- Dr. Sarah Marwick’s 25-year pursuit: Total solar eclipses worldwide
- Toronto marks her seventh eclipse destination journey
- Unique experiences in Zambia, Norway, Wyoming, and Libya recounted
Since twenty-five years ago, Birmingham-based general practitioner Sarah Marwick has travelled to France, Wyoming, the Arctic Circle, France, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Libya, and now Toronto in pursuit of solar eclipses.
Tuesday at 4:00 a.m., Sarah Marwick received a phone call informing her to prepare her companion and children for their Heathrow to Toronto, Chicago layover flight. The 3,500-mile voyage in anticipation of witnessing the seventh total solar eclipse had commenced.
Sarah is preparing for Monday’s total solar eclipse, expected to astonish observers throughout the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
Thus far, she has embarked on expeditions to France, Africa, Libya, China, Svalbard, and Wyoming, all in pursuit of total eclipses since her initial encounter with the moon’s ideal alignment with the sun and Earth.
Historically, that year was 1999. She had recently graduated from college at 26 and was accompanied by her family to Reims, France, for the occasion.
Despite dense clouds in the sky, Sarah described it as the “most otherworldly experience,” comparing it to “a scene from an end-of-the-world film in which you see this blackness approaching you.”
If Sarah had to choose one of her eclipse experiences, it would be the one she had while travelling to Zimbabwe and Zambia, where she camped on a desert island surrounded by hippos, even though she is “torn between” them.
“That day was the most magnificent… An ideal eclipse occurred. I was completely captivated at that juncture.”
A total solar eclipse causes the atmosphere to dim to the point where it appears to be dawn or twilight, and a halo develops around the sun due to the moon’s obstruction of its light.
Sarah’s eclipse in Zimbabwe and Zambia was not as dark as she had anticipated; somewhat, it resembled a sunset spanning 360 degrees.
She stated that the presence of a black void in the centre of the sky, where the sun should have been, was breathtaking.
Libya was the subsequent destination in 2006.
Sarah responded that her journey to the conflict-ravaged nation occurred before the 2011 NATO-led invasion, which was intended to remove Muammar Gaddafi from power.
She stated that although it sometimes had a “hairy” sensation, “it wasn’t in a terrible state, but it wasn’t in disarray.”
“It never becomes old.”
Sarah’s pastime in 2008 was travelling to China with other eclipse enthusiasts.
Not only was that a holiday for observing the eclipse. She explained that approximately ten cameras represented this gathering of sixty individuals.
Knowing I am not the only insane individual who does this enlightens me.
When asked whether she ever grew weary of chasing eclipses, she responded unequivocally, “One can never grow accustomed to a sight; it is always something new and different.”
Norway, situated between the North Pole and Svalbard.
Following a brief hiatus caused by impractical destinations, Sarah embarked on a journey to Norway with her family. However, she left her children in Oslo to witness the 2015 eclipse in Svalbard, the Norwegian archipelago situated above the Arctic Circle.
“It was truly breathtaking. “With these mountains in the background, we were essentially on an ice sheet in the Arctic Circle at -26 degrees Celsius,” she explained.
That one was phenomenal due to how light reflected off the ice; it was so brilliant that it became dark.
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The first time her then-five- and eight-year-old daughters witnessed a total solar eclipse was during a 2017 trip to Wyoming that included a visit to Yellowstone National Park.
When asked how she determines which total eclipse to observe, Sarah stated that she will attempt to organise her vacation around the phenomenon in addition to practicality and cost.
She stated that it is an excellent justification to visit destinations she may not have considered otherwise.
As she quips that she is experiencing “withdrawal symptoms” while in Toronto, she is eager to witness the eclipse on Monday.
Why then do it?
“I am completely agnostic regarding religion,” Sarah declared. “However, it is nearly as profound an experience as one can get without practicing religion.”
“Although the universe presents you with this awe-inspiring spectacle, you are acutely aware of your size.”
It is occurring, beyond your control, and is more significant than you, but you can still take pleasure in it until the sun returns and the universe continues with its day. However, if you have ever witnessed a total eclipse, it will forever alter you.
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