The Secret Life of the Sun Page #3

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in his photos

'that will tell Francisco

if we're at solar maximum.'

So the eclipse gives

that opportunity to admire

and to study the outer layers

of the solar atmosphere.

These layers,

the chromosphere and the corona,

are an indication of solar activity.

The shape of the solar corona

is changing all the time.

For example,

when the corona is very round,

that means the solar activity

is at a maximum.

Francisco will have only two minutes

in which to get a successful

picture of the corona.

THUNDER RUMBLES:

But that brief window of opportunity

is threatened

by a more familiar force of nature.

Cover the telescope!

Oh, man!

The eclipse is tomorrow morning

and the forecast

is not looking good.

This is tropical Australia,

we're going into the rainy season,

and the weather

could obliterate the old thing.

2am, the day of the eclipse.

I'm following Francisco

and his eclipse chasers

inland from Cairns

to get away from the rain clouds.

We have to reach clear skies

before dawn,

or we'll miss the eclipse.

We've pulled off...the road,

finally.

It's...ten past five.

And the sky is lightening

dramatically quickly.

Sunrise is going to be...

in about half an hour,

and first contact...

Follow me, quick! OK, OK.

..and first contact

is ten minutes after that.

Wow!

That's incredible.

The sun has just made

an appearance...

..above the clouds...

..and it's got a chunk

out of the top left corner.

The moon has begun to block the sun,

but the sun is so bright

that we won't notice

any darkening of the daylight

until it's almost

completely covered.

What do you think, Francisco?

It's looking quite skinny now.

It's quite skinny, yes,

about ten minutes before totality,

so this is where things are going

to happen faster and faster.

The darkness is going to really

come much quicker.

You... You feel it, it's physical.

And it's sort of terrifying,

actually!

HE CHUCKLES:

Isn't it? It is!

I mean, just look at it.

It's just...

Every moment you can feel the light

just dropping and dropping.

It's like somebody's

stealing the sun.

And it's now just a tiny...

..hair's breadth in the sky. Yeah,

two minutes, two minutes to go.

And it's so cold, the temperature

has just completely dropped.

It's like everyone's collectively

holding their breath.

SHE GASPS:

Oh, my goodness!

SHE LAUGHS:

OBSERVERS CHEER:

It's the most amazing thing!

SHE LAUGHS:

I can't believe how beautiful it is!

Oh, amazing!

The moon has completely blocked

the disc of the sun.

A delicate halo is all that remains.

It's the corona.

Francisco now has

two minutes and two seconds

to get the photos he needs.

Here it comes!

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