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| Our setup at ground zero |
I decided that I'd like to see the full blown annular eclipse on 20 May 2012 so we decided to take off on the 14th and head to Sumner Lake State Park in New Mexico which was very near the centerline of the eclipse in an area noted for sunny days. We camped at Keystone Lake SP in OK the first night, then Copper Breaks SP in Texas the next, and Palo Duro SP for the next two nights. We arrived at Ft. Sumner on Friday the 18th, set up camp, and got acquainted with our surroundings. A trip to town, a visit to the old Army Air Field where Pop did his Advanced Training during WWII in the AT-17 (Skyking's plane) twin engine approximation to the B-25 Mitchell Bomber, and a talk with the local grocery store owner who knew all about the old post. It is now a NASA balloon launch facility as we found out later. We explored the area and decided that a private veteran's memorial at the corner of NM203 and US84 would make a good location to set up. We watched the sun set on Saturday the 19th just to be sure. Sunday was spent testing the ETX-70 and portable power combo which worked fine tracking the sun. I even spotted three small sunspots. We took off to ground zero about 5:00 after eating a light supper to got set up. It was cloudy so we had a few anxious moments wondering if we should move to a different location. We decided to stay put and hope that the clouds would clear by eclipse time.
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| Annular Eclipse Sumner NM 20 May 2012. |
I soon had the ETX with it's solar filter set up on the back gate of the truck and tracking the sun. About 6:45 Judy noticed the first small notch missing from a view of the sun through an improvised filter made by stacking several eyepiece filters together. I checked with the ETX and sure enough there it was! We were ecstatic! We continued to monitor the progress of the moon as it slowly slid over the face of the sun until there was only a tiny sliver of a sickle-shaped sun, and then, there it was, a ring of fire! We enjoyed the spectacle for a few seconds and then as quickly as that it began a slow march out the other side and slowly sank below the horizon at sunset. I was barely able to see a weird shaped sun unaided and unfiltered just before it sank out of sight.
We broke camp early the next day and headed north toward Oklahoma under overcast skies. We stopped to see Capulin (cap-oo-lean' which is Caddoan, I think, for choke cherry) Volcano and then camped at Clayton Lake SP. The park is home to some nice dinosaur tracks which we were able to see before sunset. The next day we left early in order to get to our final stop at Osage Hills SP outside Bartlesville OK, passing through the mighty metropolis of Slapout OK at the edge of the panhandle. We finally made it home safe and sound Wednesday the 23rd of May after a 2700+ mile marathon trip and successful eclipse hunt. Now on to the Transit of Venus in June!
