Roadtrip to Chinle, and Canyon de Chelly, to be on the centerline of the Annular Eclipse of May, 2012....

On the Navajo Nation, we jumped the parking lot railing clutching our solar telescopes, and ran about 100 yards until we discovered a 10' drop in the cliff.... We set up without detection, hidden by the rock shelf above, and found ourselves just 30 feet from a 1000-foot sheer dropoff into Canyon de Chelly.

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Interesting area on the way there....

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At the closed Chambers Trading Post I met Ferguson Yellow Horse, a local Navajo Indian....

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Wide open spaces....

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Some interesting terrain up US191....

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The cliffs with the White House at Canyon de Chelly....

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The White House....

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Here's a closeup of the location where we set up for the eclipse....

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The view from the parking lot towards where we were set up....

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John took a picture from the top of the 10-foot tall ledge we set up behind....

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John had brought his Coronado PST Hydrogen-Alpha scope....

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Ron had 25x100 binoculars outfitted with white-light solar filters while I had my 4.5"f8 reflector with a similar white-light filter....

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Our observing area in Canyon de Chelly....

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One artistic shot....

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Partial eclipse in H-a....

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Partial eclipse in white-light....

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Deeper partial eclipse in H-a....

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A nicely centered Moon within the Sun....

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We had set up John's camera on a rock and marks in the sand for us to stand on that would put the annular eclipse above our heads....

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Oh, the shirts match.... This year I made up t-shirts for the star party.

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...and then we're back to partial eclipse....

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But then..., something cool happens.... The very distant mesa starts to block the partially eclipsed Sun.

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And the Sun starts to take on very wierd shapes....

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Very cool....

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Shark fin?!?....

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Triangular-shaped Sun in the sky....

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And then it was over....

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The last overlook showing Chinle as we headed out....

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