Where will you be?
We'll be at home, but should have a good view of it 94% here in the South West of England.
My brother and his whole family and grandchildren have gone to Majorca to see it.
My friend is going to spend the night on Exmoor under the stars. 🌙
Comments
Not planning to view it, but will obviously notice the effects as experienced in 1999.
Elder Son & family geographically not far from us, but Younger Son & family will be on the east coast of Spain, which will have slightly greater coverage.
Both sons would remember 1999, so I trust they can warn their children not to look directly at it.
Sounds perfect.
I know a couple of people who have traveled to Spain to see it. I went to Dallas in 2024 to see that eclipse because the next total solar eclipse visible in North America is some time in the mid-2040s, and I can't be assured I'll live that long or feel like traveling to northern California to see it.
If you're able to get to a Robert Dyas @Pomona they may have some - I picked up ours on Saturday, our local branch had a box by the till.
I doubt if I'll see the next one, due in 2081 IIRC.
My mind is racing with potential practical jokes such as ringing a bell and declaring that the end is nigh or pretending to be taken by surprise and call it an omen that calls upon us to change our ways.
I doubt this one will be visible from where I am. The view to the west is blocked by houses and I will be too busy cooking dinner to go and look for somewhere I can see properly. I expect I will notice when the birds start behaving strangely, though.
Just remember, look after your eyes, never view the eclipse directly without good quality eclipse viewing glasses!
And if it did it would make not a jot of difference to gravity
My dogs took no notice.
We sat in the garden and I took photos of our chimney pots as it was reflected on one of the bands around the chimney.
My friend went to Greenland to watch it. He's a photographer and has already sent incredible photos.
It wasn't quite the eldritch and eerie experience of the 1999 total eclipse, but seems to have been a more dramatic spectacle elsewhere.
The biggest contrast from '99 was that that one was (as I remember) in the morning - so the dusky effect, followed by daytime again, was pretty odd. But here the sun set over the opposite houses just as the eclipse was ending, so it didn't really brighten up again.
Welding glass did the job, though :-)
I'm left feeling a bit underwhelmed - I'm just rather glad it's over. I'm not sure what I was supposed to feel. It got dark here but just a kind of twilight darkness.
O well. Maybe the next one will be more fun...
I was also underwhelmed in 1999 as it was overcast where we were (not in totality) and it just got a bit more gloomy.
The local herring gulls had been making their usual racket, but went absolutely silent as early as 6:30pm. Not long afterwards the wee birds (mostly sparrows, I think) that roost in the neighbours shrubbery fell quiet, although there was intermittent tweeting for the next 20 minutes, and every now and then a few clambered up to the topmost twigs and sat looking west for a while.
Two big groups of starlings flew overhead about 6:45 and headed west - I assumed they were off to Brighton pier to join their comrades for the regular murmuration. I wonder if they will have done it twice this evening, or if they realised that the first meet-up was a false alarm.
I was surprised to see quite a lot of butterfly activity during the pre-maximum period. No idea if that was unusual, as I am not normally sitting in the garden at what is generally dinner time. It became very still during that time, which I remember happening in 1999, but a little breeze picked up towards 7:00. Sadly the temperature didn't drop this tme.
The light didn't alter significantly as maximum coverage approached, but the gulls started squawking and flying about again, so they must have had some idea that change was on its way. By the time that passed the garden is normally in shade anyway, so I came indoors.
The sun was still glaring fiercely into our bedroom windows, so not safe to look out and I closed the curtains on my last solar eclipse.