8ish minutes of luck!

[JB80]

Well here I was, up nice and early and not feeling the best but I was all ready for todays partial eclipse having set my scope up with it's solar filter the night before just incase I could catch a glimpse this morning.

Upon awakening the conditions were dire for viewing, a nice layer of cloud covering the sky, not even worth venturing outside for. It was all getting a bit depressing. I didn't even bother waking my scope up, it didn't seem worth the trouble.

Then all of the sudden a stroke of luck, my little boy wandered into the kitchen, so I followed him to make sure he wasn't up to trouble and through the window I saw a faint orange glow reminiscent of a sunrise just out of direct view.

So we raced outside hoping that we could see the sunrise and believe it or not there was a narrow strip of clear sky on the horizon in just the right place.

At first glance to naked eye you couldn't really discern any major differences than a normal Sun, so I quickly grabbed the camera and fired off a couple of wide view shots, which again seemingly don't show all too much(I haven't pulled the memory card yet so not sure what I have atm). I then rushed inside to grab my telescope in the hope I could see something a bit more substanstial, and after lining it all up through the trees there it was, my first ever view of a Solar eclipse .

It was a stunning sight, to see the Sun being obscured by the disc of the Moon was inspiring. Immediately it shook off any cobwebs of the night before and energised me, infact the feeling was like an adrenaline rush.

I then quickly popped in to grab the T-ring and try a couple of images, I think I managed half a dozen or so of what is probably some very poor shots but at least I managed to capture some, to be honest I was more interested in looking through the view finder and forgetting to hit the shutter release.

And then as quickly as the opportunity arose, it was gone. Slowly fading away through the cloud as the Sun continued upwards until I couldn't see any glow at all. It was one of the quickest and rushed viewing sessions I have done, but it had left a huge impression on me and totally invigorated me, I am well happy with my 8ish minutes of viewing this partial eclipse.

As I said I did get a few images but haven't brought anything in yet to have a look at, I wouldn't expect anything great as the scope wasn't cooled down and trees were also in the FOV so focus is probably not the best. I will try to post them later in the day regardless.

So, in short, an awesome and unexpected morning session.

My first ever real view of an eclipse certainly did not disappoint.

[NGC 1502]

Well done !! Total cloud cover here in SE Essex, and a live webcast from Cornwall

was clouded out too. Looking forward to seeing some pics.

Regards, Ed.

[JonH]

Nice one. Totally clouded over for me so looking forward to seeing your pics.

[LukeSkywatcher]

Well done. Totally clear here this morning but the sun was too low down to see anything.

[West End Wendy]

Saw it from North London. My "eclipse glasses" were too dark as the sun never completely broke free of the murk, but it looked stunning when it's shape was visible behind the thin cloud. Like a shark had taken a bite out of it, as my 8 yr old said.

A nice moment after what seems like weeks of weather-related disappointment.

Tim

[Quatermass]

Found my solar specs from the 1999 eclipse last night and grabbed them this morning the clouds parted at the very end and I got a nice view of the last bite.

[JB80]

I have added some pics here http://stargazerslounge.com/imaging-solar/123788-partial-eclipse-effort.html#post1627578 They're probably not the best and I only managed 5 usable photos in the end but it was all a bit rushed.

It was my first go at Solar photo's though.

[chaotician]

At least you got a break in the clouds. I saw naff all

sent from the tubes

[Star child]

Sounds like a very similar story to mine, i set my alarm to get up an hour before sunrise, looked out the window saw it was cloudy so thought game over, at about 8am i noticed more brightness coming through my curtains so tooka peek outside and to my amazement there were soem breaks in the cloud, so i decied i had to take this oportunity, so quickly got dressed, grabbed my camera and tripod and ran downstairs, got my bike and pedaled as fast as i could to where i planned to observe from, the top of the multi story carpark, which is the tallest building you can get on top of that gives a great view of the south east.

However once on top i could see that although there was clear patches overhead, there was a bank of thick dark cloud right where the sun was, NOOOOOOOO! i waited for what seemed like an eternity hoping the clouds would move (they were going the right direction, but moving very slowly) i also hoped the sun would rise above them, and eventualy it did but it was still hazy and murky so it wasnt the best view, but at least i got a glimpse of the eclipse, so a partial sucess for a partial eclipse! i would have called it a full sucess had my photos shown any detail, you did very well getting those shots Pibble, congrats! i would have been very happy getting soem shots like that, however my pics all came out like the bottom photo in your set, justa bright orange smudge, and at least your is framed nicely with the tree, my pics arnt as artistic so i wont bother uploading those!

I dont suppose you noticed a strange patch of cloud during your observation at about 50 degrees elevation in the east? it was almost NLC like, seemed to be just a single illuminated patch of faint cloud, and it seemd to be rippling, but that may have been my eyes playing tricks on me, or perhaps it was some kind of shadowing effect cause by the eclipse? i eneded up taking more pics of that cloud than the eclipse, i havnt viewd it on my pc yet so not sure if it shows any details. I also started taking pics of my flat! i can see the multi story car park from my window so i wanted to get a photo of my flat from the top, it was quite tricky working out which one was mine but i found it in the end!

[Star child]

Ah what the heck, I decided i will show 2 photos, becuase i think one of them, although not brillaint, does show that the sun is eclipsed, and the other is of the strange cloud, which i used auto correct to make it stand out more, as it is very faint in the unedited photo, i think its just a patch of higer altitude cloud thats reflecting sunlight which the lower level cloud is not receieving, there is a dark strak above it which could be a aircraft vapour trail or perhaps a shadowing effect

[S.A.M]

Well done Pibbles! Now that you have seen your first eclipse, if like me you will want to see more? Holidays will get planned around the eclipses and you might go to places you would never have thought of ever going to. I saw today's eclipse for only a couple of minutes before the cloud on the horizon blocked the light rays out. Saw my first eclipse in Devon in 1999 and today is number 7. I have been lucky with the weather in the past, today was the worst of them.

[bish]

I was clouded out of the lunar and solar eclipses. Very frustrating.

[Altair40]

Time to plan for a liveaboard dive trip or holiday or cruise that somehow coincides with a solar eclipse with a good chance of no flipping clouds!

[Altair40]

Like the Atacama Desert...

No doubt there would suddenly be three inches of rain and mudslides.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Thumbs up to all those who saw it . Over here it was solid cloud. I am probably still doing a penance for having 4 minutes of luck on August 11, 1999, when it was overcast ALL day except for the 4 minutes surrounding totality .