IN THIS UPDATE:

 

Anouncements

  Solar Eclipse Mailbag

 

Dear Friends, 

 

This is just a quick note to share all the cool pix that Update readers sent of last week's partial solar eclipse.  If you have not done so, please like our Facebook page.  There's lots of stuff that gets dropped into that FB feed that never makes it into this newsletter.

 

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Announcements

  

Solar Eclipse Mailbag
 

We had a nice time at Mentor Headlands Beach on Lake Erie last Thursday for the solar eclipse.  It was an uncommonly bright and clear October day, and about 50 people joined us to observe the eclipse.  The Sun looked great through Eclipse Shades, but wouldn't you know it, there was a small bank of clouds right on the horizon, and the eclipsed Sun disappeared behind the clouds before the actual sunset!  Astronomy teaches us that "the LORD giveth and the LORD taketh away, blessed be the name of the LORD."  It was a nice time, and a nice setting for gathering to observe the eclipse, and our family thanks everyone who came.

 

There will be several solar eclipses visible over North America in the coming years, including two total eclipses in the next decade, but there will not be another sunset eclipse visible over the Great Lakes until 2031.

 

Here's a nice pic from Melissa in Wadsworth, OH, who was with our group in Mentor:

 

 

This one is a close-up, showing a lot of detail on the Sun.  Note especially the huge sunspot, which is largest sunspot to appear on the Sun since 1990:

 

 

Melissa also captured this beautiful image of the Sun as seen through the clouds, just before it disappeared.  Many thanks to Melissa for capturing these wonderful views from the Ohio lakeshore!

 

 

Speaking of that mammoth sunspot,  AR12192, I have been following it from day to day since the eclipse.  It is still visible, though the rotation of the Sun has been carrying it toward the limb.  It's expected to still be visible in a couple weeks when the Sun's rotation carries it again into alignment with the Earth.  

 

 

AR12192 is the largest sunspot since 1990. It is the largest sunspot that I have personally ever seen, since I was just getting into astronomy back in '90, and did not see that one at the time.

 

Here's another pic from Corey in Virginia:

 

My picture from Alexandria, VA, yesterday is comparatively low-tech (cell-phone camera through eclipse shades), but still visible.   I had to drive to the top of a parking garage just to get a clear horizon view.

 

 

Thanks Corey!

 

Here are some pix from Stan in Nebraska.  Stan has shared his eclipse photos in the past, including the recent lunar eclipses.  We're grateful for his contributions! 

 

 

Stan sent a series of images which I compiled into a GIF animation.  I hope it displays properly in everyone's email!  I've had a lot of problems with my newsletter service over the years with displaying animations.  If you cannot see it in the newsletter, try clicking this link.  Stan had some intermittent clouds, and that interfered with the series.  But you can still see the ingress of the Moon as it crosses the face of the Sun.

 

 

Stan was able to see the Sun setting over land, and sent another series showing the stages of sunset.  Again, if this does not display properly, click this link to open the GIF in your browser.  Many thanks to Stan for sharing these nice photos of this eclipse!

 

 

 

We got another nice batch of pix from our friend Paula in Texas, who has been an enthusiastic Classical Astronomer, and has taught several classes using our Signs & Seasons curriculum.  She went to a lot of trouble to obtain this shot:

 

I couldn't find any  filters (not even a polarizing filter) nor did I know where my husband put the piece of glass that he took out of a welding helmet a few years ago that we would normally use to look at eclipses. I grabbed by camera, and quickly changed lenses to my 300mm zoom and changed my settings to the fastest shutter speed (1/4000th sec) and the lowest ISO and smallest f-stop I could get.   I pointed my camera at the sun and literally shot blind - I discovered that I could point the camera at the sun and with closed eyes, I could still see the light from the sun through the camera.  I set the focus to manual and turned the lens to focus on infinity and began clicking away, slowly changing the focus in as small of increments as I could, hoping at least one of the pictures would be in focus.  The pictures were still overexposed, but that's the best I could do.  I don't recommend doing this, but I got my picture.  

 

 

Thanks Paula, hope you didn't damage the CCD in your camera!  

 

Here's another interesting view from Paula, which shows the partial eclipse in the context of the Sun shining over her neighborhood:

 

I tried to cover the lens on my camera with my solar shades and this was the only picture I was able to get using them.  It's also the only picture I got showing the sun spot.  

 

 

This is the picture using the solar shades over my camera lens, just cropped.

 

 

Paula sent along this gorgeous pic of the lunar eclipse of October 8.  Wow!:

 

While I'm at it, I'll send a picture I took of the lunar eclipse in the mountains at Cloudcroft, New Mexico.  It has Uranus on the left.  The skies there were absolutely awesome and the amazing thing was that we were able to clearly watch the entire eclipse and just a few minutes after it ended, the sky clouded up and the moon was no longer visible.  I felt very privileged to be able to view it. 

 

 

Paula also sent this very nice picture.  I like this because it reminds us of the context of the Sun, as a beautiful and important part of creation.  This is what astronomy is really all about.  There's a tendency to think of astronomy as a "space cadet" subject, remote and removed from our daily lives.  But really, what we are doing here is learning more about the Sun and Moon, which are God's creations and a natural part of everyday life.

 

Okay, I promise this is my last picture and it is just a picture of the sun - no eclipse.  It's the sun peeking through the aspens taken near Sunspot, New Mexico.  Just thought you might enjoy it.  

 

 

Thanks to Paula and to everyone for your pictures, and to all who observed this eclipse!  Hope you all enjoy the beautiful fall weather, my favorite time of year!

 

Til next time, God bless and clear skies,