Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Solar Eclipse


Sunday was a big day here - the long-anticipated Annular Solar Eclipse. We had free solar glasses, and I had a piece of welder's glass to hold in front of the camera.

An Annular Solar Eclipse occurs when the moon is farther from the earth than normal, and therefore doesn't completely cover the sun, creating a "Ring of Fire."


But we got there way too early, thinking it was going to be really crowded.


But just next to the solar viewing sight was a bunch of rusty stuff!


Hot diggity!


About an hour before the eclipse began, the park service arrived with a telescope and viewing screen, which was located inside a U-Haul trailer.


Finally, the moon began to cover the sun.


And gradually covered more and more.


The giant telescope the park service brought was not working too well, but this reflection onto a cardboard box was a big hit.


I was surprised that the light in the sky did not seem to change at all.


Almost there! At this point you are supposed to be able to make out the mountains and valleys on the moon, but I didn't have a telescope, just a point-and-shoot Canon camera.


Finally - the ring of fire! A big cheer went up.


The moon gradually moved across the sun -


And exited on the other side.


The park service finally got their telescope working, and you could really see the Ring of Fire on their laptop.

It was a great experience, and I can't wait for the Total Eclipse happening in 2017!


17 comments:

  1. Wonderful photos...I especially loved the reference to the cardboard box. I seem to remember making those in school for" watching" eclipses. Loved the photo of the people wearing the glasses, too. You've got some great shots..even the rusty old truck is cool. Thanks for sharing!

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  2. I'll have to remember about welder's glass in the event we ever get to see one of these eclipses; it seems we're always in the wrong place at the wrong time.

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  3. WOW, wow....great photos for us out here who couldn't see it. Thank you so much!

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  4. Awesome photos, loved the cardboard box shot, whatever works. Sometimes the simplest is best!

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  5. I forgot about the eclipse and missed it. Thanks for sharing!

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  6. Awesome pictures! Thanks for sharing.

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  7. Great shots and love the cardboard obx pictures. You can rely on Smirnoff to add that something extra to a party !!!

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  8. Glad you found some rusty stuff to entertain yourself while waiting for the eclipse. Idle hands... ;c)

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  9. Nice shots! But, where's the Kleenex?

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  10. Great eclipse pictures! I wish we could have seen it.

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  11. Amazing photos! We created a link to your post from our blog. Ours is MUCH less spectacular. Very cool!

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  12. Great photos ~ Loved them!
    Have fun & Travel safe
    Donna

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  13. Diana Ive seen a few eclipse photos of various ones in my blogroll and you take the cake girl, great work! HERE In the East we saw NADA...so Im looking forward to 2017,,,,IM not so vain to fly to Nova Scotia to see the total eclipse so I can see it from my own back yard I HOPE!!

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  14. Totally cool! I wish I could have seen it. I'm marking my calendar for 2017.

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  15. Great Shots. The eclipse wasn't so great out in Kansas.

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