The Sun, Moon, Planets, Stars and Clouds of Western Australia
On 11:59 pm, May 3, 2013, I boarded a plane to Perth, Australia. This was the beginning of my 17 days trip to Western Australia. Purpose: to witness the May 10 annular solar eclipse.
We travelled in an Apollo motorhome to the Pinnacles, Mullewa, Cue, Kumarina (eclipse observation), Tom Price, Narutarra, Exmouth, Coral Bay, Blowholes, Hamelin Pool, Port Gregory, Pinnacles (again) and finally back to Perth on May 20.
The timelapse below documented the Sun, Moon, planets, stars and clouds of the whole trip including the annular solar eclipse.
Click this link to see still images.
Some short descriptions of what you see / location in the video:
00:01: Pinnacles, Nambung National Park, near Cervantes.
00:05: Sunrise, a day before the 10 May 2013 annular solar eclipse.
00:09: Cue Caravan Park.
00:13: Sunset at Carnarvon Blowholes. Jets of water can be seen erupted into the air to the right of the Sun. Powerful ocean swells force water through sea caves and up out of narrow holes in the rocks, creating this spectacular sight.
00:22: The ground is moving instead of the stars is due to the tracking system. It tracked the stars, thus the stars stayed at the same place while the ground moved.
00:26: Pinnacles Caravan Park.
01:10: Tom Price Tourist Park.
01:28: Sunrise annular solar eclipse of 10 May 2013 at Kumarina.
01:53: Look carefully to see the green flash.
02:07: Vlamingh Head Lighthouse, Exmouth.
02:11: Coral Bay. The reflections of Jupiter and stars (especially Orion) can be seen on the sea.
02:24: Carnarvon Blowholes. The landscape was light up by the moonlight. As the moon set, the surrounding became dark.
02:43: A very bright meteor streaked behind the trees on the far bottom right.
02:51: The bright area on the right (with visible tall towers) is Harold Holt US Navy Communications Base.
02:55: Turn 180 degree from the view in 02:51 is the Vlamingh Head Lighthouse, Exmouth.
03:03: Tom Price Tourist Park.
03:37: Pinnacles, Nambung National Park, near Cervantes. The Pinnacles are light up by the Moon.
03:43: Pinnacles, Nambung National Park, near Cervantes. The shadows on the ground were moving as the Moon moved across the sky.
03:47: Hamelin Pool at Shark Bay. Notice how near to the horizon Big Dipper is (slight right of centre). The Moon light up the boardwalk and the stromatolites in the sea. The Hamelin Pool stromatolites are oldest and largest living fossils on Earth. Stromatolites are considered ‘living fossils’, part of the Earth’s evolutionary history.
This is my first trip to Australia and I’ve fall in love with the Australian sky… I’ll be back!
My Dark Sky 