Friday, March 20, 2015

Eclipse on a grey day

Today there was a partial eclipse across the UK, and the weather didn't really help with cloud blanketing most of the country.

However last night the forecast was for there to be a patch of clear sky about an hour's train journey north of London so I took a chance on a train to Leicester.

Partial eclipses aren't that spectacular as it just gets a bit dim and you really mustn't look at the sun so all the action involves projecting images. I had a very ad-hoc arrangement of camera resting on a pair of binoculars, both pointing at a piece of white paper.

I arrived on time, to find the sun out enough to cast a shadow and in a near empty park took the above.

The one to look out for is in 2017 when a total eclipses crosses continental USA though probably the best observing sites and hotel rooms have already been snapped up.


1 comment:

Alden Smith said...

What is interesting is that the moon is at exactly the correct distance from the earth so that when it transits the sun it appears as exactly the same size as the sun, no bigger, no smaller - interesting.