Antarctic Sightseeing and Eclipse Intercept flight 24 November 2003
To see the total solar eclipse you had to be in or near Antarctica. There were several expeditions to view and photograph this eclipse: a Russian icebreaker, which left two weeks earlier from Cape Town, South Africa; a Russian Ilyushin 76TD cargo plane that also departed from Cape Town and landed on the ice; a chartered LAN Chile Airbus A340 jet out of Punta Arenas, Chile; and a chartered Qantas Boeing 747-400 out of Melbourne, Australia.
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Not the usual window views! |
The coastline of Antarctica and a 'Classic Iceberg' |
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Iceberg in a different light |
Pack ice |
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Rocky island piecing the sea ice |
Those of the 'Dark Side' about to enter Totality. |
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And the reason for 'being' there. As one definition I learnt. "To witness the majesty and ecstasy of totality"