Solar Eclipse Visible from Ireland - 20th March 2015

endacl

endacl wrote: »

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

*runs away*

Hey! That was my 10000th post!

Appropriate on three levels.

(1) Posting in a nerdy forum.
(2) Pedantic, yet not irritating. (endacl hopes...).
(3) Kinda funnyish, for a given value of 'funny', with tongue firmly in cheek.

Glad I didn't waste it arguing futilely with some socially underdeveloped bedwetting knuckledragger on *ahem* another forum.

Enjoy the transit, and occultation, on Friday. There, pedantically, will be no eclipse!

Joe Doe

Solar Eclipse viewing device ideas, estimated RRP: <$99ea

1. Bucket of water: Use to view the reflection of the sun on the water, wash the car after perhaps.
2. Colander: As pinhole viewing device, remove any salad 1st, only use if the holes are very small.
3. DIY standard 'pinhole' camera from any card with projection onto another greyish card on the ground.

Do NOT use a CD disc as the holes are far too large at 15mm dia.
Do NOT use strong sunglasses, even the best quality mirrored UV400's could still burn up the back of the eyes after a few mins, industrial welders mask may be ok.
Do NOT point your new shinny Nikon D3 or Canon Mk5 SLR with 300mm direct at the sun for too long as it will burn up the CCD sensor joke in a few seconds of direct light, the compact x40 super zoom bridge type cameras might burn up internals even faster.

Maximus Alexander

endacl wrote: »

Enjoy the transit, and occultation, on Friday. There, pedantically, will be no eclipse!

You took your pedantry too far and made yourself incorrect. :P

endacl

Maximus Alexander wrote: »

You took your pedantry too far and made yourself incorrect. :P

I doff my hat.

Partial occultation, and an eclipsing of.

Better?

rxan90

stimpson wrote: »

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

That confirms my idea then that someone passing by probably stealthily pinched the glasses from the front and ran off

Taylor365

So a pair of eclipse shades through binos...is it workable or Stevie Wonderment?

jfSDAS

Taylor365 wrote: »

So a pair of eclipse shades through binos...is it workable or Stevie Wonderment?

Hi Taylor365,

Good idea, but the piece of filter material in eclipse shades might not be big enough to cover the objective lens (front lens) of a standard binocular. A smaller instrument (e.g., 8x25mm) should do the trick but there's a few precautions you'll need to take ...

First, check the filter material after you remove it from the shades. If there's any creases or holes as a result of the "surgery" then you'll have to discard the filter. Black polymer (which gives an orange tint to the Sun) is a bit more robust than mylar (foil-like material) which is just too thin and won't really survive extracting it from the cardboard shades unless you are really careful.

That said, sheets of mylar or black polymer can be bought from the likes of Scopes & Space in Airside Business Park (Swords) or KTec Telescopes online. This will allow you make up your own solar filter.

It must be pointed out that the filter is only placed over the front (objective) end of a binocular or telescope. A filter placed at the eyepiece does nothing to diminish the power of the Sun. Cheap telescopes used to be sold with solar filters that fitted over the eyepiece -- this was absolutely deadly as the heat of the Sun could shatter the filter, driving shards of glass into your eye.

Rainbow Symphony's store at http://www.rainbowsymphonystore.com/solar-filters.html gives an idea of solar filters for binoculars.

jfSDAS

Joe Doe wrote: »

Solar Eclipse viewing device ideas, estimated RRP: <$99ea

1. Bucket of water: Use to view the reflection of the sun on the water, wash the car after perhaps.
2. Colander: As pinhole viewing device, remove any salad 1st, only use if the holes are very small.
3. DIY standard 'pinhole' camera from any card with projection onto another greyish card on the ground.

Excellent ideas John Doe ... many thanks for posting.

John

franer1970

Photo I took in Turkey in 2006, a few seconds after end of totality. Gives an idea of the eerie eclipse light I think.



Finally got round to uploading video to Youtube - terrible, terrible quality I know.

1999 in France. At least the framing is better and I managed to turn off the date display.

shedweller

Fantastic!! Thanks for taking the time to post this!

endacl

The 'of course it's safe to look at the sun through binoculars if you're wearing sunglasses' type comments have started on the AH thread.

Could folk who know what they're talking about please report for civic duty on a forum where science is a consensus, and facts are a matter of opinion?

xper

stimpson wrote: »

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

Several copies plus glasses available in Easons Dun Laoghaire this morning.

Knifey Spoony

Been busy this week, so haven't been able to pick up a pair of solar glasses yet. Would tracking down a copy of Sky at Night be my best chance in Cork City? Or is there anywhere else I could pick them up?

fryup

so whats the forecast for tomorrow morning? how dark will it get?

dacogawa

Hi,

Would anyone know where to pick up some Polymer sheets or solar filter paper around Dublin city centre please?

I do have ND filters (2,4 & 8) and was going to try a stack with a UV filter but have seen that some people are saying it'll could still damage the cameras sensor! I was just going to make my own filters with the sheets.

I'll only be taking short burst shots and move the camera away so I won't have it magnifying through the lens all the time.

Any help advice here would be really appreciated!

