Solar eclipse

[Iamforreal]

So Wednesday is the partial solar eclipse, the next one in UK will be in 2090, are you excited about it?
I have to work, but will go out for break and will try to see it if it's not cloudy.
It's quite fascinating, still remember the one in '99 like it was yesterday.

"As the maximum approaches, nature will begin to respond. Birds will fall silent and nyctinastic plants (plants that open their leaves during the day and close them at night) such as clovers, dandelions and daises will close.

"Nature will then return to normal, the sky will lighten and the temperature will rise slightly."



External Link/Members Only

[The_Don]

I will make time for it

[Stevelondon]

Yep I’m all ready for it.

Grandad will be doing his biggest magic trick yet. It’s a big step up from the disappearing penny. But I’m confident I’ll pull it off. 

[mr.bluesky]

Looking forward to it , hope it's not too cloudy but a word of warning do not look at the Sun directly ( which might sound obvious) but view it through very, very dark glasses otherwise you could damage your retina. 

[I like natural boobs]

I'd like to watch it. Hard to believe I've never watched a solar eclipse at my age. What's the best method for viewing it? Do you have to look at it through a hole in a piece of card?

[timsussex]

might be a bit late but get some proper eclipse glasses - they are very very dark

otherwise you need to project it with a pinhole

as its only a partial eclipse in UK it is NEVER safe to view without special glasses

[daviemac]

I'd like to watch it. Hard to believe I've never watched a solar eclipse at my age. What's the best method for viewing it? Do you have to look at it through a hole in a piece of card?

Use something like this. - External Link/Members Only

[mr.bluesky]

Use something like this. - External Link/Members Only

Good idea daviemac  I remember the last one we had I viewed it through welding glasses but I was working in a factory at the time so there were plenty available, unfortunately I'm no longer working there 
Shade 14 is the safest to use , anything below that rating will be unsafe to use.

[I like natural boobs]

Use something like this. - External Link/Members Only

Good advice. Thanks 

[Blackpool Rock]

I was living down South back in 99 and really excited about it as many years earlier there had been a partial eclipse that clipped a small part of Cornwall and i'd asked my parents if we could go and see it, basically I was told to fuck off and my Mum pointed out it was only partial so you won't be able to see anything and when I was older i'd be able to go and watch the full one, so 20+ years later...............

I drove further South as where I lived wasn't total and I wanted to make sure I was safely inside the total zone and had more than a couple of seconds of totality, I ended up on some country lane / backroad and ended up parking up next to a hedge where the road was a bit wider, a few other cars also had the same idea 5 minutes before totality

Anyway it was cloudy as fuck and I didn't see fuck all   

It did go sort of dark but as it was so gradual and I was concentrating on looking up at the sky through the clouds to try and work out where the sun actually was I didn't notice it being really dark, I actually think if it hadn't been cloudy therefore lighter then the eclipse darkness would have been more noticable, presumably the clouds scattered the light 

It's something I've always wanted to see in totality but as i've no plans to travel abroad to see one then i'll resign myself to the fact that i'll never actually see one, I do know someone who pisses me off by saying "there's an eclipse every month so I don't see what the fuss is about", i'm guessing they mean the moon but they really are missing the point

I've still got my eclipse viewing glasses somewhere god only knows where in a box of assorted junk but they officially had an expiry date on them although the lens was effectively a specific gauge of aluminium foil.

Lot's of official advice how to view an eclipse on the Royal Astronomical Society website depending on exactly what kit you have, i'm thinking that I may try and rig up one of those pinhole viewers as it seems like a safe way of doing it rather than relying on some sort of unapproved glasses etc

 External Link/Members Only

[mr.bluesky]

I was living down South back in 99 and really excited about it as many years earlier there had been a partial eclipse that clipped a small part of Cornwall and i'd asked my parents if we could go and see it, basically I was told to fuck off and my Mum pointed out it was only partial so you won't be able to see anything and when I was older i'd be able to go and watch the full one, so 20+ years later...............

