にっしょく!

[khiemtran]

I've made it to Kyoto... Just in time to catch the eclipse!





My first morning in Kyoto and the sky looks ordinary enough. But there's an annular eclipse due at 7:30 and Kyoto is just within the coverage area.



Heading out to work, I meet lots of excited people with special visors...



You can't really see it in these photos, but the light was really quite strange looking. Since it was an annular eclipse, we never experienced totality, but there was the odd sensation of a dawn or dusk sky, but with the sun still bright and relatively high. Everyone on the street was in a happy mood.



By luck, I reached this overpass just at 7:30. In Kyoto, the streets run in a compass-aligned grid, so the overpass allowed you to view the eclipse looking down an East-West aligned street.



Some people had visors. Some had special filters on the iphones, so they could take photos and videos as well.



The lady on the left let me use her visor. The man beside her let me see the video on his smartphone. Neither of them knew each other before they met on the bridge. We had a great chat in broken Japanese and English, and I got to see the annular ring for the first time ever. Hajimete for me!



Without a filter, this is the best I can do with my camera.



There's a real party atmosphere, and I love a happy crowd. All throughout the day, everyone I meet who saw the eclipse is buzzing and happy to talk about it.



After fifteen minutes, and the sky is almost back to normal. I still see kids with their visors looking hopefully up at the sky, or hurrying off to school. I can't help but feel joyous as I walk along. How can your day not be special after you've seen the ring made by the moon passing in front of the sun and been welcomed by complete strangers?

Comments

[lethargic-man.livejournal.com]

<envy>

I've been using this picture of an annular eclipse as the backdrop on my desktop for quite a few years now...

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

That's a great photo!

[rymrytr.livejournal.com]

Here's two that were posted by NASA in their "Picture Of The Day". at http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/



Partial Over Texas

and

Contemplating the Sun

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

Cool, thanks!

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

You can see that it's got a late-day sunset-y feel to it when the sun is being eclipsed. And how great about the friendly strangers!

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

Yes, there was a real happy buzz around and that made all the difference. Although I also chatted with some other foreigners who said they'd stayed in their hotel rooms and kept their curtains closed in case they got blinded, and others who weren't aware of it at all.