ANTARCTICA

ALL EYES ON A SOUTHERLY SOLAR ECLIPSE

Here’s a prediction you can be quite confident about: the morning of Friday 4 December 2021 won’t be easily forgotten in Antarctica. Not because of the iceberg-laden bays, the silent, white mountains or the edge-of-theearth penguin colonies — although all the above will be on hand to keep travellers’ mouths agape — but because of something else entirely. A total solar eclipse will be visible here for just the second time in human history: the ice fields of Antarctica caught in the Moon’s shadow.

To make the prospect even more enticing, the eclipse will be viewable from the part of the continent that’s the easiest to visit, and at a time of year that falls within the expedition cruising season. If you’re fortunate enough to be on or around the Antarctic Peninsula (the usual destination for ships departing the port of Ushuaia in

Argentina) just after 7.30am on the morning in question, you’ll be treated to a full eclipse a short distance above the horizon. The fact that Antarctica enjoys around 22 hours of daylight a day at this time of year is only likely to make the experience even more dreamlike.

Unsurprisingly, expedition cruise operators are making the most of the occasion by laying on dedicated eclipse sailings. Hurtigruten has two separate cruises taking place and will have a professional astronomer on board, as well as distributing special solar-filter sunglasses. One of these cruises will take place on the hybrid-powered MS Roald Amundsen, which was inaugurated in 2019. Other options include Silversea, which has multiple eclipse cruises of its own, and wildlife specialists Naturetrek, which is chartering a 116-berth ship for the event. All cruises will also offer the chance to appreciate the precious beauty and extraordinary wildlife of a part of the world unlike any other. hurtigruten.co.uk silversea.com naturetrek.co.uk

Gentoo penguins, Antarctica