| Who's watching the eclipse tomorrow? 17:06 - Aug 11 with 5089 views | The_Flashing_Smile |
I've been searching all over central London for eclipse glasses today. Found out online about a couple of places but they were both sold out when I got there. Tried in various chemists, opticians and Boots... even tried the Science Museum after a tip off from a woman in Boots. No joy. This is what comes of bad planning. |  |
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| Who's watching the eclipse tomorrow? on 19:31 - Aug 12 with 1141 views | ronnyd |
| Who's watching the eclipse tomorrow? on 19:08 - Aug 12 by Swansea_Blue |
We’ve got cloud and the sun’s behind a hill anyway here, so we’re trying to work out if it’s gone darker. Not exactly a spectacle lol. |
Bit like an overcast day in November. |  | | |
| Who's watching the eclipse tomorrow? on 19:34 - Aug 12 with 1116 views | DJR |
What a damp squib that was.
There was no noticeable darkening of the sky, and despite being 30 miles from Greenwich, where the moon was showing covering 90 per cent. of the sun, the colander showed at best about 20 per cent covered.
It was certainly no 1999 where the sky darkened to night.
I wonder if the lower angle of the sun this time made a difference, much in the same way that we get red skies at night with the sun's rays diffused when hitting the earth's atmosphere at an angle. [Post edited 12 Aug 19:41]
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| Who's watching the eclipse tomorrow? on 19:47 - Aug 12 with 1046 views | Smoresy |
| Who's watching the eclipse tomorrow? on 19:34 - Aug 12 by DJR |
What a damp squib that was.
There was no noticeable darkening of the sky, and despite being 30 miles from Greenwich, where the moon was showing covering 90 per cent. of the sun, the colander showed at best about 20 per cent covered.
It was certainly no 1999 where the sky darkened to night.
I wonder if the lower angle of the sun this time made a difference, much in the same way that we get red skies at night with the sun's rays diffused when hitting the earth's atmosphere at an angle. [Post edited 12 Aug 19:41]
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Yes as someone who didn't move quickly enough on the glasses but was outside at the time, that was perhaps the least impressive sight I've ever not seen. | | | |
| Who's watching the eclipse tomorrow? on 19:48 - Aug 12 with 1042 views | BloomBlue |
| Who's watching the eclipse tomorrow? on 19:34 - Aug 12 by DJR |
What a damp squib that was.
There was no noticeable darkening of the sky, and despite being 30 miles from Greenwich, where the moon was showing covering 90 per cent. of the sun, the colander showed at best about 20 per cent covered.
It was certainly no 1999 where the sky darkened to night.
I wonder if the lower angle of the sun this time made a difference, much in the same way that we get red skies at night with the sun's rays diffused when hitting the earth's atmosphere at an angle. [Post edited 12 Aug 19:41]
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Its was 'very' full from Greenwich, wonderful sight. |  | | |
| Who's watching the eclipse tomorrow? on 19:57 - Aug 12 with 1001 views | Ryorry |
| Who's watching the eclipse tomorrow? on 19:27 - Aug 12 by Ryorry |
Oop t’hill and being beset by flying ants, with gunshots echoing all around - definitely an event, but more ‘I’m not a celebrity, get me outa here’!
Having said that, a leveret just hopped up to within 2 feet of me, paused and looked at me for a few secs , turned around to cross the road, decided I and the gate I’m leaning against were less threatening, and hopped through. Which has made it worthwhile, might eclipse the eclipse :) |
The baby hare did eclipse the eclipse - total non event, nothing ever showed through the steamer holes - maybe a little dint around 7pm , but I thought that was more wishful thinking on my part than actuality. Daylight did seem to fade a bit a short while later, but not significantly.
Thumbs down to the Beeb who in hundreds of broadcasts failed to mention that timings would be very different in different areas of the uk (whoever said earlier in Yorkshire was correct). |  |
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| Who's watching the eclipse tomorrow? on 21:48 - Aug 12 with 875 views | stonojnr |
If only we hadnt been able to predict where & when they happen since the Babylonians...
