Eclipses draw amateur astronomers like magnets to exotic places to see the biggest observing events of the year. The occasional eclipse book is a relatively rare item and a treasured keepsake — memories for those who went along and a dream book for those who didn’t but aspire to next time around. I recently received a beautiful book of eclipse stories from last year titled Eclipse 2008, produced by Aram Kaprielian of TravelQuest International.
The 99-page book is loaded with color photos and stories by travelers who went along on TravelQuest’s 2008 trips to Russia, China, the North Polar region, and even by those who saw the eclipse from a jet aircraft. Paul Deans, a freelance writer and amateur astronomer who formerly was on the staff of Sky & Telescope magazine, edited the book.
The stories are fascinating: Bill Kramer describes observing totality from the aircraft, or as he calls it “from on top of the world”; Beau and Pearl Pinkerton describe their vision of totality from the nuclear icebreaker 50 Years of Victory in the Barents Sea (see image spread below); well-known amateur astronomer and eclipse weather expert Jay Anderson describes the eclipse from a beach near Novosibirsk, Siberia, Russia (the same spot where Astronomy’s expedition took in the view); and Paul Deans himself describes the eclipse as seen from near Weize, China.
This is really a very nice product, and one that eclipse chasers will want to have. For more information on the book, which retails for $39.95, see its listing on www.blurb.com/.
