Count down to the eclipse

[JB80]

Not looking like I'll even get a sniff.

[David Smith]

Well looks like the clouds may clear just as the Moon clears the Sun now

That would be about right, as defined by -  Time (arrival of clear skies)=Time(4th contact)+>=1 minute.

[David Smith]

It seems that the Belgian weather gods are against us as well. I just heard one of our flemisch weather forecasters, Frank Deboosere, talking about "... perhaps a glimpse or two of the eclipse, in between clouds...".

Well, let's not forget that the former Flemisch weather forecaster, the late Armand Pien, was commonly known here as "Pien de leugenaar" ("Pien the liar").

Hoping -and preparing- for the best.

I feel as if I'm back in kindergarten: playing with cardboard, white glue and cellotape again .

All looks very impressive. Nothing like a bit of cardboard, sellotape and PVA glue to make you feel young again

[Qualia]

Counting down to a clear day in April Everyday this week and possibly next week is rain, cloud and storms. It's a disappointment for a lot of people for not only is the eclipse happening but the entire area of Valencia is in fiestas and Thursday is their big fire burning night. Shame all round

[JB80]

I just received another storm warning to expect up to 55mm of rain on Friday.

At this point I have given up completely, the debate now is do I still get up in the event of a possible gap in the clouds in gale force winds or do I take advantage of my wife's day off and catch up on some much needed sleep?

[Yvan_be]

I managed to make a test run last thuesday, using an Olympus E-620, Zuiko OM 50mm, f/1.4 with Baader foil, @ f/5.6 ISO 100, 1/100s. Interval 2min30sec. Pictures put together using Stratrails. Doesn't look that bad. Sun overexposed, sorry for that .

Slight improvement in the weather forecast for friday.

[Luke]

Forecast is iffy here with not much more than 24hrs to go (partial at 8, cloudy at 9, partial at 10). I will try and look at it as it's a bonus if it is clear, I mean, we need clear over a precise hour, under UK weather?

The one thing that's putting me off using Quark and 120mm is whether the temp drop (apparently about 3C?) might make the view unstable.

[DrRobin]

Not looking any better here Luke. Still West Midlands looks okay.

Your Quark will be fine, if the change in temperature is fast the Quark has a lot of thermal mass and the change won't be seen. If it is a slow change the Quark will just change it's heater to maintain balance.

Sun temperature might change by 3C, but I doubt shade temperature will change very much and throw in a bit of cloud and wind, it probably won't be noticeable.

Best of luck with seeing it.

Robin

[Montana]

I'm starting to hate the weather forecasts now, every single one says the exact opposite. One says the west midlands, the other says up here and rain in the west midlands! I bet I drive south and chase the clouds instead and my Mum will say its great up here. They couldn't even get last night right, they said 4 degrees so I left my tender plants out, it was -2 !!!!!! I'm screaming today.

Alexandra

[Paul M]

If you can't find your eclipse glasses try looking in the office, on the shelf, sticking out in plain view where they've been for years.

Don't bother turning the loft upside down for an hour, blame the wife and shout at the dog like I did!

Anyway, panic over. Found four pairs of mylar film glasses and 2 pairs of dark tinted film glasses. 

Not sure about the tinted ones. They were freebies in Bulgaria in 99 and Turkey in 2006. They perform ok but I wouldn't give them to someone else to look through. The next shadow they'll see is the bin lid coming down on them...

[sooot]

Weather looking promising here. Got permision to set up at work(on a building site, i must be mad)

[Luke]

I'm hating the forecast too right now, it now says cloud in the morning, partial at 12.

Never mind, maybe it'll be clear in August 2026, gotta think long term in this hobby   

[Freddie]

None of the others agree with it, but I'm going with this one !!!!

[JB80]

Half of the Sahara dumped itself here with the rain last night, it's a orange muddy mess out there.

So Marshall Islands next year everybody? See you there.

To be honest the 2017 one in the US is probably the better one and would get a long overdue family holiday to the states out of the way.

See you there too!

[Qualia]

Half of the Sahara dumped itself here with the rain last night, it's a orange muddy mess out there.

