Photographed From Panama

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Total Solar Eclipse -
A Once in a Lifetime Experience

Text and Photographs
by Carl Hansen

On July 11, 1991, I had my first opportunity to view and photograph a total solar eclipse. At the time I was assigned to the Smithsonian Institution's Tropical Research Institute in Panama, Central America as the Chief of Photography.

The day before the eclipse was scheduled to occur I drove out to the savanna region hoping to find a hilltop to camp on for the evening. I wanted to be in the Savanna (dry) region because I thought that would be the most likely region to be free of cloud cover.

This is the dry, rocky hilltop we selected as our viewing sight. It is west of the town of Las Tablas in the Savanna region of Panama. It turned out to be one of the few, if not only sites, in Panama where there were no clouds at the time of totality.

==Smithsonian Photo #91-14775

We located the perfect hilltop quite a few miles west of the town of Las Tablas. The property owner gave us permission to camp on the rocky hilltop though he thought we were a bit strange, wanting to camp in such a dry exposed spot.

The next morning we were joined on our hilltop by the property owner's son and his friends as well as several other Panamanians who were driving by and decided we had picked an ideal spot to view the eclipse.

One way of safely viewing the sun and eclipse is to use a pinhole projection device such as this. A small pin-sized hole is poked in a box and a white card placed on the opposite end inside the box. The image of the sun is projected from the pinhole onto the white card.

==Smithsonian Photo #91-14779

A total eclipse is truely a multisensual experience. You don't just view it but you hear, smell and feel it.

As the time for the eclipse approached I was disappointed because there was a fairly heavy cloud cover that was moving rapidly to obscure our view. We could still view the moon gradually eating away at the sun but we feared that the cloud cover at totality would be too thick to get good photographs. However our luck changed, just before totality the clouds cleared completely and we had an unobstructed view (one of the few world wide and the only place in Panama) of the eclipse.

As the moon moved to block the sun clouds formed threatening to obscure our view of the eclipse. However, just as totality occured the clouds cleared completely and we had a beautifully unobstructed view.

==Smithsonian Photo #91-14789

But the experience began before totatity. First the sky started darkening. As the false evening progressed birds began flying to roost and started their evening chorus. In the fields below us the cattle gathered up and started heading in from the pasture to the feeding barn. Next the air took on a different fragrance and some plants closed up their blooms. As totality arrived it got dark as the darkest night, because there was no moonlight to compensate. And the temperature dropped noticeably. In a matter of minutes it went from that hot, dry sunny July day to a cool, fresh, very dark night. An incredible experience!

This photograph shows the "diamond ring" effect and one of the visible red solar flares. This photograph was taken using a 400mm lens with a 2x tele-extender (for the equivalent of an 800mm lens). Focusing was accomplished by setting the lens at infinity. Framing was accomplished by projecting the image through the lens and camera eye piece onto a piece of white board.

==Smithsonian Photo #91-14787

Totality lasted only a few minutes during which red solar flares were distinctly visible around the edges of the blocking moon. Then the whole scenario reversed itself. It got lighter and warmer. The birds stopped singing and returned to feeding sites. The cattle left the barn yard and returned to the pastures. We all gushed excitedly and chattered on amongst ourselves about what an incredible experience we had shared.

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