Abstract
My eclipse interest was, I believe, shaped during my childhood by my father’s curiosity about the night sky and by witnessing a partial eclipse when I was about 7 years old. I also recall reading Enid Blyton’s book The Secret Mountain when I was eleven, which featured a total solar eclipse in the storyline. I had always been drawn to the image of a total eclipse, and thought it was mysterious and worth seeing 1 day. But it was not until my late twenties that I stood under the shadow of the Moon for the very first time. Since that eclipse on the coast of France in 1999 I have been an eclipse chaser. I have now seen seven total solar eclipses. My eclipse chasing adventures have taken me to places around the world that I may not have visited otherwise. My future travel is now determined by where the shadow of the Moon falls upon the Earth, and I know that I will be an eclipse chaser for as long as I am able.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
The path of totality for the 1999 total eclipse passed south of London, so London was able to see only a partial eclipse, not a total eclipse. The total eclipse was only visible where the path of totality crossed through Cornwall. This causes confusion to many people. Essentially, you can only witness a total eclipse if you get yourself within the path of totality.
- 2.
See Chap. 5 for more information on the different types of eclipses.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2012 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Russo, K. (2012). A Personal Introduction to Eclipse Chasing. In: Total Addiction. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-30481-1_1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-30481-1_1
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-30480-4
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-30481-1
eBook Packages: Physics and AstronomyPhysics and Astronomy (R0)