I drove further South as where I lived wasn't total and I wanted to make sure I was safely inside the total zone and had more than a couple of seconds of totality, I ended up on some country lane / backroad and ended up parking up next to a hedge where the road was a bit wider, a few other cars also had the same idea 5 minutes before totality

Anyway it was cloudy as fuck and I didn't see fuck all   

It did go sort of dark but as it was so gradual and I was concentrating on looking up at the sky through the clouds to try and work out where the sun actually was I didn't notice it being really dark, I actually think if it hadn't been cloudy therefore lighter then the eclipse darkness would have been more noticable, presumably the clouds scattered the light 

It's something I've always wanted to see in totality but as i've no plans to travel abroad to see one then i'll resign myself to the fact that i'll never actually see one, I do know someone who pisses me off by saying "there's an eclipse every month so I don't see what the fuss is about", i'm guessing they mean the moon but they really are missing the point

I've still got my eclipse viewing glasses somewhere god only knows where in a box of assorted junk but they officially had an expiry date on them although the lens was effectively a specific gauge of aluminium foil.

Lot's of official advice how to view an eclipse on the Royal Astronomical Society website depending on exactly what kit you have, i'm thinking that I may try and rig up one of those pinhole viewers as it seems like a safe way of doing it rather than relying on some sort of unapproved glasses etc

 External Link/Members Only

Need Blue Peter * to come back and show us how to make a pin hole camera out of an empty box and sticky back plastic to project the image onto a sheet of paper 
* Blue Peter the kids tv show not some some local pervert named Peter who's sells adult films 

[Blackpool Rock]

Need Blue Peter * to come back and show us how to make a pin hole camera out of an empty box and sticky back plastic to project the image onto a sheet of paper 
* Blue Peter the kids tv show not some some local pervert named Peter who's sells adult films 

Yeah Peter Purves not to be confused with Peter the Purve 

[Xtro]

Need Blue Peter * to come back and show us how to make a pin hole camera out of an empty box and sticky back plastic to project the image onto a sheet of paper 
* Blue Peter the kids tv show not some some local pervert named Peter who's sells adult films 

Sort of.....
External Link/Members Only

[timsussex]

The NASA eclipse site lists all eclipses - the three in Spain over the next 3 years  are probably the most accessible So many of them are over Antarctica , Arctic or mid pacific

Even a 99% partial eclipse doesnt count  it has to be total or its close to nothing

I can assure you that a total eclipse is a very special experience if you ever get even the slimmest chance of seeing one then I urge you to  take it

[Mr Garmin]

I was lucky to be able to travel to France for the one in 99.  Completely clear blue sky and we were right on the eclipse line.  It was certainly an eerie feeling and the crowd around all went quiet at totality and cheered at the emergence of the diamond ring, my girlfriend cried.

There was talk of chasing another one around the world but we never did it.

[Paul9144]

So Wednesday is the partial solar eclipse, the next one in UK will be in 2090, are you excited about it?

No, not really. But what it has indeed done is remind me of the old jaffa cakes advert (External Link/Members Only).

Nothing like a sneaky box of (jaffa cakes...). I don't know about you, but I personally prefer the Aldi ones.

Hidden Image/Members Only

Hidden Image/Members Only

[Blackpool Rock]

So Wednesday is the partial solar eclipse, the next one in UK will be in 2090, are you excited about it?
I have to work, but will go out for break and will try to see it if it's not cloudy.
It's quite fascinating, still remember the one in '99 like it was yesterday.

"As the maximum approaches, nature will begin to respond. Birds will fall silent and nyctinastic plants (plants that open their leaves during the day and close them at night) such as clovers, dandelions and daises will close.

"Nature will then return to normal, the sky will lighten and the temperature will rise slightly."



External Link/Members Only

OK that's actually the next total eclipse in the UK on 23rd Sept 2090, they have mentioned on the TV that the next partial UK eclipse is in Sept 2081 where it will be 99% in some places however they don't seem to have mentioned (according to the internet) that there will be another partial eclipse on Nov 14th 2050 which will be around 80%

[Blackpool Rock]

Things like meteor showers; comets and eclipses were a really big issue 1000's and indeed even 100's of years ago before we had modern science and understanding to explain them they were often seen as bad signs or warning signs of some impending doom such as a plague; war or famine.
Of course every time there was a bad storm which wiped out some crops or the jet stream moved and meant it rained non stop for months on end just after a comet was seen etc it would then be held up as proof of these predictions 

[Mr Garmin]

Things like meteor showers; comets and eclipses were a really big issue 1000's and indeed even 100's of years ago before we had modern science and understanding to explain them they were often seen as bad signs or warning signs of some impending doom such as a plague; war or famine.
Of course every time there was a bad storm which wiped out some crops or the jet stream moved and meant it rained non stop for months on end just after a comet was seen etc it would then be held up as proof of these predictions 

I think we're heading back to that mindset.