Fwiw i dont think eclipse glasses are worth it for partial eclipses, though based on how many reactions ive seen of people expecting to see the pac-man style chunks of sun disappearing as it happens maybe they should hand them out on the NHS or something
For partial eclipses imo you want pinhole cameras, which covers everything from colanders to those cardboard contraptions you make to just standing under a tree if you want to say you're experiencing an eclipse
And its about experiencing, not what you see, you get the dimming of sunlight because thats the only perception change you'll notice depending on the time of day of course the eclipse happens. Obviously (well you'd think it was obvious but again the amount of people who didnt realise this is interesting) when the sun is already near sunset the dimming effect is reduced in impact, the reaction of birds especially is different because they'll already be roosting.etc etc
So its about the experience not the visual, you want visual well plan ahead and get your eclipse glasses early or go somewhere where its totality instead
Heads up next total eclipse is Aug 2nd 2027, southern Spain across north Africa and middle east. Including Egypt,, solar eclipse by the pyramids will be the hot ticket. And i believe its a mid morning one, and the longest totality for like 100 years at around 5-6mins | | | |
| Who's watching the eclipse tomorrow? on 22:03 - Aug 12 with 847 views | Ryorry |
| Who's watching the eclipse tomorrow? on 21:48 - Aug 12 by stonojnr |
If only we hadnt been able to predict where & when they happen since the Babylonians...
Fwiw i dont think eclipse glasses are worth it for partial eclipses, though based on how many reactions ive seen of people expecting to see the pac-man style chunks of sun disappearing as it happens maybe they should hand them out on the NHS or something
For partial eclipses imo you want pinhole cameras, which covers everything from colanders to those cardboard contraptions you make to just standing under a tree if you want to say you're experiencing an eclipse
And its about experiencing, not what you see, you get the dimming of sunlight because thats the only perception change you'll notice depending on the time of day of course the eclipse happens. Obviously (well you'd think it was obvious but again the amount of people who didnt realise this is interesting) when the sun is already near sunset the dimming effect is reduced in impact, the reaction of birds especially is different because they'll already be roosting.etc etc
So its about the experience not the visual, you want visual well plan ahead and get your eclipse glasses early or go somewhere where its totality instead
Heads up next total eclipse is Aug 2nd 2027, southern Spain across north Africa and middle east. Including Egypt,, solar eclipse by the pyramids will be the hot ticket. And i believe its a mid morning one, and the longest totality for like 100 years at around 5-6mins |
Why should it be "obvious"? These things happen very rarely, often when they can't be seen due to location, time of day/night, weather. Even for older people like me, the chance to see them is extremely rare, you can't get "experienced" in doing so.
The "colander" method showed diddly squat, nothing - 18.40 to 20.10 in N. Yorkshire- maybe a fraction of a dint on the SE side, but you could be forgiven for thinking you'd imagined it.
Astronomers & broadcasters need to supply more info so people can get clued up.
Edited to add that it was far from being roosting-time for the birds - official sources say max coverage here was 7.08pm, at which time the sun was still strong & bright, the temp was 25C ('feels like' 24C), and sunset was still 1 hr 35 minutes away. [Post edited 12 Aug 23:36]
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| Who's watching the eclipse tomorrow? on 22:04 - Aug 12 with 843 views | BanksterDebtSlave |
You're all mad the light was so much different to usual, really enjoyed it. |  |
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| Who's watching the eclipse tomorrow? on 00:09 - Aug 13 with 767 views | WicklowBlue |
Looked amazing over here luckily few clouds! Think in Wicklow it reached 94%... forgot to get eclipse glasses but the pinhole viewers worked great.
Then as I was moving from the back to the front of the house as light faded... caught this on one of the walls:
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| Who's watching the eclipse tomorrow? on 05:10 - Aug 13 with 679 views | Benters |
| Who's watching the eclipse tomorrow? on 00:09 - Aug 13 by WicklowBlue |
Looked amazing over here luckily few clouds! Think in Wicklow it reached 94%... forgot to get eclipse glasses but the pinhole viewers worked great.
Then as I was moving from the back to the front of the house as light faded... caught this on one of the walls:
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Impressive 
The truth is out there. |  |
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| Who's watching the eclipse tomorrow? on 05:30 - Aug 13 with 668 views | Lesta_Tractor |
| Who's watching the eclipse tomorrow? on 22:03 - Aug 12 by Ryorry |
Why should it be "obvious"? These things happen very rarely, often when they can't be seen due to location, time of day/night, weather. Even for older people like me, the chance to see them is extremely rare, you can't get "experienced" in doing so.
The "colander" method showed diddly squat, nothing - 18.40 to 20.10 in N. Yorkshire- maybe a fraction of a dint on the SE side, but you could be forgiven for thinking you'd imagined it.
Astronomers & broadcasters need to supply more info so people can get clued up.
Edited to add that it was far from being roosting-time for the birds - official sources say max coverage here was 7.08pm, at which time the sun was still strong & bright, the temp was 25C ('feels like' 24C), and sunset was still 1 hr 35 minutes away. [Post edited 12 Aug 23:36]
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Why rely on broadcasters to tell you?
