As a perfect start to the International Year of Astronomy 2009, three wonderful days of hobnobbing with some of the best minds in Astronomy and Eclipses came to an end on 11th January. The occasion was the “Solar Eclipse Workshop” organized by ECa, the eclipse sphere of SPACE. The venue was Shankar Lal Concert Hall, Delhi University Campus, New Delhi.
 
This Solar Eclipse Workshop was an intensive three day workshop, which began on 9th January 2009. The topics included in the workshop were - History of eclipses, Experiencing the rapid sequence of events during a Total Solar Eclipse, Future eclipses near India and their planning, Building instruments and resources for use, Charting weather patterns of places, Planning logistics for eclipse observation, Eclipse related software, How to predict corona and Baily’s beads, Science and Experiments during eclipse, Automated Eclipse Photography plans, Public watches and eye safety. 

Apart from lectures and presentation the workshop also had live and hands-on equipment demonstrations and usage for the maximum benefit of eclipse enthusiasts. In addition to it video-graphing the Sun live during the day was the highlight of the demonstrations.  The aim of this workshop was 'Take-Home-an-Eclipse-Plan'.

Speakers for the workshop included Famous Professional Eclipse Chasers from observatories in India and abroad including NASA. The speakers who spoke during the workshop were Mr. Jay Pasachoff, Chairman, International Astronomical Union, Prof. Ashok Ambastha of Udaipur Solar Observatory, Prof. Arnab Rai Choudhuri of Indian Institute of Science, Mr. Jay Anderson of NASA eclipse bulletins. Dr. N. Rathnasree, Director Nehru Planetarium  Mr. Sheridan Williams, of the Royal Astronomical Society,  Mr. Xavier Jubier, the famous eclipse adventurer from France and a veteran of 10 eclipses, Dr. Satyendra Bhandari, from Bhaskaracharya Institute for Space Applications and Geoinformatics (BISAG), Gandhinagar, Dr. Krishnanand Sinha, ARIES observatory Nainital, Prof. Dr. Dipankar Banerjee of Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bangalore, Mr. Eric Brown, an eminent eclipse chaser and Dr. Hari Om Vats, an Associate Professor in the Astronomy, Chander Bhushan Devgun, President, SPACE, Mr. Vikrant Narang, an avid astronomer and a scientific officer at SPACE and Ajay Talwar, Head of Instrumentation and Observation at SPACE.

One of the highlights of the workshop was the ‘Open House Session’ where the entire panel of speakers sat on the stage and answered all the questions posed by the audiences regarding the eclipses. The questions flew thick and fast and soon everyone was involved in the animated discussions that ensued.

Prof. Ashok Ambastha of Udaipur Solar Observatory was “very much overwhelmed by the quality of work done by ECa”. He said, “A close interaction of ECa with professional astronomers would help popularise Astronomy in the country.”

Dr. Bhandari was equally amused and said, “The sincerity, the enthusiasm and the passion of all involved was seen to be believed. Hats off to the ‘Team SPACE’
 
Whatever glitches and mistakes that have occurred are entirely our responsibility and we do apologise for them. We certainly would like to hear about them from all. It would help us learn from our mistakes and not to repeat them.

The spectacular Eclipse of July 2009 belongs to the saros series no 136. The particular Saros series is a vigorous series presently in the prime of its life. The series began with a small partial eclipse visible off the coast of Antarctica on 14th June 1360. After seven more partial eclipses, each of increasing magnitude, the first umbral eclipse occurred on 8th September 1504. In the 20th century, Saros series 136 continued to produce exceptionally long total eclipses with tracks passing across the equator. The eclipse of 29th May 1919 May is particularly noteworthy because it was the first eclipse used to measure the gravitational deflection of starlight by the Sun as predicted by Einstein’s general theory of relativity. On 8th June 1937, the central line duration exceeded 7 min for the first time for any total eclipse since 1098 CE. The following eclipse of 20th June 1955 was 4 s longer with a maximum duration of 7 min 08 sec. Its track crossed Sri Lanka, Southeast Asia, and the Philippines. This event marked the maximum duration of all total eclipses belonging to Saros 136. Subsequent members in the series are shorter as the Moon recedes farther from perigee. Nevertheless, Saros 136 will continue to produce long eclipses for some time to come. Eclipse chasers distinctly remember the last eclipse of this Saros series, total eclipse of 11th July 1991 with a duration of 6 min 53 sec and a path through Hawaii, Mexico, and Central and South America. The 2009 eclipse has a maximum duration of 6 min 39 sec although it occurs in the Pacific Ocean. The next eclipse in the series is on 2027 Aug 02 and lasts a maximum of 6 min 23 sec.