[Blackpool Rock]

Sorry I also meant to include in my last post that we now have a partial eclipse which coincides with the Perseids meteor shower and despite that happening every year at this time imagine what out ancestors would make of that 

[catweazle]

Things like meteor showers; comets and eclipses were a really big issue 1000's and indeed even 100's of years ago before we had modern science and understanding to explain them they were often seen as bad signs or warning signs of some impending doom such as a plague; war or famine.
Of course every time there was a bad storm which wiped out some crops or the jet stream moved and meant it rained non stop for months on end just after a comet was seen etc it would then be held up as proof of these predictions 

There's an old film ("A Connecticut Yankee in the court of King Arthur" - I think) where Bing Crosby,  having been transported hundreds of years back in time,  is about to be burnt at the stake. As fortune  would have it, a full eclipse  is due and he magically makes the sun disappear,  gaining his freedom as a powerful sorcerer.

[Mr Garmin]

There's an old film ("A Connecticut Yankee in the court of King Arthur" - I think) where Bing Crosby,  having been transported hundreds of years back in time,  is about to be burnt at the stake. As fortune  would have it, a full eclipse  is due and he magically makes the sun disappear,  gaining his freedom as a powerful sorcerer.

Random childhood memory, Biggles does the same in one of his tales.  I wonder if the good Capt. W. E. Johns. got the idea from the Mark Twain novel.

[Iamforreal]

Halley’s Comet famously appeared in April 1066 just before the Norman Conquest, where Duke William of Normandy (France) invaded England and defeated King Harold at the Battle of Hastings.
The English saw the comet as a bad omen, while William viewed it as a sign of luck for his upcoming invasion.

Feeling very lucky that I wasn't born back then 

[spiralnotebook]

And the Levellers (not the plagiarist band) were still going on about ‘the Norman yoke’ in the 1600’s. 

[catweazle]

Halley’s Comet famously appeared in April 1066 just before the Norman Conquest, where Duke William of Normandy (France) invaded England and defeated King Harold at the Battle of Hastings.
The English saw the comet as a bad omen, while William viewed it as a sign of luck for his upcoming invasion.

Feeling very lucky that I wasn't born back then 

I think the comet  appears  on the Bayeux Tapestry, too.

[mr.bluesky]

I think the comet  appears  on the Bayeux Tapestry, too.

  it certainly does and this will be on display at the British museum from Sept 10th on loan from France.

[Watts.E.Dunn]

Given half a chance some wazzock would scrawl "Frogs go home" on that!

[timsussex]

Given half a chance some wazzock would scrawl "Frogs go home" on that!

or thank God for Brexit ?

if we have to hand the Elgin marbles back can we reclaim the tapestry which was made in Kent

[Blackpool Rock]

or thank God for Brexit ?

if we have to hand the Elgin marbles back can we reclaim the tapestry which was made in Kent

Funnily enough I was thinking something similar a couple of weeks ago when it was on the news about it coming to the UK, imagine the kerfuffle even hinting at that would have 

[Blackpool Rock]

Just had an article on the news about a bloke who borrowed a welders mask to watch the eclipse back in 99 who has permanent eye damage 
I'm assuming he must have been looking at it for some time before / after totality but it's still a warning, they did obviously repeat that you should only use approved devices with the appropriate British standard and that eclipse viewers should be new

[daviemac]

Just had an article on the news about a bloke who borrowed a welders mask to watch the eclipse back in 99 who has permanent eye damage 
I'm assuming he must have been looking at it for some time before / after totality but it's still a warning, they did obviously repeat that you should only use approved devices with the appropriate British standard and that eclipse viewers should be new

They don't say what sort of welding mask he was using, it has to be level 12 and above to be safe, though with a level 15 you probably wouldn't see anything.