Speaking of Earth shadows...

Five days before I saw the umbral shadow darken the Moon, I watched the penumbra rise above the Earth's limb as the Sun set behind Japan.

My boy Andrew captured an onbstructed view of the same phenomenon near San Diego a few years back:

Cosmic hotness on a cold, cold night

It was just a few days before my current trip to the US that I learned there was going to be a total lunar eclipse. I was taken by surprise by this fact because I had only highlighted events visible from Asia in my planner. I was excited to think of seeing this event because we hadn't been able to see the lunar eclipse that occurred six months earlier, just after our return to Korea.

Anyhow, with this exciting bit of information in mind, I began to think of how I'd photograph the event. I wanted to pack lightly for my trip because I'd be going through five airports and three cities. I decided to leave the old Nikon behind, in part because of its weight, and also because I've noticed that it doesn't focus to infinity. As a result, lunar and far-off landscape photos appear a bit soft.

My itinerary for the 20th had me in the air during the first and second contacts of the eclipse, the time during which the penumbra would begin to darken the lunar limb. Totality was set to begin at 10 p.m. Eastern, 30 minutes after my scheduled arrival in Ohio. As a result, I imagined imploring my friend who'd pick me up to pull to the side of the road or delay our drive to the hotel, just so that I could spend time taking shots.

When I checked in for my flights that morning, I selected to a starboard window seat, thinking I'd have a clear view of the Moon from 9 to 9:30 p.m. Didn't know about the southeasterly vector along which we'd fly from Chicago to Columbus. I'd've done well if I'd just kept my original seat to port. As we approached Port Columbus, the captain brought everyone's attention to the steadily darkening Moon to the left of the plane. Oh well....

I spied a faint penumbral shadow on the Moon when we landed at O'Hare. That was around 7:30 p.m. Central. By the time the next flight arrived in Columbus, a much broader shadow had enveloped the Moon's face. I took the second photo through one of the tinted terminal windows. I searched around for my friend (and a payphone that wasn't going to fleece me in order to make a call), feeling anxious about not being able to see the shift into totality.

After some pacing and a couple of unanswered calls, I found my friend and we made our way. I craned around and saw that totality had begun: a dim, soot-smoky orange tone to the Moon, with Saturn and Regulus flanking it. I rolled down the window and attempted to capture some video as we went at top speed along I-270.

When we arrived at the hotel, I threw on more layers (Korean padded pants, another pair of mittens, two shirts, and a jacket on top of my stuffed vest) and then went right back out to capture video and photos with a tripod. Worked well for the video, but not so well with the camera exposures because it was a new unit and I didn't remember how to set the timer. So here's the best of the night's imagery from me. See the SpaceWeather eclipse gallery for much more imagery of higher quality.




Annotated version

South Asia '08, part 10:The afternoon in Agracomes to an end.

We stayed at the Taj Mahal until about 4 p.m., when we left to go to Agra Fort. Our info was that the fort would close at 6 p.m., and it occupies a similarly wide area. After a 15-minute ride, our driver deposited us across from the fort's bridge and moat, passing a convoy of elephants along the way.

The Agra Fort is a much more appealing site, in my opinion, than the Taj Mahal. There are more structures and a larger assortment of architectural stylings to see. Things aren't as fastidiously maintained or set off-limits compared to the Taj Mahal, so one can get a sense of the site's age and erosion -- that wonderful wabi-sabi flavor -- up close and in much more peace.

That is, until the security detail starts blowing whistles and corraling tourists out of the place, an hour before the time we were told the site was supposed to close. Oh well...











Part nine -- Part 11

South Asia '08, part nine:An afternoon in Agra[22/7 post 1111]

We left very early in the morning again in order to catch a 7 a.m. train to Agra. And of course, it didn't even arrive until well after 8 a.m. But, oh well...

The trip took about three hours, during which time I actually went to sleep. I'd been on guard all through our ride across Bihar and Uttar Pradesh a couple of days earlier (as a result of many advisories and disturbing stories about train travel in India). This time, though, I was tired and didn't have ever-so-important "things" that I wanted to keep in my possession.

