What's your name? Introduce yourself to IFAS!

John,
Many thanks for the link.
Certainly looks interesting!

I received this link from a former German colleague of mine. Flight from Frankfurt. (36 hour trip)

www.eclipse-journeys.com/2008/journeys/eclipsetour15-2008.pdf

John,

One huge thanks for the link to the PDF dodument. It suits my personal needs absolutely perfect since it is geared for those interested in the eclipse only and without any extended stays etc.

I received this link from a former German colleague of mine. Flight from Frankfurt. (36 hour trip)

www.eclipse-journeys.com/2008/journeys/eclipsetour15-2008.pdf

I just checked Aer Lingus:

You can fly from Dublin to Frankfurt (Depart Dublin 06.50; Arrive Novosibirsk 10:00) on the 31st and return on the 2nd August (Depart Frankfurt at 20:10; Arrive Dublin at 21:15) for €164.75 per person including all taxes and charges.

€570 to fly from Dublin to Novosibirsk. I always book through www.orbitz.com and plugged in going out on Wednesday 30th July and home on Sunday 2nd of August. Two stops on the way out -- Amsterdam and Moscow.

Many thanks for the info John on the trip from Germany. There was a company in the November Sky at Night magazine ( www.onthegotours.com ) who priced a similar trip at £579 -- it didn't look as if the flight was included so you make your own way to Siberia and meet the tour leader there. They are offering a 4-day trip including accommodation. More expensive to fly from the UK btw!!!

Anyways, one thing I was mulling over was to give this eclipse a miss and go to the Canaries in March for some serious deep-sky observing (yes, another attempt at the Messier marathon -- without hitting the pub beforehand!)

The reason for skipping it is the fact that the 2009 solar eclipse is the BIG ONE and anyone considering that will need serious cash to get to Japan/China plus maybe buy that Takahashi on the way back

any thoughts on giving the 2008 eclipse a miss?

John

Hi John,

The German folks from the above link also have very attractive pricing for China the following year.

Unless something dramatic happens, I sincerely hope to make it to both of these events. No question the big one is in 2009 in the event someone is in a position for only one such excursion but it would be really neat to nail both eclipses ... they are so rare and ever so dramatic.

PS. I remember about a year ago when I tried to get pricing on my own and the travel to/from Athens was around 450 euro. I really believe that this eclipse is doable even for the most constrained budgets (ex. Seanie and his wedding expenses).