Budget Eclipse99: Total Solar Eclipse, Meteors, Romanian Student Friends

Tour with Warren Wilson College

and

EuRo Eclipse - Perseids 99

August 1-15, 1999
Tour Features:

Fits student budgets (under 2K$ including air fare)	Includes 3 days in London
Meet new Romanian friends	Visit unusual and beautiful tourist sites
Share astro-poetry and art	Learn Political and Social History
Participate in real science	Travel Details
Observe meteors from alpine chalet in the Carpathian mountains	Other Links

The last total eclipse of the millennium will come at an accessible place and time. We plan to take a group of students to join us in viewing the most spectacular event in the sky! Chances of actually viewing the eclipse in Romania are about 70%, the best in Europe.

Dealu Monastery. Photo by Victor Bortas. All other photos by Donald and Vicki Collins

Budgets

We know that student budgets are tight, and we are planning the lowest cost trip possible (hopefully well under $2000, including round-trip air fare from Eastern USA). We won't have luxury accomodations, but we will have a great experience!

London Stopover

Plan on arriving London Aug. 2, 1999, leaving London Aug. 5, 1999 for Bucharest. We will include a visit to The Royal Greenwich Observatory, The British Museum, and the Tower of London. We'll stay three nights in a student dormitory and have lots of free time.

Real Science

We will have equipment for studying the flash spectrum of the solar chromosphere, as well as telescopes and cameras equipped for safe viewing.

We have a scientific bonus - the Perseid meteor shower occurs Aug 10-13, and we plan to view meteors high in the mountains in a dark sky location. A meteor storm is predicted for Eastern Europe on August 12, 1999 and we may see up to 100 meteors/hour!

Real People

We plan to accompany SARM, the Romanian Society for Astronomy and Meteors, which is composed of amateur astronomers between 15 and 25 years of age. These enthusiastic students speak English, and are anxious to meet American friends. We will travel and study with this group, and they will be prepared to find the best viewing sites. Our students will correspond with individual Romanian students prior to the trip, and we hope to share culture, history and music with our counterparts. Students from Sweden and The Netherlands will also be joining this group.

Places to visit

We'll spend 4-5 days visiting perfectly preserved medieval towns

Olt River Valley

Curtea de Arges
Monastery (circa 1560)

Castle ruins where Dracula really ruled

Hiking in the Carpathian mountains

above 6000 ft. (Prime location for observing the Perseids)

Political History

Plaza in Brasov

Romania emerged from Communism in a violent revolution in 1989, and we will have an opportunity to observe a country in transition. Romanians are very willing to discuss their past, and as we get to know our Romanian counterparts, we will have fascinating glimpses of the very different lives they have led.

Astro poetry and art

Our students will participate in SARM's annual Festival of Cosmopoetry, and we'll submit some of our own students' poetry and art works on astronomical themes.

Academic Opportunities

Students will reap real academic benefits from this trip. We will present a firm astronomical background and participate in scientific studies of the eclipse. In addition we'll absorb Romanian history snd understand aspects of the Orthodox faith to understand the monasteries. We will learn some of the Romanian language (a direct linguistic descendant of Latin), and interesting cultural history, including the role of the Gypsies. Students may arrange independent study credit with their own institution.