Solar Eclipse Visible from Ireland - 20th March 2015

TripleAce

Hi,

is there a place in town where I will be able to buy shades today? I won't be able to be in town tomorrow or Friday (live in Bray) unfortunately and I guess it is too late to place an order over the internet. I tried Specsavers and Boots but they didn't have any.

Any suggestion? Thank you.

Thargor

I dont want to recommend them as they're a complete shower of chancers but Astronomy Ireland are selling them for a tenner a pop from their offices in Dublin. IFAS were recently posting them out free to whoever sent in a stamed adressed envelope so maybe try contacting someone over there and see about collection in Dublin for a donation or something:

http://www.irishastronomy.org/index.php?option=com_kunena&view=topic&catid=1&id=100435&Itemid=211

Thargor

Ah crap IFAS are HQ'd in Offaly, might still be a chance if you post before 4 pm today:

http://www.irishastronomy.org/index.php?option=com_kunena&view=topic&catid=11&id=100445&Itemid=211#103501

jfSDAS

TripleAce wrote: »

Hi,

is there a place in town where I will be able to buy shades today? I won't be able to be in town tomorrow or Friday (live in Bray) unfortunately and I guess it is too late to place an order over the internet. I tried Specsavers and Boots but they didn't have any.

Any suggestion? Thank you.

Deirdre Kelleghan is holding an eclipse watch on Friday with the St Cronan's Stargazers in Bray. I'm not sure if it is a public event (i.e., if people can just show up at the school) but maybe drop her a line via the mail address given in the page at http://www.stcronans.ie/astronomy_club.html

John


Free events ...

The Irish Astronomical Society at Dunsink Observatory Dublin
St Cronans Stargazers at St Cronans National School Bray Co Wicklow
Midlands Astronomy Club at Athlone Castle Co Westmeath Cork Astronomy Club at Blackrock Castle Observatory
Galway Astronomy Club at Toft Park Salthill Co Galway
Shannonside Astronomy Club at The Stone Circle Grange Co Limerick
DEISE Astronomy Club at Dungarvan Square Co Waterford
Irish Astronomical Association at Belfast: Queen's University, in front of the Whitla Hall, University Road (in association with the ARC, Dept of Physics) Larne: Chaine Memorial Park, seafront. Newtownards: Scrabo Hill Car Park Portballintrae: Seafront car park

Trinity College Dublin ... see the events tab at http://eclipse2015.ie/

Scopes and Space plus Republic of Astronomy (Facebook group) will be at the Papal Cross in the Phoenix Park ... see http://www.scopesandspace.ie/latest-news

... and ...

Astronomy Ireland are apparently charging to view the eclipse. I'm not in agreement with this commercialization but if you want to part with your hard-earned cash then their eclipse watch is mentioned at www.astronomy.ie

Thargor

Good post from jfSDAS on this page with more info:

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=94731109&utm_source=notification&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=notification#post94731109

EDIT: That guy^ lol.

jfSDAS

Cheers Thargor!

We seem to be thread-hopping to keep both boards up-to-date on what to do for the eclipse :-)

I hope no-one will burn down the Observatory if it's cloudy on Friday morning! (thinking of a Simpson's episode where that might have happened!)

Oh, and another thing, a few media items I've read so far mention this is the first solar eclipse visible from Ireland since that in August 1999. That's not true as in the 21st century we've had a partial eclipse over Ireland in October 2005, March 2006, and January 2011. None were as deep an eclipse though as this Friday's.

Taylor365

I'm just looking for something i can take to work with me so i can stare at it out the office 3rd floor.

Found out about the IFAS offer too late as it would of had to been delivered tomorrow.

Guess i'll just look at the sky go dim

TripleAce

Considering that everybody will be watching the eclipse it and the dangers related to not using shades it should be much easier to get hold of shades, they should pretty much sell them everywhere! Most people won't be able to travel to the main locations and get shades on the day, will just get out of the work place for a hour or so to watch it. I guess it will be a busy day for opticians

franer1970

Got five pairs of shades in January - desperately trying to hang to the last one now.
Perhaps I shouldn't have been boasting so much about how well prepared I was...:D

Thargor

I linked to an Ebay vendor selling them for 2 or 3 quid in the OP of this thread, no excuse not to have them. A lot of papers in the UK give them away for free:

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/special-features/promotions/free-eclipse-safety-glasses-thursdays-5350951

I remember the Irish Sun or someone giving them out in the nineties here aswell, most Irish publications are in poor financial straits these days though so no sign of any offers.

endacl

Taylor365 wrote: »

I'm just looking for something i can take to work with me so i can stare at it out the office 3rd floor.

Found out about the IFAS offer too late as it would of had to been delivered tomorrow.

Guess i'll just look at the sky go dim

Latest copy of sky at night magazine comes with a pair of eclipse shades.

endacl

endacl wrote: »

Latest copy of sky at night magazine comes with a pair of eclipse shades.

Edit: they won't charge you extra for looking up at the sky.

Maximus Alexander

I'm guessing sunglasses won't do?

endacl

Maximus Alexander wrote: »

I'm guessing sunglasses won't do?

They will. If you place 1000 pairs in series.

Maximus Alexander

endacl wrote: »

They will. If you place 1000 pairs in series.

