Only hours remain until the total solar eclipse over Europe. The team of Brno mathematicians from the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at Brno University of Technology (FME BUT) is putting the finishing touches on its preparations. Read the next instalment of this fascinating account by mathematician and FME BUT Vice-Dean Jana Hoderová.

Monday, 10 August: The Iceland team splits up for good

On Monday morning, Pavel, Aneta, Amálie and Natálie once again found themselves doing something we have had more than enough of over the past few days. They packed up the equipment yet again and set off for their observing site in Stykkishólmur, heading back towards Reykjavík. By splitting the team across several observing locations, we are trying to increase the chances that bad weather at one site will not ruin the entire expedition.

At our observing site in the Icelandic village of Flateyri, I am now left with just Pavel Mikuláček and Jindřich Nový.

In the evening, we receive news from Stykkishólmur. Our colleagues have arrived, the equipment is set up, and they have even managed to get everything in focus. That is our first small victory.

Stykkishólmur has a head start

Unexpectedly, because the Stykkishólmur group managed to get their equipment focused on Monday evening, they can use Tuesday to collect calibration data. They manage it despite less-than-ideal conditions. That, too, is part of expedition work. It is not enough simply to bring back images of the eclipse. We also need flat fields, dark flats and dark frames, which allow us to extract the information we need from the eclipse images.

Here in Flateyri, we are not quite that far yet.

The screw: victory for an M8 nut and “grey duct tape”

We solved the problem with the length of the screw used to adjust the tilt of the polar axis on one of the mounts with an angle grinder. But the screw had one more surprise in store for us. We had not expected it to pass smoothly beneath the “pin” inside the mount that it was supposed to press firmly against. There is almost no room to manoeuvre, so I improvise.

I stick a piece of the legendary “silver duct tape” – the kind that even helped save Apollo 13 – onto my finger. I lightly attach an M8 nut to my fingertip and attempt the impossible: to catch the nut with the screw while it balances on the tip of my finger in a space where there is virtually no room to move.

I cannot believe it works. On the first try.

One problem solved. Which, of course, means it is time for another one to appear.

This year’s new addition works – but unfortunately, it has its quirks

We are constantly improving our equipment. That is exactly as it should be: after every expedition, our new experience gives us ideas for further improvements. One of this year’s innovations is an automatic focusing system developed by Matěj Štarha using an algorithm created by Pavel Mikuláček.

This is the first time we are using the entire system under real expedition conditions. On some of the cameras used to observe iron ions, it works perfectly. On others, it does not, and we spend long hours struggling with it. Even Miloslav Druckmüller, a professor at the Institute of Mathematics at FME BUT and the author of a comprehensive suite of eclipse data-processing software that he has been developing since 1999, cannot work miracles with badly focused images.

We’re running out of Sun

We need to focus the cameras and we need to track the Sun, but it is slipping away from us. True, the Sun does not set in Flateyri until around 10:30 p.m., but by then it is already outside our field of view. So we call our colleague Matěj in Spain and try what he recommends.

It does not work.

Another phone call. Still nothing.

Another call. No luck, and the clock keeps ticking. We have not eaten since morning – there has simply been no time. We keep searching for a solution.

Right in the middle of the rush, we have a lecture to give to the local community and tourists. It is scheduled for the exact time of the eclipse, only two days earlier. The event has been organised by our hosts, Helen and Siggi, who are key figures in the local community and organise many of its social events.

Then we return to work and, fortunately, find a way around the problem with the two cameras whose autofocus has been giving us trouble. It is a wonderful feeling to end the day knowing that a solution exists and that we will be able to make it work the following day. Everything else is functioning perfectly.

It is not until 9 p.m. that we finally finish the leftover pasta and rice from the previous day. Monday was a hungry day.

Tuesday, 11 August: Ticking problems off the list one by one

Speaking of food, I should mention that on Sunday we told Helen and Siggi that we had expected to find a selection of fish in the shop and were rather disappointed. We described the only thing we had seen: small jars containing white cubes that looked like pieces of lard. Helen’s eyes lit up, and she enthusiastically offered us an Icelandic delicacy – hákarl, fermented shark meat.

Well, that was a challenge. We could hardly offend our hosts.

I have to say that the anticipation was much worse than the reality. It is not a delicacy I would want to return to regularly, but it was manageable – pungent, with a distinctive burning sensation and an aftertaste that lingered all the way into the nose.

Being ready for an expedition does not mean that everything works perfectly. It means knowing what the problems are and knowing what to do about them. We have accepted that there is some play in one of the mounts and learned how to work with it. We have resolved the focusing issues and collected a series of important calibration images.

Jindra has decided to leave. He believes his chances are better in another fjord. But moving to a different location is not just about the weather. An eclipse is a special event that attracts enormous numbers of people every time it occurs. Even in tiny villages, the population suddenly multiplies. The announced traffic restrictions will come into force at 8 a.m. Roads through the fjords will become one-way, and only a limited number of visitors will be allowed to enter. Some observing sites will be accessible only by shuttle bus with a ticket purchased in advance.

The eclipse itself will not take place until early evening, but the decision whether to leave has to be made around dawn.

Dress rehearsal at the exact time of the eclipse

There are 24 hours to go until the eclipse. The mounts, lenses, filters, cameras and computers are ready, the sky is completely clear and the Sun is blazing. We carry out a full dress rehearsal. Every practice run pays off.

We count down the seconds to C2, the second apparent contact between the Moon and the Sun, simulate removing the solar filters, and then check as the images start coming in and the exposure times change. Everything has been programmed, configured and prepared in advance. Above all, the whole process has to be efficient.

The weather would have worked for us on Sunday. It would have worked on Monday and Tuesday too. At the exact time when the eclipse will occur, we carried out our full dress rehearsal and launched the sequences on every camera. The equipment did exactly what it was supposed to do.

So by Tuesday evening, we are ready.

Jindra will probably leave in the morning in search of a more favourable forecast. We are staying in Flateyri, while another four members of the team are waiting for the eclipse in Stykkishólmur. After a year of preparations, a journey via Helsinki, a lost suitcase, Icelandic winds, a troublesome screw and our battle with focusing, there is very little left that we can control.

Now we need just one thing: for no clouds to appear between us and the Sun during those crucial two minutes on Wednesday.

VědaVýzkum.cz, in cooperation with Brno University of Technology, brings you a series following this year’s expedition.

Did you enjoy Jana Hoderová’s account? Read the first part of her story or take a look at the photo report by Fotoklub Technika.