On 8 Feb 2006 04:11:10 -0800, "Jezzer" wrote:
Hi all,
So - I've got my flight booked and a hotel in Side, Turkey ready for
the eclipse. Is anyone else here going along?
Side is supposed to be almost right on the centre line of the eclipse.
I'd be interested in any opinions of where exactly to go for the event.
I imagine there'll be quite a few other astronomy geeks around this
area. Is there a public event organised for the day? I haven't yet
found anything on the web.
cheers
Jeremy

The Turkish press estimate that there will be a million visitors to
the country for the eclipse:

http://www.turkishpress.com/travel/view.asp?id=67761

So it may be quite difficult to move about in the morning, but you
never know, there's always some people predicting grid lock at these
events and it doesn't always happen.

Having viewed a couple of eclipses, I would recommend that, if
possible, you get away from big crowds of people; The general public
usually have no idea about eclipses and end up firing off their
compact cameras during totality without disabling the flash, which is
most annoying and distracting.

Another recommendation is to get onto a small hill or rise in the
ground so as to better see the strange orangey-brown edge of the
Moon's shadow all around you.

Wherever you end up, ensure that you are in position in good time. It
may be three or so minutes long, but the time just flies by like you
won't believe, be ready for it.

Lastly, have some plan so that you can eat soon afterwards, we always
seem to get very hungry then, don't know why, but it's happened every
time so far.

Clear skies

- Mike