Annular Solar Eclipse: 2010 January 15


Lake Nabugabo before sunrise

Shortly after 1st Contact, a local eclipse chaser arrives

Mid-eclipse - Sun invisible

Report

We decided to observe this eclipse from the Lake Nabugabo Holiday Centre. The small lake adjoins Lake Victoria, a hundred kilometres or so south-west of Kampala in Uganda. The site was superb: quiet, scenic and populated by Hornbills, Ibis and Vervet monkeys amongst many other species. Unfortunately, the weather didn't quite cooperate, remaining cloudy until just a few minutes after the end of annularity. Had we remained in Kampala we would have seen the eclipse, but on the other hand missed out on the wildlife and dark night-time sky with splendid views of the southern Milky Way, the Large Magellanic Cloud and Crux rising over the lake.

05:29:11 hrs. (3 minutes after 3rd contact!)
Canon 100-400 IS USM unfiltered

Site Location (WGS 84)
Longitude: 31° 52' 37.1" East
Latitude: 0° 21' 12.6" North
Altitude: 1150 metres

- 39 kilometres south of the equator

- Lake Nabugabo, Uganda

Predicted Contact times (mean limb, uncorrected for lunar profile) UTC
1st Contact: 04:05:34
2nd Contact: 05:22:09
Mid-eclipse: 05:24:00
3rd Contact: 05:25:51
4th Contact: 07:01:54

Annularity: 3 minutes 42 seconds.

Thanks to Lenses for Hire for the Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS USM used for the wildlife and some of the eclipse images.

05:34:08 hrs.
Canon 100-400 IS USM filtered

06:01:22 hrs.
Borg 101ED, hydrogen-alpha filter

06:54:44 hrs.
Borg 101ED, hydrogen-alpha filter

06:16:18 hrs.
Canon 100-400 IS USM filtered

Crux rises above Lake Nabugabo
50mm, 120secs, f2.2, ISO 800 (static)

Canopus & Large Magellanic Cloud
50mm, 120secs, f2.2, ISO 400 (driven)

Milky Way
50mm, 120secs, f2.0, ISO 400 (driven)


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Copyright Nick Quinn, 2010 January 24