Solar Eclipse.....................

The Jerk · #1 16th March 2015, 18:53

............................it looks like it might be cloudy on Friday..............but you never know.......... are you going to try and view the Eclipse..... what method will you use?

http://earthsky.org/tonight/supermoo...un-on-march-20

Mental Elf · #2 16th March 2015, 19:14

Sky at night magazine was giving out free solar glasses dunno if the magazine is still on offer, South West Wales, some of South West England looking best places at the moment for a few breaks in the cloud but its not looking the best I have to say.

Indigo_ · #3 16th March 2015, 20:08

I am going to the view the solar eclipse through a pinhole camera

Indigo_ · #4 16th March 2015, 21:16

My pinwheel camera is mainly going to consist of two sheets of paper, one with a hole in the middle

I'm a little confused as to how it's supposed to work to be honest.

Mo34 · #5 16th March 2015, 21:23

^^
Yes I remember the '99 one. Tried a homemade pin camera thingy that semi worked.

You could def. feel it. The temperature seemed to drop as well. I for a millisecond looked up directly (total stupidity on my part). Fleetingly spied Jet black area across part of the sun.

Indigo_ · #6 16th March 2015, 21:26

I'm sure I was on a plane on my way to Greece or Spain during the 1999 one. We actually stopped over somewhere whilst the eclipse was happening

Mental Elf · #7 17th March 2015, 12:17

This is thinking along the same lines as me at the moment.

Azi · #8 17th March 2015, 12:20

Unfortunately, I'll be driving to a funeral at that point so I'll be having to keep a wary eye out for idiots trying to watch it while driving. If we're making good time and the weather's clearish, I might pull over into the services for a bit.

Winnie57 · #9 18th March 2015, 02:18

I will be at work so will just look out of the window

Mr. Spaceman · #10 18th March 2015, 03:04

Is this still happening?

Sunshine Recorder · #11 18th March 2015, 11:34

I viewed the 1999 eclipse through a CD. Maybe that's why I have to wear glasses for driving now.

SgtLeper · #12 18th March 2015, 13:31

I read recently that the next full eclipse visible from the UK will be in 2090. This made me feel disturbingly sad. I'm not sure why. The world is full of wonder and I think it pains me that I haven't sought out and appreciated everything during my life. Beauty can be fleeting and you may only get one chance. I'm not sure if it's the eclipse itself that bothers me, perhaps it's just the general sense of loss/missed opportunity. I dunno. Damn you brain.

green glass · #13 19th March 2015, 01:58

feel an urge to stay awake the night before, just to add to the drama

Mental Elf · #14 19th March 2015, 16:24

Gonna point the telescope at the sun then project it on to a bit of white card through the eye piece as I don't fancy going blind and don't have a solar filter.

Unnecessarily Long Username_1 · #15 19th March 2015, 21:22

Can't wait. Got my binoculars ready and everything. Gonna stare directly at it!

hellotiger · #16 19th March 2015, 21:52

I hope it's not going to be foggy like it has been for the past 2 mornings. Won't be able to see a damn thing.

Silent Ninja · #17 19th March 2015, 23:16

I'll be at work too, don't have any of the special glasses either so if it's not cloudy I can't see anything anyway, solar eclipses are overrated.

Although if a portal opens up to another dimension and a load of dragons fly through that would be quite cool.

Sunshine Recorder · #18 20th March 2015, 00:33

Hopefully, it'll be darker than usual in the morning, and that'll be good enough for me.

green glass · #19 20th March 2015, 01:49

this is is only excitement I have to hold on to - I'm so very bored

WeiJingsheng · #20 20th March 2015, 02:03

...the cosmic ballet goes on.

timmyb · #21 20th March 2015, 05:11

I'll probably drag myself out of bed to see what happens. As it's only a partial eclipse I doubt it'll get very dark if at all.
I was in Cornwall for the 1999 eclipse and it was only seconds before totality that it got dark really fast, almost like turning a light out. It was cloudy though so just caught a couple of glimpses through the cloud and totality was just like night time. It must have scared people in ancient times before they could predict eclipses.
The cloud was very frustrating. It had been clear for weeks before and only on the morning of the eclipse did cloud begin to form, getting thick around eclipse time and then clearing the next day.
The thing I remember most was thousands of flashes going off all over West Cornwall from people taking photos. Why they took them I don't know, but it was the best part.

Mo34 · #22 20th March 2015, 09:13

Pure cloud here, can't even tell where the sun is, let alone look out for an eclipse.

hellotiger · #23 20th March 2015, 10:32

Too cloudy here to see anything. It went a bit dark but more like the sun has gone behind a rain cloud dark.

Red Leader · #24 20th March 2015, 10:43

It has got slightly darker but it is so overcast that I can't see the sun at all let alone any eclipse. Bugger.

Homogeneous · #25 20th March 2015, 10:49

I'm sure it got much darker in 1999 than it did this time....
I'm not sure how the ancients would have really even noticed an eclipse, especially on a cloudy day! The birds seemed to go a bit weird, which they did in 1999.
I'm in awe at how humans can predict these things! Don't really understand how they do that! Especially being able to predict future eclipses in decades to come!
I suppose they just fast forward everything from the positions they are in now?

Unnecessarily Long Username_1 · #26 20th March 2015, 11:26

Like everything in the '90s, the 1999 eclipse was better.

Appear · #27 20th March 2015, 11:35

I've been struggling to get the gist of what actually happens during an eclipse, so I asked my Dad, who's always been man of few words, to explain it for me simply. But all he said was: 'No son', which is hardly illuminating.

anxiouslondoner · #28 20th March 2015, 14:06

I don't believe in eclipses. The Sun is many times larger than the moon!
The idea that the moon can somehow "block" the Sun is just more climate change scaremongering from liberal academics.

Caribou · #29 20th March 2015, 14:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by Appear

I've been struggling to get the gist of what actually happens during an eclipse, so I asked my Dad, who's always been man of few words, to explain it for me simply. But all he said was: 'No son', which is hardly illuminating.

Clever

Olly. · #30 20th March 2015, 15:18

Well not being total in the UK, it was never going to be as good as '99, but it was still worth getting up I thought, it was a bit hazy, but the sun came out in time here and while we didn't have any special glasses, I did come up with a makeshift idea and looked at it very briefly through a few pairs of sunglasses hahaha

Although towards the end, we got a pair of binoculars and managed to project it onto a piece of card which was really cool as it clearly showed the eclipse, it was like someone had bitten a chunk out of the sun lol. The total eclipse on the telly was impressive though!

Though I'm still majorly pissed off about not seeing even a hint of the Northern Lights the other night, one of the biggest storms in the last 10 years and the densest fog I've seen in years descended and covered the entire area just as it was at its best for viewing here