UMBRAPHILLIA - Addicted to the Shadow

Glenn Schneider is an UMBRAPHILE. Literally a "shadow lover", but properly applied, one who is addicted to the glory and majesty of total solar eclipses. Those who have basked in the moon's shadow will understand without further explanation. Those who have not may have difficulty in understanding that umbraphillia is not only an addiction, but an affliction, and a way of life. The real raison d' etre for many of us. The more common and prolific term "solar eclipse chaser" is nearly synonymous, but somehow does not convey the depth of commitment to this lifelong endeavor. Once every 16 months, or so, (on average) umbraphiles will drop whatever they are doing and trek by plain, ship, train, foot, and camel-back to gather along a narrow strip in some remote God- forsaken corner of the globe defined by the inexorable laws of celestial mechanics. Newtonian physics heeds no national boundaries, and neither do umbraphiles. Wherever the solar photosphere will be extincted, enshrouded by the ashen lunar disk, umbraphiles will revel in the quasi-twilight darkness.

Glenn has basked in the moon's umbral shadow twenty-nine times since seeing his first Total Solar Eclipse in 1970. Remaining mobile and aggressively seeking clear skies, he has suffered the trauma of being clouded out "only" 3.7 times (a TSE track record, no pun intended, of 89.7% by time, 87.2% by number)

Click links below for information & images from specific eclipses.
1970 Greenville, NC USA                                          2m 53.6s 35° 36'N   77° 22'W
1972 Cap Chat, Quebec CANADA (clouded out)                       2m 14.7s 49.1° N   66.7° W
1973 Atlantic Ocean (off Mauritanean coast; HMS Canberra)        5m 45.1s 18° 48'N   21° 12'W
1974 Cape Leeuwin, SW AUSTRALIA                                  3m 51.0s 34° 21'S 115° 07'E
1976 Mt. Delegate, NSW AUSTRALIA                                 2m 48.6s 37° 07'S 148° 54'E
1977 north of Bogota, COLOMBIA (clouded out)                     0m 38.0s 04° 56'N   74° 47'W
1979 Roy, Montana USA                                           2m 39.5s 47° 17'N 108° 44'W
1980 Fundisa Kibioni, KENYA                                      4m 06.0s 02° 56'S   40° 08'E
1981 Bratsk (Tarma), Siberia [former] USSR                       1m 50.4s 55° 59'N 101° 18'E
1983 Tunjun Koduk, Java, INDONESI A                               5m 15.0s 06° 53'S 112° 23'E
1984 Pacific Ocean (off New Calidonian cost; Cap du Pain)        1m 33.7s 22° 52'S 164° 57'E
1986 N. Atlantic @ 44,000 ft (Cessna Citation II from Rejkavik) 0m 05.2s 59° 23'N   39° 38'W
1988 Banka Island, INDONESIA                                     2m 26.0s 02° 24'S 106° 16'E
1990 Atka Island, Alaska USA (clouded out)                       1m 31.2s 52° 14'N 174° 12'W
1991 Buena Vista, Baja California MEXICO                         6m 53.8s 23° 39'N 109° 41'W
1992 S. Atlantic @ 41,000 ft (DC-10 from Rio de Janario)         6m 15.0s 24° 57'S   27° 43'W
1994 Huachacalla, Bolivia                                        3m 07.7s 18° 47'S   68° 22'W
1995 Ghanoli, Dehli, India                                       0m 56.9s 27° 04'N   77° 32'E
1997 Chita, Siberia, Russia                                      1m 53.2s 52° 17'N 114° 17'E
1998 Carribean Sea (off Aruba; HMS Vandeem)                      3m 43.0   12°    N   69°    W
1999 Black Sea (off Bulgaria; Stellar Solaris)                   2m 21.0s 43° 07'N   29° 43'E
2001 Lower Zambezi National Park, ZAMBIA                         3m 30.5s 15° 40'S   29° 27'E
2002 Lindon Station (Fortville Bore), SA AUSTRALIA               0m 26.6s 29° 08'S 140° 44'E
2003 Antarctica @ 35,000 ft (B747-400 from Melbourne)            2m 30.0s 69° 59'S   93° 01'E
2005 Pacific Ocean SE of Tahiti 0m 32.0s 21° 19'S 128° 23'W
2006 Side, TURKEY 3m 50.4s 36° 45'N 31° 23'E
2008 Arctic Ocean @ 36,000 ft (A330-200 North of Svalbard) 2m 52.0s 82° 35'N 18° 43'E
2009 Wuhan, China (partially cloudy; 1m 30s seen) 5m 29.1s 30° 43'N 114° 31'E
2010 South Pacific Ocean @ 39,000 ft (A319 from Tahiti) 9m 23.0s 18° 11'S 126° 09'W
2012 IN PREP: Port Douglas, Queensland, Australia

TOTAL TIME IN THE LUNAR UMBRAL SHADOW: 01h 31m 22.2s

and, basking in other shadows:
1976 0.4% (by area) partial Cape Cod, Mass USA
1984 7-second annular near Greenville, South Carolina USA
2002 sunset annular Jalisco, Mexico
2004 Venus Transit Greece & Low Earth Orbit
2005 Annular Solar Eclipse San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Spain
2006 Mercury Transit Haleakala, Hawaii USA
2010 Total Lunar Eclipse Tucson, Arizona USA

Air (a), Land (b), and Sea (c). Most recently Glenn enjoyed a record-breaking 9m 23 seconds of totality from the flight deck of an Airbus A319 aircraft over the South Pacific. Thwarting, partially, the clouds over Wuhan, China, Glenn had the privilege, and joy, of being immersed in the Moon's umbral shadow for his 28th time in his life following: (a) 27th -- from the flight deck of an AirBerlin/LTU Airbus 330-200 < 7 degrees from the North Pole; (b) 26th -- from Side, Turkey (for the first time, though, from the luxurious grounds of a 5-star hotel on centerline!); (c) 25th -- observing a 32s totality at sea level while traveling at Mach 0.02. He would love to hear from other eclipse chasers to share their experiences as well. For TSE 2010 it's back to the stratosphere and a prolonged 9.4 minute totality - more than nature ever intended! More? See: http://nicmosis.as.arizona.edu:8000/