Eclipse!

[Whitters]

Got up bleery eyed at 5am BST fully expecting it to be cloudy on the NE horizon, well it was except for a thin sliver of clear just where the Sun was, and there it was the partialy eclipsed red bloated sun ony a few degrees above the horizon.

The Sun is approximately 50% eclipsed. Now I have to find my camera then open the bathroom window, the best vantage point for NE low horizon. But the problem is no tripod, I don't want to miss the the clear spot so improvise. Two loo rolls and a piece of tissue under the lens ensures the camers will not plummet off the window sill and be at the correct angle for snaping the half eaten Sun.

I fired off four shots between 05:04 and 05:06 BST then of course the film runs out! Jeanette is up wondering what is going on, I point at the half eaten red Jaffa cake in the sky and she goes back to bed satisfied. Now dash down to the fridge to get another film and reload. The cat wants his breakfast, he will have to wait. at 05:12 BST The Sun is still eclipsed by appx. 30% I get off another shot before the Sun goes behind the cloud.

It takes 17 minutes for the Sun to re-appear by this time I have dispensed with the loo rolls and am in the garden with a real tripod. The Sun is now too bright to look at naked eye so at 05:29 BST I take a shot with the camera roughly pointing at the Sun.

Using a milar filter and the camera's 150mm lens I try to judge how much of the Sun is eclipsed, from what I can see at 05:33 BST the eclipse is over.

What a very strange eclipse, to go from 50% eclipsed to no eclipse in just 29 minutes! The cat can have his breeakfast now.

[Ian]

I look forward to seeing your pictures mate. I dragged my backside out of bed at around 5am only to confirm my suspicions that I can't see anything resembling an eastern horizon from my house.

So I crawled back into my pit.

[Mike]

I got drunk Friday night so didn't bother !

[Whitters]

Sounds like a good excuse to me.

[Greg]

Got out of bed in a tent in a field near Gastings at 4:10am. Woke everybody else up. Went over to a prearranged spot on the souith coast. Great view of the ENE. A few lightish clouds very low down, but we did manage to see the Sun riuse eclipsed. It was really fantastic to see the image reflected in the sea. Did not get many good pics, but did see a great image of ba small sunspot pass off the Moons eclipse horizon - terrific!. Will show you what I've got in the way of pics later. Has anyone else any pics?

[Rick]

The Sky at Night folks had a hard time seeing the eclipse too, though the residual infra-red sensitivity of video cameras came to their rescue.

[Mike]

Apparently the people who went up to Scotland to view it saw nothing but clouds !

[Rick]

Depends where abouts they went. Some places were clouded (like the one the Sky at Night team chose) but a few were clear of cloud.