Traveling the World to See a Total Solar Eclipse

Some total solar eclipse fans chase a moment in the sun before it finally disappears behind the moon to leave parts of the earth in total darkness for a few minutes. Many people follow total solar eclipses all over the world and travel literally thousands of miles to witness the crossing of the sun with the moon.

Saturday did not start off with very promising weather for those who had traveled to Easter Island to see the solar eclipse that was to occur Sunday. Rain and clouds threatened to sabotage the show from over 4000 tourists and scientists who had set up camp on the island to get see the eclipse. However, the thousands of skywatchers on Easter Island cheered as a total solar eclipse darkened South Pacific skies for four precious minutes on Sunday.

The technical name for this group of hardy travelers is coronaphiles. The self styled gurus of solar eclipses have made their own network of followers and often log their meetings and try to ascertain where and when the next total solar eclipse will be in order to congregate once again to watch this sight unfold.

The eclipse begin at 2:15 PM ET in North of New Zealand near the Cook Islands and continued past Easter Island and ending in Chile at the southernmost tip of South America at 4:52 p.m. ET. The eclipse will last the longest for 5 minutes 20 seconds over open Pacific waters at 3:33 p.m. ET on Sunday July 11.