I'm trying to get an idea of how much media interest the upcoming Total Solar Eclipse(Partial in the UK) is likely to get in the coming weeks. Has anyone here heard of any local events happening on 20th March in line with the eclipse? Is anyone here organising an event? Outside of the astronomy field and apart from BBC Stargazing live and one mention in our local news, its seems to be showing a slow start in publicity so far.
I know as with all these celestial events there seems to be a heavy spike in media interest much nearer the time. It would be interesting to get an idea though. I for one am excited come rain or shine as my last solar eclipse experience was back on a cloudy morning in August 1999 !
Evostar Skywatcher 120/1000mm Refractor, Motor Driven EQ3.2 Mount.
Skyliner 250PX, EQ6 GOTO Synscan Mount
10x50 Bressner Bins, Canon EOS1000D, Canon S30 Eclipse Portal | Comet Watch | My Astro-photography |
I too failed to see the 4th Jan 2011 Partial Eclipse due to (****!!!) cloud, however between 1999 and the present did manage to see the following.....
31 May 2003: This was a Sunrise eclipse, seen for a few minutes amongst cloud at 0526BST.
03 Oct 2005 : Clear skies through, used 10x25 Binomites etc , PST etc. Very good.
29 Mar 2006 : Grey and overcast at the Tower but Sun out on the coast so we drove there.
01 Aug 2008 : A bit of a struggle with wind, cloud and even some rain but a good view had.
If any eclipses really suffer from clouds these are the Lunar ones, many many having been completely lost to the weather!!!! regards maf
During the 1999 almost total seen in entirety here in Sussex - a wonderful event it was too - at maximum the light was really weird but I cannot recall whether there was a chill in the air or not. We were very busy with the media and visitors to the Tower. I remember Venus shining down near the Sun and a reporter asking me how I knew it was Venus.....my personal record is limited to a sketch made from the camera obscura early on. Fifteen years have passed since then...how time slips by! regards maf
Lovely shots Brian. I must have been clouded out for that one because I've always wanted to get a sunrise eclipse shot! The sun gets a wriggle on climbing up too early for that kind of shot next month . Worth the trade off for an 85% eclipse tho
Evostar Skywatcher 120/1000mm Refractor, Motor Driven EQ3.2 Mount.
Skyliner 250PX, EQ6 GOTO Synscan Mount
10x50 Bressner Bins, Canon EOS1000D, Canon S30 Eclipse Portal | Comet Watch | My Astro-photography |
Well, I was lucky to get those few images. At Sunrise, the sky was 99% obscured with heavy dark cloud. Just a thin band of clearer sky low over the SE horizon. I was able to image the sunrise for about 20 minutes, then the partially-eclipsed Sun ascended into the dark murk at 8.41 and was not seen again that day
Brian 52.3N 0.6W
Wellingborough UK. 254mm LX90 on Superwedge, WO ZS66SD, Helios 102mm f5 on EQ1, Hunter 11x80, Pentax 10x50
ASI120MC Toucam Pros 740k/840k/900nc mono, Pentax K110D
Ro-Ro roof shed
I still have two solar viewers (dark strips of plastic to safely observe the Sun through) that were given to us by the hotel where we were staying for the 1999 August 11 eclipse. Sadly, I never got to see the totally eclipsed Sun in the sky (due to cloud), but being completely immersed in the Moon's umbral shadow was still a very memorable and atmospheric experience. Hopefully, I will be able to put the solar viewers to use on March 20!
My subsequent aim is to see the total solar eclipse of 2017 August 21 in the USA.
We should take care with the kinds of filtering we use for solar observing. A No.14 welder's glass is safe, or a tilted No. 13, for hand-held viewing.
These are available at engineers suppliers.
. Worth the trade off for an 85% eclipse tho