An eclipse of the heart for Winnipeg educators

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Judy and Jay Anderson practise wearing special glasses to view Kenya's solar eclipse next month. (RUTH.BONNEVILLE@FREEPRESS.MB.CA)

A Winnipeg couple with a zealous appreciation of eclipses has travelled the world for the best places to look up.

Jay and Judy Anderson will visit Kenya in January to see the latest solar eclipse. It will be the 22nd consecutive year Jay has made an eclipse trip and Judy has gone with him 18 times.

"We're going to keep doing this until we can't," said Jay. "I believe I've got at least 10 to 15 years left until I won't be able to do it anymore."

Jay, 62, a former meteorologist, is an instructor at the University of Manitoba. His wife, Judy, 57, is a professor of biological sciences at the same university.

"Sometimes I wonder when we're going to take a holiday where there isn't an eclipse," laughed Judy. "There is one every 18 months. But it gets in you and it is hard not to go."

Jay comes by his enthusiasm for eclipses honestly. It all started with Winnipeg's 1979 eclipse. A friend had asked him to provide a pamphlet predicting the weather forecast and the best areas of the city to view the eclipse. The result of his efforts, a six-page pamphlet, eventually found its way into the hands of the U.S. Naval Observatory.

"They wanted to know if they could distribute my pamphlet, said Jay. "The trouble was, the original had been photocopied so many times it could not be read."

Since then, Jay has provided information on eclipse weather conditions and, when funding from the USNO ceased, NASA stepped in to provide the requisite support.

For Jay and Judy, eclipse trips are about more than a celestial object moving into the shadow of another.

"It appeals to me in that on a scientific level... it is governed by the laws of physics," said Judy. "But it connects people as well; it is an intersection of humans with the broader sphere."

Jay notes there are two types of eclipses, annular and total. In the annular eclipse, the sun and moon are exactly in line, but the apparent size of the moon is smaller than that of the sun. January's eclipse in Kenya will be annular, lasting for a full eight minutes and 32 seconds.

"They're stunningly beautiful. They are filled with all kinds of drama," said Judy. "You start looking at the sun through your glasses, then the light starts to change. It really is a magical feeling. You start to see every single sparkle through the trees and the shadows flit across the ground."

The couple has travelled to Madagascar, Australia and India. Jay will often travel to remote towns and villages to scout new locations for future eclipses. Though each eclipse is different, Judy recalls a particular experience.

"One of my favourites was in Madagascar. We watched the eclipse out on the beach looking out onto the Indian Ocean," she said. "We were staying in grass huts out on the ocean; it was unbelievable."

Though Jay has long been an astronomy enthusiast, both he and Judy say the people they meet come from a variety of backgrounds, all of them bonded by a love for and a captivation with eclipses.

"Halfway throughout the world, you'll sometimes meet the same people in the airport," said Jay.

"You always have a set of friends that you knew previously and new ones that you meet every time."

The excitement and discovery of new cultures will keep the Andersons coming back for more.

Jay is busy planning eclipse expeditions for this July in Tahiti and Easter Island and upcoming trips to Libya.

As long as the moon will continue to pass the shadow of the sun, Jay and Judy will be there.

"It keeps us young, said Judy. "It takes you places you never dreamed you would see."

britt.harvey@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition December 29, 2009 A2