Just up the road from you, Jarrod and it looks like the Atlantic crashed in. It hasn't stopped raining in the last 24 hrs and it still continues. Think I might take a stroll in the orange groves and see if there's the odd whale or dolphn about

[Macavity]

All "set up" anyway - But who knows?

ST102 on HEQ5, Watec (video!) camera... Neutral filter to slightly *darken* things (sic!).

Even "parked" scope properly with EQMod, rather than randomly switching stuff off. lol

Thinking of doing a "snapshot" every few minutes and creating an animation?

Looks like *some* chance on N.Wales coast - Amid forecast.com clouds...

[Solar_observer]

Going to set up my lunt tonight, I don't get in from work until 8am. I'm keeping my fingers crossed but it's seriously not looking good. Even a few mins I suppose will be better than nothing. Good luck to all.

wishing you sunny days.

[nightfisher]

I have booked day of work, 1000D battery is on charge solar filter made for starwave 102 f11, and weather forcast looks good, watch this space

[JB80]

Just up the road from you, Jarrod and it looks like the Atlantic crashed in. It hasn't stopped raining in the last 24 hrs and it still continues. Think I might take a stroll in the orange groves and see if there's the odd whale or dolphn about

We haven't had much rain at all today, just last night.

The wind has picked up now and it's pretty strong. I will still get up of the off chance I may find a clear patch.

September is a total Lunar eclipse, that's normally a good time of year.

[Photosbykev]

Just tested a Baader solar filter on a Canon 5D2 with 400mm and x1.4TC. 20 shots at 1/100 second f16 iso 200. Aligned stacked and waved on in Registax.

I thought the lens was broken because the sun is amazingly quiet at the moment and I couldn't find anything to focus on lol

[Psychobilly]

Here's what I have planned for tomorrow -  I have a day of work as I was supposed to be at SGLX and the Outreach event but life got in the way...

So I have a day off work and I am setting up in the works car park ... There will be aq Megrez 72 with Solar filter setup for anyone who wants a look.. and a slack handful of Eclipse Glasses...

Plan is 1 exp every 10s with the 7DII, 600/f4L IS USM + Extender III to make a  30s timelapse at 30 fps... And the DMK 618 on the LOHA for video  HA closeups of the moon  approaching  "features" if there are any...

Do you miss it Kev....   I bet you don't miss carrying it all!!!!

Peter...

[Photosbykev]

Here's what I have planned for tomorrow -  I have a day of work as I was supposed to be at SGLX and the Outreach event but life got in the way...

So I have a day off work and I am setting up in the works car park ... There will be aq Megrez 72 with Solar filter setup for anyone who wants a look.. and a slack handful of Eclipse Glasses...

Plan is 1 exp every 10s with the 7DII, 600/f4L IS USM + Extender III to make a  30s timelapse at 30 fps... And the DMK 618 on the LOHA for video  HA closeups of the moon  approaching  "features" if there are any...

Do you miss it Kev....   I bet you don't miss carrying it all!!!!

Peter...

my back doesn't miss it at all but the rest of me does lol

[Montana]

OK, we have just had a family meeting and decided upon Rutland Water, 3 out of 4 weather sites look good from 8am. If it is all rubbish then at least we have a day out birdwatching, although I think I would need to see something extremely rare to stave the tears

Alexandra

[DrRobin]

My plan,

Lunt 60 DS with 0.5x FR, ASI120MM-S;

WO ZS80 with Lunt wedge, 0.5x FR, DMK41;

Two laptops, monitor, battery, inverter;

Solar projector;

A stack of eclipse glasses;

A table;

Prime spot outside the Library in Heddon on the Wall.

Oh and a deck chair, to while away the hours of cloud. It is going to be mostly cloud here, sadly.

Robin

PS, saw the Northern lights on Tuesday night at 23:20. There was too much cloud to the north so I only saw it high up.

[Luke]

Congrats Robin on seeing the Northern Lights. No luck down here, pea soup.

Alexandra, that sounds a good backup plan.

I had a little think about hopping in a car to somewhere that looks a better bet for sun but I am gonna tough it out in potentially cloudy Bedfordshire. I have the full day off now and hope to catch some rays later in the day if my luck is out for the main event.

If it is cloudy I will hopefully still "sense" it and that will still be great, sure it would be nice to have some images but on the plus there should be plenty of those that we can all enjoy.