This eclipse was one of the rare "hybride" type. At the begin and the end of the path of totality the surface of the earth was - due to its curvature - too far away from the moon, so the moon's disk could not completely eclipse the solar disk. A bright rim was left ( "annular" eclipse). Near the center of the path of totality the moon's disk was big enough to cover the sun, though the duration was still pretty short. As a compensation the bright hot pink color of the chromasphere - caused by a very thin layer of ionized hydrogen - was visible all the time of totality. Even eclipse veterans stated that this was one of the most colorful total solar eclipses they ever saw. We estimated that only approx. 2000 people saw this eclipse, all of them on board of ships.

The photo was taken approx. 10sec. after 2nd contact.

Local data:
Longitude 129 38.7'W, Lattitude 22 37.2' S
2nd contact 11:51:19 a.m ( = begin of totality)
3rd contact 11:51:52 a.m ( = end of totality)
Time zone was UT -8h