But in all seriousness, is there anything you can mock up at home to make for relatively safe viewing?

endacl

Maximus Alexander wrote: »

But in all seriousness, is there anything you can mock up at home to make for relatively safe viewing?

The free pair of shades with this month's sky at night magazine really is a good option. Any big newsagents.

If you have access to solar filter film from an astronomy shop, you could make your own filter for a telescope or camera? I'll be dusting off mine from the 'total eclipse that didn't happen here'.

Edit: if somebody suggests the smoking the inside of a bottle with a candle method, they're wrong. Also, they're an idiot.

jfSDAS

Maximus Alexander wrote: »

But in all seriousness, is there anything you can mock up at home to make for relatively safe viewing?

Hi Maximus,

Specialised eclipse shades or solar filters are the only safe way for direct viewing of the Sun. The only other method is to project the image as mentioned in the links on page 2 of this thread.

Even with a pair of eclipse shades nobody is going to stand staring at the Sun continually for the two hours this event will last (first contact of the Moon's disk is around 8:30am, mid-eclipse about 9:30am, and last contact where the Moon slips off the disk is roughly 10:30am).

One thing that I thought of is that using binoculars to project the Sun's image will let you see any sunspots being covered by the Moon as it advances across the solar disk. You won't see that with one-power eclipse shades. Check http://www.spaceweather.com for any visible sunspots (there's a daily image of the Sun on the left-hand side of that page).

Look out for any other effects such as how much will the light level drop by, whether there's a change in temperature, and whether shadows cast are that bit sharper (unlikely, as the Sun needs to be closer to 98/99% eclipsed to notice that I'd say).

Good luck with the weather on the day!

John

derra

I'm praying the weather is good, I remember being gutted in 1999 when i was in Spain and missed that event due to it being a bad location where I was. Fingers crossed.

dryan

Maximus Alexander wrote: »

But in all seriousness, is there anything you can mock up at home to make for relatively safe viewing?

i remember the last time i used an good old fashioned welding shield!! worked a treat!

endacl

dryan wrote: »

i remember the last time i used an good old fashioned welding shield!! worked a treat!

Rated at 14 or higher, I hope?

iDave

I'll be on a flight from Dublin to Stansted while its going on, think that'll be a good place to see it? Assuming I'm sitting on the correct side of course

rxan90

endacl wrote: »

Latest copy of sky at night magazine comes with a pair of eclipse shades.

Not necessarily - I went to Tesco Clarehall and both copies of the magazine were missing the free shades that should have been stuck to the front. Asked at the customer desk, thinking she might have had them there but nope. Don't know if the store threw them away or if they were stolen

The Astronomy shop in Airside (Scopes and Space), however, told me they will have them tomorrow for about a fiver.

Lovely Bloke

got linked here from a Boards.ie Facebook post, telling everyone there's a Solar Eclipse on Friday night. :pac:

Kersh

Meath Astronomy Club are holding an event at Rathbeggan lakes.

They will have eclipse shades there, to pass around Im sure. Plus some scopes with solar filters.

Thats where Im going.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Meath-Astronomy-Club/753390101339005



You shouldnt be paying more than about €2.50 for a pair of eclipse shades, being honest. Anything more is just greed.

endacl

Baldy Conscience wrote: »

got linked here from a Boards.ie Facebook post, telling everyone there's a Solar Eclipse on Friday night. :pac:

Well, there will be. Depending on where you live...

endacl

It's not an eclipse anyway. It's a lunar transit!

*runs away*

King George VI

rxan90 wrote: »

Not necessarily - I went to Tesco Clarehall and both copies of the magazine were missing the free shades that should have been stuck to the front. Asked at the customer desk, thinking she might have had them there but nope. Don't know if the store threw them away or if they were stolen

The Astronomy shop in Airside (Scopes and Space), however, told me they will have them tomorrow for about a fiver.

This pleases me because I'll be in Airside tomorrow. Thanks for the tip.

Harry Palmr

Latest forcast shows south coast zone the best place to see it.

stimpson

rxan90 wrote: »

Not necessarily - I went to Tesco Clarehall and both copies of the magazine were missing the free shades that should have been stuck to the front. Asked at the customer desk, thinking she might have had them there but nope. Don't know if the store threw them away or if they were stolen

The Astronomy shop in Airside (Scopes and Space), however, told me they will have them tomorrow for about a fiver.

I just picked up a copy in Tesco Clearwater complete with glasses. There were still a couple of copies left.

jfSDAS

Sorry to hear that about the eclipse shades missing.

A shoplifter fingered by the police in the UK in August 1999 for robbing sunglasses claimed they were for the solar eclipse that month!

re: the eclipse on Friday "night", I heard one station in Ireland claim the transit of Venus in 2004 was the first time we were going to see Venus in 120 years! I wonder how all those spacecraft missions managed to find the planet then.

One thing worth doing Thursday morning is to try spot the crescent moon in the eastern sky before sunrise and just one day before the eclipse. It's what a friend calls "making sure it's on track." The same with the day after the eclipse, there's a homage paid by eclipse-chasers when seeing the young moon return to the evening sky, a kind of thank-you to the Cosmos for letting us witness one of nature's greatest events.

John