Studying the Occult...ation

My latest paper for class is on scientists who study eclipses and other astronomical events involving celestial bodies in alignment, specifically occultations and transitions. (Astronomy primer: During an occultation, something, such as a planet or moon, blocks the light from a distant star or planet.)

I'm pretty thrilled by the concepts of: 1) giant balls of fire, dirt, or ice whizzing around in space and occasionally lining up in straight lines, 2) anything blocking out the whole freakin' sun, 3) geometry equations that calculate the exact moment that these things will be visible at specific locations on Earth, and 4) people who spend all their time and money studying these events, which last only a few seconds or minutes. Here's an excerpt that was cut from my paper because I was getting a bit too caught up in the excitement and cornball drama:

"Every bit of preparation over the previous year led up to this brief moment, in which every second counted. If the equipment failed, they would get nothing. If the sky suddenly turned cloudy, they would get nothing. If the instrument operators made an error, they would get nothing. Thousands of dollars, months of research, hundreds of hours of equipment testing, days of organizing and traveling to a remote and isolated location, all of this would go down the toilet if just one little thing went wrong during those few precious seconds."

In summary: Astronomers are one crazy lot, but I have a sneaking suspicion that they might have their priorities straight.

[Image from http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/sunearthday/2004/vt_gallery.htm]