A quick Google could tell you when, where, and what to expect. [Post edited 13 Aug 5:31]
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| Who's watching the eclipse tomorrow? on 10:37 - Aug 13 with 536 views | NthQldITFC |
| Who's watching the eclipse tomorrow? on 22:03 - Aug 12 by Ryorry |
Why should it be "obvious"? These things happen very rarely, often when they can't be seen due to location, time of day/night, weather. Even for older people like me, the chance to see them is extremely rare, you can't get "experienced" in doing so.
The "colander" method showed diddly squat, nothing - 18.40 to 20.10 in N. Yorkshire- maybe a fraction of a dint on the SE side, but you could be forgiven for thinking you'd imagined it.
Astronomers & broadcasters need to supply more info so people can get clued up.
Edited to add that it was far from being roosting-time for the birds - official sources say max coverage here was 7.08pm, at which time the sun was still strong & bright, the temp was 25C ('feels like' 24C), and sunset was still 1 hr 35 minutes away. [Post edited 12 Aug 23:36]
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The colander thing was interesting. I tried both, made a pinhole viewer which worked really well with a neat 1mm hole in tight Al foil, focussed at about 70cm. A 1.5mm hole wasn't quite so smart but perhaps I didn't find its focal length properly.
With a colander (actually a flat-bottomed steamer), if you were too close with your screen, all the images 'looked' uniformly circular whilst still looking focussed, but move away enough and you got the eclipse image from all holes. I'm a bit embarrassed that I don't know exactly why, but I guess it's an interference effect between the holes. With a round-bottomed colander this may have been different?
Off to re-read about the double slit experiment again and wave/particle duality.  |  |
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| Who's watching the eclipse tomorrow? on 11:01 - Aug 13 with 484 views | Ryorry |
| Who's watching the eclipse tomorrow? on 10:37 - Aug 13 by NthQldITFC |
The colander thing was interesting. I tried both, made a pinhole viewer which worked really well with a neat 1mm hole in tight Al foil, focussed at about 70cm. A 1.5mm hole wasn't quite so smart but perhaps I didn't find its focal length properly.
With a colander (actually a flat-bottomed steamer), if you were too close with your screen, all the images 'looked' uniformly circular whilst still looking focussed, but move away enough and you got the eclipse image from all holes. I'm a bit embarrassed that I don't know exactly why, but I guess it's an interference effect between the holes. With a round-bottomed colander this may have been different?
Off to re-read about the double slit experiment again and wave/particle duality. |
Heh-heh. Yeah it was a flat-bottomed steamer.
Actually quite annoyed with myself for not doing my usual thing and trusting my instincts - what I’d have done had I not read all the warnings about damaging eyesight, given the particular conditions and options, would have been to look through half-closed eyes for split seconds through trees, which were obviously all heavily in leaf - would have given a much better experience, and I’m sure been safe. Also a bit different when you’re in your bucket-list years anyway. | |
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| Who's watching the eclipse tomorrow? on 11:36 - Aug 13 with 439 views | mellowblue |
| Who's watching the eclipse tomorrow? on 22:04 - Aug 12 by BanksterDebtSlave |
You're all mad the light was so much different to usual, really enjoyed it. |
yeah, I found it eerie that the light levels were lower, yet the sky was cloudless, the sun was still in the sky and seemingly blazing as brightly as ever. I noticed, that the birds were all quiet too, so it must have impacted on them. However the dog, noticed naff all, quite content to sit on the straw like lawn with his football staring at me for a game. | | | |
| Who's watching the eclipse tomorrow? on 16:43 - Aug 13 with 323 views | KBsSocks |
I went to a decent viewing point with the only thing I could cobble together given no eclipse glasses available, which was a home-made smoked mirror (couldn't find any flat glass to smoke to view directly through).
It worked fine for the 40 minutes' viewing I got. (I missed "first contact")
What was even better was there were loads of people there using eclipse glasses and welding masks - it went on so long, I got to us glasses and welding masks too. All worked very well. But my smoked mirror gave the sharpest results. The glasses were good, but not perfect optically, and the welding mask clearly had small scratches on the surface from use, but was also fine.
I did not use a projection method as I have done previously, but a tight pinhole less than 2mm would have worked.
Another thing to use "next time" is the end of a reel of film - the negative part - try one layer then two and so on the day before in direct sunlight , to perfect your viewing instrument. Also with smoked mirror or glass viewer. And your pinhole / collander / calendar - you can still use them today, you just don't get the moon-bite.
Info for next time, sorry I didn't post earlier.
Now, if you want info on how to view sunspots, by projection, that is a bit more involved. Sunspots can be viewed any time, by projection I reiterate. Fun to watch sunspots progress across the sun's disk over a few days. |  |
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