped images of the sun? They were formed by the sunlight coming through small round circular holes in a piece of paper. What's really wild is that the moon was blocking more of the sun than shows up in the images. We had to put the coke bottle on the paper because as the temperature dropped during the eclipse a good breeze began to blow!

Click on the picture for a bigger image.

Here's what the Sun looked like (with a filter) during the partial phase, with no magnification.

To see other (better!) images of the eclipse, look at these pages:

From Chisamba, Zambia

Elizabeth's -- from Lusaka, Zambia

To see images of the 1999 eclipse and a comparison of 1999 and 2001 coronae, see Solar Eclipse Photos from August 11, 1999.

Here are digital images of totality itself. On the left, you are seeing over-exposed corona during totality, the bright disk of the Sun has been blocked by the Moon (this picture just doesn't show it very well). Look at the bigger image (click on the one to the left) and note the "dot" below the Sun on the left (at about 8:00 o'clock), that's Jupiter! Click on an image for a larger version.


Here's what the temperature did during and a few hours after the eclipse. Temps are given in Fahrenheit, times are Central Daylight Time. Totality occurred from 8:09 CDT to 8:12 CDT. Note that the minimum temperature occurred after that. What do you think might be causing the second drop in temperature (at about 10:00 CDT)? (Find the answer at the bottom of the page.)

A couple of days after the eclipse we went to Botswana to visit Chobe National Park. It is a super game reserve. This young elephant actually challenged our truck. He got right up next to us, trumpeted, and spread out his ears. Isn't he beautiful??

Mitzi's favorite type of wild animal is seen here. These two lions were not at all interested in us; they were keenly watching some guinea hens down the road. If we hadn't been there, I'm sure they would have successfully caught a bit of an appetizer!

We also visited Victoria Falls. Here is Elizabeth's favorite digital picture on the left. Mitzi's is on the right.

image of tent on shores of Zambezi River

While visiting Victoria Falls and Chobe, we camped on the Zambezi River in a tent similar to this one. Can you imagine waking in the morning and listening to hippo sounds while snuggled in your covers?

As we prepared to cross the Zambezi River by ferry on our way from Botswana back to Zambia to prepare for our trip home, we saw this lovely sunset. Kind of a fitting end to our solar adventure, huh?

Answer to Temperature Question:

The second drop in temperature at about 10:00 a.m. CDT (5:00 p.m. in Lusaka, Zambia) happened because the Sun was setting (sunset was at about 6 p.m.).

Web Links
SpaceWeather.com - Space Weather Homepage Updated Daily
SolarStorms.org - Learn More About Space Weather and Solar Storms
High-Energy Astrophysics - MSFC's Imaging X-Ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE)
	+ NASA Privacy, Security, Notices + Visit Solar Terrestrial Probes Program + Visit Living With a Star Program	Author: Mitzi Adams, mitzi.adams @ nasa.gov Curator: Mitzi Adams, mitzi.adams @ nasa.gov Last Updated: January 03, 2007