Eclipsed eclipse

Thursday, Aug. 13

Sailing on North Sea

Yesterday was the BIG day for the Total Solar Eclipse in the waters off Iceland, where Le Lapérouse Captain positioned the ship for the maximum viewing opportunity. An eclipse is an astronomical phenomenon when the sun, earth and moon align in a configuration. Little by little, daylight fades and the moon covers the sun, plunging the landscape into twilight and the solar corona is viable for two minutes before the sun reappears.

The ship has experts aboard to educate and explain what happens during an eclipse, the spacecraft and land observation telescopes and scientific research about the sun and the effects on everything from human life, technology, air travel and more. Some of this is over my head, so to speak, but we are impressed with the caliber and credentials of the guest lecturers.

Ancient people had varying mythical, scientific and religious explanations for the solar eclipse. They served not only scientific purposes but also political accountability and mythic storytelling and sparked rituals of protection, prayer, and communal noise. The experience of a solar eclipse brings emotion and in this case, it was tears…of disappointment. We had thick pea soup type of bog surrounding our ship and no break in the clouds. We did feel the cold darkness that descended during the two minutes of totality. A reminder that Nature is firmly in control!

The fog surrounding our ship as the solar eclipse brings emotion of disappointment, and awe.