Partial eclipse of the sun in UK Wednesday12th August.

[Wacky Racer]

Best in 27 years.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/resources/idt-2a268141-...

[croyde]

Went to order Eclipse sunglasses from Amazon today. Best delivery by Thursday 13th

Then went to meet my son who was on his way to Stansted to fly to Valencia.

'Ive got something for you dad'

He had a box of Eclipse Glasses in his luggage and handed me one

[Rayny]

croyde said:

Went to order Eclipse sunglasses from Amazon today. Best delivery by Thursday 13th

<snipped for relevance> luggage

He's not flying Easyjet then

[Warhavernet]

I was maybe expecting too much, a Fatima, religious type experience with a bit of 2001 A Space Odyssey thrown in , but after the underwhelming 1999 one, Yeah, it got a bit dull for a minute, then, back to normal, is that it ?

[Landlubber]

Yeah, sorry a cosmic dance involving our sun and moon disappoints.

[TwigtheWonderkid]

It's a 90% coverage, which is useless. Eclipses are an all or nothing affair. 100% is brilliant, 99% is nothing special. I was in Washington DC for the April '24 eclipse, which was 97%. Absolute crap.

[Jonmx]

I told my severely autistic 9 year old son about this yesterday as he regularly talks about space. Unfortunately, he interpreted it as a black hole being created and has decided that he will 'panic until it's over'

[s p a c e m a n]

We watched the last one at Gatorland in Florida, might watch this one on Canvey Island Beach.

Basically the same.

[Wacky Racer]

TwigtheWonderkid said:

99% is nothing special. I was in Washington DC for the April '24 eclipse, which was 97%. Absolute crap.

Blimey! There's a tough crowd in here tonight.

[FredericRobinson]

What % was the 1999 one? That was underwhelming where I was but it was quite cloudy

[kambites]

FredericRobinson said:

What % was the 1999 one? That was underwhelming where I was but it was quite cloudy

I think about 96% in the Cotswolds where I was at the time. I remember it getting darkish and the street lights coming on, but with significant cloud cover and the human eye's remarkable ability to compensate, it was a bit underwhelming.

I'm flying to Bulgaria tomorrow so will miss this one entirely.

Edited by kambites on Monday 10th August 22:59

[SchillingTwo]

Warhavernet said:

I was maybe expecting too much, a Fatima, religious type experience with a bit of 2001 A Space Odyssey thrown in , but after the underwhelming 1999 one, Yeah, it got a bit dull for a minute, then, back to normal, is that it ?

Anything short of 100% is not great. Our brains correct for the loss of light so it just looks a little bit twilight-ish.

I’ll be making pinhole cameras for my boys so they can see what’s happening, but that’s nothing like seeing night fall in the daytime.

[Warhavernet]

SchillingTwo said:

Anything short of 100% is not great. Our brains correct for the loss of light so it just looks a little bit twilight-ish.

I ll be making pinhole cameras for my boys so they can see what s happening, but that s nothing like seeing night fall in the daytime.

Looks like it'll be scorchio on Wednesday and a cloudless sky for most of England.

[Peterpetrole]

TwigtheWonderkid said:

It's a 90% coverage, which is useless. Eclipses are an all or nothing affair. 100% is brilliant, 99% is nothing special. I was in Washington DC for the April '24 eclipse, which was 97%. Absolute crap.

Well quite

Zeus father of the Olympians made night from midday, hiding the light of the shining sun, and sore fear came upon men.

[Jim1064]

I remember the previous one, 27 years ago. The blurby spots of sunlight on the ground through the branches of trees all turned into little crescents

[croyde]

I was in my back garden in Wandsworth in 1999. It was sunny and I remember it getting dim and cold. The birds stopped singing.

I thought it was quite spooky and a bit of an experience

[M11rph]

croyde said:

I was in my back garden in Wandsworth in 1999. It was sunny and I remember it getting dim and cold. The birds stopped singing.

I thought it was quite spooky and a bit of an experience

Yep, I really enjoyed '99 and the way the wildlife reacted. The great Market Rasen earthquake of 2008 had a similar disturbing effect on the birds despite happening at 1AM.

This one won't reach totality, but still worth observing.

Don't forget we are enjoying the Perseid Meteor shower currently. Earth is transiting the debris trail of comet Swift-Tuttle, peak is 2AM on the morning of 13th, but I've seen a few proper fireballs already a good number of smaller ones.

When it's dark, so about 23:30 onwards, look to the North-East. The radiant point is below Cassiopeia (the big-W).

Later will be better as Perseus rises in the sky, but those I've seen have been before midnight.

[FlyVintage]

Jim1064 said:

I remember the previous one, 27 years ago. The blurby spots of sunlight on the ground through the branches of trees all turned into little crescents

My enduring memory of that one was how cold it got. I have no recollection of other ones.

[Lotobear]

I vividly recall watching the last one from the battlements of a 15C Pele tower near the Scottish border - not planned, it just happened by chance I was surveying the thing at the time. Can't believe how long ago it was as I can recall it so clearly.

[Puggit]

Need to break out my telescope and solar filter. I have a nagging feeling the filter will be scratched.

I have a friend in Majorca where the total eclipse will happen as the sun hovers over the sea at sunset - that will be spectacular (and much safer with the naked eye).