May 19-21, 2012 ALP Xiamen
Annular Solar Eclipse Report - Day 3
by James
Kevin Ty
Day 2 (May
20) - Inspection of Observing Site and Xiamen Science
and Technology Center
ALPers all
wake up a little late this morning due to tiredness.
At around 8:00am, they went to have their breakfast at
the hotel and meet up with their hired driver, Xiao Yeh,
who was hired to give the ALP eclipse team easier access
around the city to inspect the observing site near the
eastern coastline.
They then
went to the the Xiamen Business Center area where there
is a clear out horizon facing the sea. But
unfortunately, as they inspect the site, they got to
find out that the 72 degree azimuth is blocked by
some building infrastructure! With the Sun rising
northernly staring this month, James was not
surprised that the lady yesterday at the mall suggested
to this area. He figured she might have visited
this area maybe between September to April wherein the
Sunrise is a bit southernly so is indeed rising in the
sea instead on the infrastructure.
So they
proceeded to another area at the back of the
infrastructure and come across another beach park which
has no obstruction on the 72 degree azimuth.
They check their GPS and compass to double check where
is the best area for them to setup tomorrow morning.
With the Sun nowhere to be seen that morning, they also
use another Iphone software Sun Seeker to double check
where the Sun will rise next day. Indeed a very
nice application to check where the Sun is located
anytime of the day :)
Afterwards,
they went to the city to buy barbell weights for Jett's
use on his Takahashi SpaceBoy. They also buy some
more necessary things at the local supermarket to
complete the needed things for their use tomorrow.
They then proceeded to another coastal area where they
had their late lunch which include seafoods which is
Xiamen's popular dishes. This is similar to our
local seafood market style wherein one get to select
what type of seafoods he or she wanted to eat and then
let the chef cook it to the style you wanted. They
ordered some seashells for their soup, then shrimps and
a large fish which was very delicious and fresh! Yummy!
After lunch,
they then get some rest as well as stroll the coastal
area for a while. Jett and James then got to
discover that Mark is an avid sea shell collector and he
had a great time collecting many sea shells on the sand
:)
Our final chosen eclipse
observing site's GPS position. |
ALPer Mark Vornhusen is an
avid seashell collector and didn't waste time
scouring the beach sand for seashells :) |
Some of Mark's collected
seashells at the beach sand. |
A nice suspended water faucet
is one of the good illusionary display at the
center. |
ALPer Mark looks like a giant
in the slanted room :) |
Hey! It's 2D of ALPer
James :) |
ALPer Mark playing with the
electric static balls |
ALPer Jett standing in front
of the large solar system orrery. |
ALPer Jett walking through the
time machine hallway :) |
ALPer Mark is the Big Air Head
Man :) |
ALPer Jett lying down on a
nice flat bed...... |
of NAILS !!! :) LOL |
Front Entrance to the Xiamen
Science and Technology Center. |
Einstein Theory of Relativity
formula can be seen on the outer wall of the Xiamen
Science and Technology Center. |
Lastly, they visited one of the
few Xiamen's science oriented museum or center in Xiamen
Science and Technological Center, It was like our
local Science Centrum or Mind Museum but very much high
tech in its facilities. It was a nice place for
then unwind a little and enjoy some science oriented
projects that one can explore in the center. Some
of the nice features in the center is an earthquake
simulator room, electricity room, solar system orrery,
etc. As they finish touring the center, they were
happy to see the Sun shining through the clouds and they
were able to get some short test of their cameras and
videos before the Sun completely gets covered again by
the clouds. But with the local weather prediction
as well as our team assessment of the weather satellite
images with the help of Mark, we were confident that
tomorrow will have a good chance for the annular solar
eclipse.
They then went back to the hotel
to get some needed rest for tomorrow big event.
Jett used that evening's time to do a dry run of his
setup equipment in his room while Mark continue to
finish his modified webcam for use on his Coronado PST
as well as make his solar filter for his 1000mm f/10
mirror lens, small National Geographic 60mm refractor.
James, on the other hand, opted to just relax and surf
the internet to further check on the weather satellite
map as well as make the 2 days summary report prior to
E-Day.
May 21,
2012 ALP Annular
Solar Eclipse Expedition to Xiamen, China Main
Page
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