Partial

Well probably not the best photos of the partial eclipse but I'm really surprised I got anything at all under the circumstances - I wasn't expecting to. Focusing, light metering, not to mention the wisdom of pointing a camera and long lens directly at the Sun. And then there's that 'trying not to look at the Sun when the clouds parted occasionally' thing. Actually that was the first thing I did when I got outside. The clouds cleared a bit and I looked directly at the Sun. I did the same thing back in 1999, couldn't stop glancing at it, a bit daft really, but it's irresistible somehow. So on the day of the total eclipse one of my worries was that I'd permanently damaged my eyes.

Considering that about 85% of the Suns light was supposed to be blocked out locally, it seemed to be a normal dull and misty day, which just goes to show you how dingy it can be around here. 

The odd thing about the Sun and the Moon is that they both appear exactly the same size in the sky.  I mean, what are the chances of that?  -  Exactly!  The Sun could be any size and distance away, though for life to exist it does obviously have to fall into certain useful parameters, but then again the Moon could be of any size and distance away too. Sciencey stuff tells us that the moon used to be a lot closer to the Earth than it is now, and that due to loosening gravity doofah's it's moving slowly away from us. But that still means it appears the same size in the sky as the Sun during the period of human existence, and without that no proper eclipse. It's all a bit suspect I think, but what can you do about it?


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New Moon

This picture of the new moon was taken yesterday. Later on in the month there is a lunar eclipse taking place on the 21st of February and it will be the only eclipse visible from around here this year so either a late night or an early morning for me as it happening at about three 'o' clock in the morning. Hopefully the weather will be clear as often it is cloudy here for things like eclipses. It will certainly be cold and eclipses take a long time to happen as they work on a cosmic timescale rather than our shorter human one so some patience and in this case warm clothing is needed. I will attempt to take some photographs of the eclipse and may even have a new camera by then as I have been saving up for one for a long time now. I was thinking of getting a Nikon D40 as they look quite good and are not too heavy which is good for me as I walk a lot and like to keep my bag as light as possible. The only thing I am not sure about is the number of pixels and I wonder whether it is better to get a 10mp camera or just a 6 although after looking at some examples I can't really tell the difference.