We arrived and tried to find the prepaid taxi stand. Our plan was to hire a car or autorickshaw for the whole afternoon. Because Agra is one of the most popular tourist destinations, the diversionary taxi driver and tout game was on lock. Even after we found the right stand with an honest driver, some taxi overlord stepped in got his cut from the deal.

Our first stop was the guesthouse-and-shop strip south of the Taj Mahal. We ate lunch and then walked to the east gate, which was said to have a shorter wait. The line at the east gate stretched for a block, however, and I had to go through the security check twice (after depositing my belongings in a locker) because I had A) a camera bag with B) a book inside. Apparently, literacy is a threat.

"Yeah, boo hoo for you. How was the Taj Mahal?" you might be thinking. It was impressive. It was enormous. It was odd, also, to regard and think of ways to photograph what might be one of the most overexposed objects on the planet. The grounds were crawling with people -- thousands of folks -- and as soon as most of them walked through the sandstone gate south of the reflecting pools, they'd start to arrange or pose for "that" shot of the building. And so I started looking for anything that wasn't the Taj Mahal proper to capture.

The mosque to the west of the Taj and its exact replica to the east provided a welcome escape. Very few people walked through them. They were built from rust-colored sandstone and marble that purposefully contrasted with the ivory grandeur of the Taj.

Here, I should mention that the whole complex -- spread over at least 30 acres -- is quite understated. People describe oversized, ostentatious structures as "a Taj," but the tomb itself, the flanking buildings, the gardens... none of it is overdone or gaudy. Detailed and meticulously crafted, but not overblown. If it were not for all of the people, I'm sure it would be a very restoring and reverential space.












Part eight...Part 10

South Asia '08, part eight:The first day in New Delhi

For the sake of strict continuity, one ought to go back to part five, which saw us on our way from Gaya to Delhi on the Mahabodhi Express...

Our train arrived in the early, early morning on January 26. We wearily ran the gauntlet of touts and taxi drivers outside of the station (even at 5 a.m.!), and soon enough we arrived at our hotel in Paharganj. The hotel staff was asleep on the floor in front of reception, so we had to be careful not to step on anyone (who'd already been awakened by our arrival).

We went to sleep ourselves, and then ventured out into the city around noon. My Lady Friend hadn't known that we were going to arrive in Delhi on Republic Day, which meant that many sites were going to be closed. This complicated what we'd be able to see (and when) because our trip to Agra and the Taj Mahal was scheduled for the next day, Sunday, and many sites are always closed on Mondays. Our departure to Kolkata was set for Tuesday.

After a lunch of dosa near the hotel, we took an autorickshaw to the area near India Gate and the government houses. The Republic Day military parade had passed through several hours earlier. From there, we walked for several kilometers to Gandhi Smriti, the memorial to Mahatma Gandhi at the site of his assassination in 1948. We'd been told (though someone else disagreed) that site would be open. Once we arrived, we were told it was closed... even though there were people inside. My Lady Friend wondered if a bit of baksheesh might have gotten us entry. Oh well...

From Gandhi Smriti, we walked northeast to Connaught Place, one of the major business and entertainment districts in New Delhi. As we got close, men on the sidewalk or passing taxi drivers tried to stop us and say that the road ahead was closed because of the parade, and that we'd have to go another way (perhaps into their shop). After two weeks in India and Nepal (and remembering Lonely Planet's advisory about the "pestilential" presence of touts at CP), I simply continued to walk... and found an open and busy road. There wasn't so much that was open, of course, but we were just looking for places to go to later. And I wanted to see the Jantar Mantar observatory, which was beyond anything I'd imagined, both in size and complexity.











Part seven...Part nine

South Asia '08, part seven:Bodhgaya bonus bonus

So here are a few of the panoramas that I mentioned in the previous SA08 post. The first was taken at the top of the stairway that leads down into the Mahabodhi Temple grounds. The other two show the (not original) Bodhi Tree. The original tree was done in by the wife of Asoka a couple thousand years ago, but it was replaced by a seedling that had been transported to Sri Lanka. I'm not sure how old this current organism is.

I read something in one of the Kolkata papers about an investigation of the temple management, following allegations that a branch was cut from the tree in order for it to be sold abroad. See more at the linked page: "Bodhi tree branch cut three years ago."



