Tony Kostusik's Solar Eclipse Scrapbook

Tony Kostusik

Jet pilot, meteorite collector, photographer and world traveler Tony Kostusik visited Niger, Africa, for the total eclipse of the sun on 29 March 2006 and sent the following scrapbook from his trip. Most eclipse photographers concentrate on the event itself. Here Tony shows us some scenes taken before, during and after the eclipse. Tony is now off to China, and we hope to see more of his photographs when he returns. Editor.

Figure 1. A first close up view of Africa out of the jet aircraft’s window during final approach at Agades, Niger. Exciting.

Figure 2. Out on the Sahara large trucks like this carry everything from personal belongings, carpets and groceries to wheel barrows and barrels.

Figure 3. During totality, the sky became very dark, because of the fog that was with us since daylight that suppressed seeing the surrounding planets and stars. Only Venus was visible. At first there was much excitement and talk, but then everyone and everything settled into the awesomeness of the event.

Figure 4. After four minutes and six seconds, the sun roared out from behind the moon again, and the sky began to glow. It was daylight again. It truly was a wonderful experience.

Figure 5. This was our second sand storm. Stay close to one another, or they might find your bones in a few years.

Figure 6. We got stuck in the sand many times. Fortunately, it wasn't too hard to get unstuck as we had seven four-wheel drive vehicles in our group with four people in each vehicle. We just had to constantly bear the eternal sand.

Figure 7. A beautiful sunset on the Sahara somewhere east of Agades. The weather was hot but comfortable with low humidity. The people were very hospitable, too.