Sky & Telescope February 1998 [antikvár]

spectrumTime Warp-Itl-ÍT'íbaAs my PLANE TOUCHES DOWN AT ISTANBUL'S AtaTORK AiRPORT, I'm struck by the curious world some of us live in. No, it's not a i cultural thing, nor religious, nor political. For people with agendas that stretch far into the future, it's a world of curious time contractions, dilations, and seeming singularities.I'm here in mid-October 1997 to check out potential sites for the Sky Telescope/Scientific Expeditions total-solar-eclipse tour in August 1999. This note will be published in our February 1998 issue, which will be printed in mid-December and for which I'll read page proofs in late November. As time and tide would have it, the February issue reaches most subscribers two months before I'll be in the Caribbean watching February's total eclipse.I trust that time line is perfectly clear!I love these site inspections. You can look at climate, but you need to experience potential sites to understand what's necessary for a success-ful eclipse expedition. (I'm_ batting 1.000 after a dozen'tries, so something must begoing right!) You also need to form close bonds with key players tour operators, government officials, and local astronomers.On this trip I was accompanied by Mustafa Kartopu of Magister Corp. (our partner and the official eclipse agency for Turkey) and Atila Ozguf and Engin Sbzen from Istanbul's Kandilli Observatory. All had previously surveyed potential eclipse sites. That's really important. Selecting a good eclipse site is like playing blackjack patience can dramatically increase your chance of winning! My new Turkish friends had paved the road for me better than anyone had done before.Our first stop was the town of Elazig in the province of Anatolia. Near sunset we sped up a small mountain just to the north and arrived at Harput, a 10th-century fortress. I immediately fell in love with the place, anticipating the chance to see the eclipse amid stones that had been mated a thousand years ago. Not bad. Not bad, indeed!1 recalled India in 1995 and the extra thrill of sampling the eclipse from inside the massive walls of the ancient city of Fatehpur Sikri. Maybe I've become jaded by total eclipses per se and now want more an even greater total total-eclipse experience. Maybe that's why Harput instantly ensnared me. (I've already spotted my place on one of its terraces that might still remember Crusaders.)While heading back to Ataturk Airport for the flight home, I was amazed to see a fresh advertisement for DeSoto automobiles. Huh? They disappeared from the American scene nearly a half century ago. No wonder 1 worry about time warps.See you at Harput in 18 months. Or is it 20?