Solar Eclipse

[Sean]

Has anyone else had a chance to see the eclipse today? I was at school playing with a mirror to get a view of it and another student walks by saying are you trying to see the eclipse? when I say yes ahe tells me that our astronomy teacher has a complete telescope setup on the other side of the building I was near. It is simply amazing.

[Silas]

I saw it! I'm in San Diego, and, fortunately, the weather was clear.

I went out onto the street and accosted strangers, like Diogenes! I pointed out the crescents in the shadows of trees. I carried a pinhole card with me and projected the image on people's hands.

And I made a point of warning them: don't look at it! (Retinal cells re-grow very, very slowly!)

I had a great time! My only regret is that I didn't know far enough in advance, or else I'd have bought a sunlight filter for my camera and taken a pic of it.

But I'm sure there are a LOT of folks who did!

I really love the way that tree-leaves provide an informal multiple pin-hole camera. Everyone that I talked to was astonished when they saw the crescent images of the sun in the dappled sunlight under the trees!

Silas

[John Kierein]

I REALLY like Shannon's picture!
http://science.nasa.gov/spaceweather..._10june02.html

[David Hall]

Well, I tried to get up early this morning to catch it (max was at about 7:30), but rain had moved in overnight and there was nothing to see, so I went back to bed until my regular wake-up time.

The weather has certainly been against me lately. I missed out on the great conjunction as well because there wasn't a single clear evening in May.

Grrr.

[traztx]

I'm in the Dallas/Texas area. We had a gathering at a friend's house who had 2 really nice telescopes with solar shields. We also tried the film over binoculars and it worked very well.

We started out by looking at the sun spots and and my friend switched to a higher power and was focusing and suddenly says "Oh my God, it's started". Then we took turns looking in both scopes. Very cool equipment... electronic tracking.

Then the automatic sprinkler system came on!

Needless to say, it was a memorable night!
--Tommy
http://www.tommyraz.com

[nebularain]

On 2002-06-11 08:06, John Kierein wrote:
I REALLY like Shannon's picture!
http://science.nasa.gov/spaceweather..._10june02.html

Thanks for the link to these pictures! East coast dwellers like me didn't even get a chance. [img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_cry.gif[/img]

[Geo3gh]

Here in Tucson it was great. I have a set of viewing goggles I got from the Flandrau Observatory (back from the eclipse on Xmas 2000). I'm glad I saved them.

[Wiley]

It was completely overcast in Boulder. Even if it was sunny, the smoke from all the Colorado wildfires would have prevented viewing. Bummer [img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_frown.gif[/img]

[beskeptical]

If you missed it, it's ok. It is a sun in the shape of a cresent. I always get to see the partial eclipses. But could I ever get to see just one total? Noooo. That would be asking too much.

From a previous post:

When I was a child, my parents were afraid the eclipse would blind us so they took us to the movies and we missed it, (Calif.). When the next full eclipse occurred in the US, I was in Australia. Then, I went to Mexico to see the '91 great eclipse. It was sunny until MINUTES before the event. The cloud cover moved in from land toward the sea. I ran. I staid ahead of the clouds until I got as far out on a little penninsula as you could without swimming. The clouds caught up, the sky dimmed, it was over. I'm jinxed!!!

But I will be back! I will try again!! I will triumph one day!!!

Thankyou for listening, I feel better now.



<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: beskeptical on 2002-06-11 15:13 ]</font>

[Tim Thompson]

I set up a telescope outside the El Sereno branch of the L.A. Public Library, in east Los Angeles. It was an old 4-inch Newtonian with a mylar filter, worked just fine. Several sunspots were visible, all of them eclipsed simultaneously, by the time the eclipse reached its maximum here (6:22 PM PDT). From my vantage point we enjoyed the added fascination of watching the sun move behind the fronds of a palm tree, while the moon was on the outbound leg.

My guess is that no more than 100 people came by to look while I was there. Most of them were, as expected, library patrons. But there were a few casual wanderers as well.

Most of the mobile members of the Los Angeles Astronomical Society were set up on the lawn at Griffith Observatory. According to the reports I got, they counted about 1200 visitors (they would have gotten more I'm sure, if the observatory were not already closed in anticipation of renovation construction). I went there after the eclipse was over, and we intended to remain for public viewing after dark. But the seeing was worse than terrible, and everybody was gone by 9:30 that night. But we will be there again next Saturday, for 1st quarter moon.

The observatory was swarming with TV and other news types. There were some visiting kids who hammed it up for them, and probably wound up on every TV news program there. We usually get some harmonic convergence devotees, but I haven't heard that there were any this time around. Maybe eclipses don't impress them anymore.

[John Kierein]

Levy of Comet Shoemaker-Levy fame has a local radio program in Tucson. He said he used an H-Alpha filter and saw, in Tucson at the U of A, two solar prominences! He's been to many total eclipses and this is the first time he'e ever seen such a thing from a partial eclipse.

[beskeptical]

On 2002-06-11 15:25, Tim Thompson wrote:
I set up a telescope outside the El Sereno branch of the L.A. Public Library, in east Los Angeles ...

East L.A.! That's an eerie place.

We usually get some harmonic convergence devotees, but I haven't heard that there were any this time around. Maybe eclipses don't impress them anymore.

I couldn't get my son to go outside for even one minute for the eclipse. But, he has seen a partial eclipse before so I didn't make him.

My ex played at a harmonica convergence before. (Blues harmonica that is.) [img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img]

[ZaphodBeeblebrox]

On 2002-06-11 08:06, John Kierein wrote:
I REALLY like Shannon's picture!
http://science.nasa.gov/spaceweather..._10june02.html

Freaky, it looks like Cookie-Monster!

Now, stop Showing Pictures, us East-Coasties, Can't Handle It!

[xriso]

I used a method which worked suprisingly (for me) well. I took just a regular pair of binoculars, and aimed the big end towards the sun, and the small end towards a white sheet of paper. I then adjusted the focus and I was amazed to see a clear and large enough projection of the sun that I could make out three sunspots (I've never done this before!). The moon covered 34% of the sun's diameter at maximum.