The Solar eclipse is a magnificant natural event that one can see maybe only once in a lifetime. The last total solar eclipse in Turkey occured on August 11th, 1999, which was observed by hundreds of thousands of local and foreign people. On March 29, 2006, our country will experience another total solar eclipse, which will last almost 4 minutes.

March 29th, 2006 Total Solar Eclipse will have a duration of totality of about 4 minutes. The shadow of the Moon will first cover the eastern coastal regions of Brasil soon after the sunrise and will travel along the Atlantic Ocean, reaching the west coast of Africa at Gana. The shadow will then proceed from Gana through Nigeria, Saharan Desert, Libya, and the Mediterranean Sea, entering Turkiye at Antalya Bay. The 165 km wide shadow zone will travel in its path in our country from Antalya to Ordu with a speed of 3250 km/h. It will reach Mongolia at sunset via the Black Sea, Georgia, Northern Caspian Sea,and Kazakhstan.

It will be observed over many regions in Turkiye, including the TUBITAK National Observatory (TUG) of Turkiye located at the summit of Bakirlitepe (2500 m. above sea level) about 50 km west of the city of Antalya. During the eclipse, several scientific observations will be carried out. Preperations have already begun in Antalya and at TUG to utilize this rare scientific and touristic event.


TUBITAK National Observatory and Eclipse 2006

Unfortunately, starting from November up to April, our observatory is fully covered heavy snow that makes difficult to reach for visiting or working in teh field. On the other hand, the totality time is 2min 14sec which is shorter than the central line. These are the main reasons why we have no any public programme for the eclipse. Due to the limited facilities and the planned eclipse experiments at the observatory, we will accept visitors for a short visit after the eclipse days. If you want to visit earlier days than the eclipse day, we can not help much. Because most of astronomers will be working in the eclipse stations in Antalya, Side and Manavgat. We expect the visitors mostly on 30th and 31st of March. All visitors should have enough experience and good clothes for the unexpected winter conditions.

There is a small nearby village named Saklikent, you can locate here. To reach to the observatory you must use teleski facilities at Saklikent. Saklikent terrain will be similar as the observatory. But there are limited private accomodation opportunities. Instead, we recommend visitors to locate in Antalya and then have daily trip to Saklikent and observatory. The road from Antalya to Saklikent is a curved, 40 km and mediocre quality road. There is daily public bus but it is small and only once in a day at present. It is recommended to rent a car. If road is clear, it will take about 1.5 hours to drive. Sometimes road is covered with the snow that forces visitors to return even without reaching Saklikent. We do not expect such a condition at the end of March. But road to the observatory from Saklikent will probably be closed by the snow. So, everybody has to use teleski from Saklikent to the near of the observatory. Teleski has two chairs and you do not need to have a ski. One person is around 5-6 USD. After teleski, you have to walk to the observatory, say, 500 meters.


Antalya and Eclipse 2006

Antalya and its surroundings have the best chance to observe this rare event as far as the seasonal weather conditions are concerned. Manavgat and Side will be main attraction center for the eclipse. Side is small, compact town but it has many historical places to see. Also, there will be live broadcasting by the NASA Exploratorium in the Side Antique Theater. There will be local organizations by the governor of the city and towns. You can locate along seaside or around historical places. Manavgat is a big town and also you can find any place, especially seaside regions are excellent, such as "Titreyen Gol", "Sorgun", "Kumkoy" Antalya is also a good choice to see the eclipse. Antalya is a big city and easy to travel from foreign countries. You can find many hotels, pensions etc. There will be public activities also. The total duration is only 16 seconds shorter than Manavgat or Side. Especially Konyaalti Beach, Beach Park, Ataturk Park and Lara Beachs are very convenient public places to see the eclipse.