"The Bodhi tree behind the Mahabodhi temple, which has grown from the original banyan tree under which Buddha attained enlightenment, saw new leaves after four years last year. [In May 2007], IANS reported that the tree was threatened by an unknown disease. Hundreds of fresh leaves of the holy tree are falling off daily. Brahamchari blamed the temple officials of negligence of the Bodhi tree. Sources in Bodh Gaya said plant scientist A.K. Singh had suggested some corrective measures after examining the tree. Thousands of Buddhist pilgrims from across the world carry back leaves from the tree. An official of the Mahabodhi temple, which the UNESCO has declared a World Heritage Site, said the Bodhi tree is the sixth regeneration of the original banyan tree."

Part six...Part eight

Meanwhile, in Norway...

"If much of civilization is ever wiped out, at least our seeds will survive. [Like they're "ours" at all. Get it right. --Ed.]

"The first specimens — 7,000 seeds from 36 African nations — have shipped to the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, a repository in the Arctic Circle being built to store a safety copy of vital agricultural information, in case disaster should befall us.

"The vault is set to open Feb. 26. It is being built by the Norwegian government (Svalbard is part of the Kingdom of Norway), and when it opens its operation will be funded by the Global Crop Diversity Trust, a nongovernmental organization.

"In order to protect humanity's agricultural heritage, the seed bank will hoard refrigerated samples of most of the world's food crops in a chamber dug 400 feet deep into the side of a frozen mountain on the island of Svalbard...

"The seed vault is at the center of a global effort to conserve diversity and variation in the world's agricultural crops. Crop biodiversity is needed to equip plants with critical resistance to pests and diseases, and enable them to grow in harsher conditions of drought, salinity and flooding, which will likely increase with global climate change, particularly in poor nations.

"Experts [or anyone who's actually grown their own food for awhile] say it is particularly important to preserve samples of crops that are vital for nourishing human populations but receive less research and conservation attention. Such crops, including cowpea, cassava, yams, and millets, are known as 'orphan' crops.

"'So called "orphan" crops like cowpea and groundnut are not minor or insignificant crops,' said Cary Fowler, executive director of the Global Crop Diversity Trust. 'They are of great importance to regional food security. In addition, they are often adapted to harsh environments and are diverse in terms of their genetic, agroclimatic and economic niches.'”

To appreciate further the need for a facility like the seed vault, please refer to this article: "In backyard Europe, fading biodiversity"

Synesthesia: cognition infusedwith colors and shapes

"A twenty-something with extraordinary mental abilities, Daniel Tammet is one of the world’s few savants. He can do calculations to 100 decimal places in his head, and learn a language in a week. This documentary follows Daniel as he travels to America to meet the scientists who are convinced he may hold the key to unlocking similar abilities in everyone."

Moving images from New Delhi

Unlike the video posts about Bodhgaya or Boudhanath, there aren't photos from New Delhi to which this video is related... yet.

Actually, since they're already formatted,
let me throw these two photos into the mix.



And now:

This might be my favorite video from the whole trip. So much of the everyday street experience is shown. In the background you'll hear a couple of Koreans haggling with a leather-goods salesman over the price of a bag.

Moving images from Bodhgaya

These connect back to the photos
from South Asia '08, part four.



Mahabodhi Temple, parts one and two


Part of our autorickshaw ride to the Dungeshwari caves

Moving images from Varanasi

These connect back to the photos
from South Asia '08, part three.


The narrow streets in the old city


Flying kites on the ghats


Swaminarayan Temple

Moving images from Boudhanath

These connect back to the photos
from South Asia '08, part two.


One of the giant prayer wheels at Shechen Gompa


A steady stream of people around the Great Stupa


The view from the terraces above the stupa...


...and from the second level of the stupa itself

Moving images from Kolkata

These connect back to the photos
from South Asia '08, part one.


Photo-op with a family at the Victoria Memorial


School's out


Lost (but almost found)

I found my floral friend again.

As several readers know, I love me some Datura. So I was quite surprised to encounter a few dusty and worn (but still healthy) plants above the ghats in Varanasi. I gathered some of the scattered seeds and a couple of ripe pods, which will complement the seed stash that I've gathered since that D. stramonium volunteered itself in the Concentric Garden.