Partial Solar Eclipse

Partial Solar Eclipse

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Ructions

Original Poster:

4,705 posts

127 months

Thursday 10th June 2021
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Today sees a partial solar eclipse. This occurs when the moon lies between us and the sun and blocks out the sun. Arctic regions (including The North Pole) will see this eclipse at it's best, viewers further south (including us) will see part of the sun blocked off.
In our area it begins at 10.01am and ends at 12.23pm. However best viewing will be around mid eclipse at 11.09am (say between 10.30 to 11.40am) when up to 30% of the sun will be blocked off.

NEVER LOOK DIRECTLY AT THE SUN especially through any optical instrument. The safest way of viewing a solar eclipse is by projecting an image of the sun onto a flat surface. Two sheets of white card (I used white disposable paper plates), one with a pin hole in it, will work perfectly. Even a couple of sheets of A4 paper will do.



It's actually easier to look at when there's a few wispy clouds passing, as it takes some of the glare.

FunkyNige

9,062 posts

281 months

Thursday 10th June 2021
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This explains why it's so cloudy this morning banghead

eharding

14,097 posts

290 months

Thursday 10th June 2021
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FunkyNige said:
This explains why it's so cloudy this morning banghead
Sod's Law, writ large. Tantalisingly clear skies early on down here in Devon had me getting out the solar filters to take some telescope shots, but 8/8 clag soon set in so that's not happening. Arse.

Eric Mc

122,695 posts

271 months

Thursday 10th June 2021
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Managed to see a bit of it a few minutes ago through gaps in the clouds. Although not earth shattering to look at it's always nice to get to see these things.

deckster

9,631 posts

261 months

Thursday 10th June 2021
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Quite pleased, the clouds parted around 11:30 so I just pointed the phone in the general direction of the sun. It came out surprisingly well.


geeks

9,530 posts

145 months

Thursday 10th June 2021
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Managed to get a passable image, not the best, not the worse. I setup in a mad rush when the clouds suddenly cleared so my focus is a bit off and I forgot to take the camera off auto so I had to pull it back a bit in Lightroom.

nellyleelephant

2,708 posts

240 months

Thursday 10th June 2021
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I brought in a solarscope to show a few people at work, bit of a disappointment with the clouds.

Did manage to see this flare yesterday though https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-esTVFx6iE (not my video)

Roofless Toothless

6,016 posts

138 months

Thursday 10th June 2021
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Years ago I saw a partial eclipse, and probably with a slightly bigger ‘bite’ out of the sun than today’s effort.

I was out wandering around at the time, and was standing under a tree when I saw something really amazing. What normally would be dappled light under the tree was transformed by the eclipse, as all the little gaps between the leaves that the sun shone through were transformed into hundreds of pinhole cameras, each projecting a crescent of sunlight on the ground below. The ground under the tree was a carpet of little shining crescents.

I will never forget it as long as I live.

Beati Dogu

9,130 posts

145 months

Friday 11th June 2021
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Very nice shots.

Roofless Toothless said:
Years ago I saw a partial eclipse, and probably with a slightly bigger ‘bite’ out of the sun than today’s effort.

I was out wandering around at the time, and was standing under a tree when I saw something really amazing. What normally would be dappled light under the tree was transformed by the eclipse, as all the little gaps between the leaves that the sun shone through were transformed into hundreds of pinhole cameras, each projecting a crescent of sunlight on the ground below. The ground under the tree was a carpet of little shining crescents.

I will never forget it as long as I live.
Trippy, man. hippy

I remember the eclipse we had in the 90s. It went noticeably colder and the birds started twittering away as if it was roosting time. Most odd feeling.


Eric Mc

122,695 posts

271 months

Friday 11th June 2021
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I presume you are referring to the Total Eclipse of 1999? For most of us in the UK it was not 100% total but it did get significantly darker.

Totallity was only visible from Cornwall but the weather was bad that day down there so most people didn't get to see it.

Beati Dogu

9,130 posts

145 months

Friday 11th June 2021
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Yes, I was in south Devon, so it was pretty much total.

Roofless Toothless

6,016 posts

138 months

Saturday 12th June 2021
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1999 fits in with where I was at the time. Under a tree in the car park at work in Brentwood.

Mabbs9

1,204 posts

224 months

Saturday 12th June 2021
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Roofless Toothless said:
Years ago I saw a partial eclipse, and probably with a slightly bigger ‘bite’ out of the sun than today’s effort.

I was out wandering around at the time, and was standing under a tree when I saw something really amazing. What normally would be dappled light under the tree was transformed by the eclipse, as all the little gaps between the leaves that the sun shone through were transformed into hundreds of pinhole cameras, each projecting a crescent of sunlight on the ground below. The ground under the tree was a carpet of little shining crescents.

I will never forget it as long as I live.
I've seen the same and it's incredible. It was a rare time that I had no camera on me unfortunately.

Steve Campbell

2,185 posts

174 months

Monday 14th June 2021
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I've been lucky enough to see 2 total eclipses. I was working in Romania for the 1999 European one and headed into the Transilvanian mountains with a colleague and was treated to the show in a blue sky amongst the mountains close to the point of longest totality. Unfortunately, my wife was supposed to join me but got bumped off the BA flight and didn't make it :-(......so I promised her we would go to see another if we possibly could. We planned for 2 years our trip to US in 2017 and watched the eclipse in Tennessee.

They are weird and totally awe inspiring events. Have seen the crescent effect through the trees, the birds do indeed quieten down and the T drops by a few degrees during the total eclipse. As the last one was in the USA, there was a lot of whooping and shouting when the diamond ring effect emerged at the end of the eclipse :-)