Thanks

jfSDAS

Knifey Spoony wrote: »

Been busy this week, so haven't been able to pick up a pair of solar glasses yet. Would tracking down a copy of Sky at Night be my best chance in Cork City? Or is there anywhere else I could pick them up?

Give the gang in Cork Astronomy Club a shout as they should have a batch of the IFAS glasses ... albeit these glasses are for distribution at the public event they are holding for viewing the partial solar eclipse. Contact details at http://corkastronomyclub.com/?page_id=9

Blackrock Castle Observatory might be worth contacting too.

jfSDAS

dacogawa wrote: »

Hi,

Would anyone know where to pick up some Polymer sheets or solar filter paper around Dublin city centre please?
Thanks

I don't know of anywhere in the City Centre but if you can get to Airside Business Park then the guys at Scopes & Space may have some in stock. See http://www.scopesandspace.ie/

Taylor365

jfSDAS wrote: »

Hi Taylor365,

Good idea, but the piece of filter material in eclipse shades might not be big enough to cover the objective lens (front lens) of a standard binocular. A smaller instrument (e.g., 8x25mm) should do the trick but there's a few precautions you'll need to take ...

First, check the filter material after you remove it from the shades. If there's any creases or holes as a result of the "surgery" then you'll have to discard the filter. Black polymer (which gives an orange tint to the Sun) is a bit more robust than mylar (foil-like material) which is just too thin and won't really survive extracting it from the cardboard shades unless you are really careful.

That said, sheets of mylar or black polymer can be bought from the likes of Scopes & Space in Airside Business Park (Swords) or KTec Telescopes online. This will allow you make up your own solar filter.

It must be pointed out that the filter is only placed over the front (objective) end of a binocular or telescope. A filter placed at the eyepiece does nothing to diminish the power of the Sun. Cheap telescopes used to be sold with solar filters that fitted over the eyepiece -- this was absolutely deadly as the heat of the Sun could shatter the filter, driving shards of glass into your eye.

Rainbow Symphony's store at http://www.rainbowsymphonystore.com/solar-filters.html gives an idea of solar filters for binoculars.

Cheers.

I figure wearing the glasses and looking through binos wouldn't suffice because of the magnification...?

dacogawa

jfSDAS wrote: »

I don't know of anywhere in the City Centre but if you can get to Airside Business Park then the guys at Scopes & Space may have some in stock. See http://www.scopesandspace.ie/

Thanks for that jfSDAS, Scopes & Space are a bit too far out though with work & all

jfSDAS

fryup wrote: »

so whats the forecast for tomorrow morning? how dark will it get?

A lot more knowledgeable people than me are pouring over the charts in the eclipse on the Boards.ie weather forum ... check out the thread there.

It won't get dark as such, but you should notice a dip in light levels. I can't honestly say by how much but I think it will be more like a dull day. I've seen many eclipses (partial/annular/total) before and each one is different in how the light levels drop leading up to maximum eclipse. With 8% or so of the Sun remaining when this eclipse is at maximum as seen from Ireland I think it will still be bright enough to see surroundings, etc.

TripleAce

Went to Easons yesterday to try and get the magazine with shades but nothing, they said they had it last week but nothing this week. Tried pharmacies, specsavers, boots, etc - nothing. Silly me not to place an order online last week but i would have assumed that considering that every single person in the country will be looking at the eclipse tomorrow it would have been much easier to get hold of a pair of shades, this is just retarded.
Will keep searching today, can't wait for 2026 though, will pre-order thousands of shades online and sell them for a tenner each on the day, huge business there. :mad:

I expect a big queue at the eye hospital tomorrow.

jfSDAS

Taylor365 wrote: »

Cheers.

I figure wearing the glasses and looking through binos wouldn't suffice because of the magnification...?

Nope!

Not a good idea! The filters reject energy so not having them over the binocular objectives will not filter out the Sun's power. I can't confirm the truth of this statement, but the binoculars could act like a magnifying glass held up to the Sun and burn a hole through the filter and then your eyes!

jfSDAS

TripleAce wrote: »

can't wait for 2026 though

That eclipse will be total over Spain so I'd plan to be on the centre line rather than stay in Ireland for the partial. Seeing a total solar eclipse as against a partial is like ... well, [insert own simile here]

Other partial eclipses visible from Ireland before that of 2026 are: June 10th, 2021; October 25, 2022; and March 29th, 2025

There's also the total solar eclipse in August 2017 that will sweep across the United States. Very accessible and lots of options for locations to see totality.

John

Drift

Hi all,

Left this a bit late. Just wondering if anyone knows of any shops in South Dublin that stock the viewing glasses? I was assuming that most shops would have a few but that doesn't seem to be the case.

Irelandcool

Can one just use the camera on their iphones in a selfie position to watch the eclipse?

Thargor

jfSDAS wrote: »

There's also the total solar eclipse in August 2017 that will sweep across the United States. Very accessible and lots of options for locations to see totality.

John

Will it sweep over Yosemite National Park in California? Thats 2017s holiday decided for me if so

endacl

Irelandcool wrote: »

Can one just use the camera on their iphones in a selfie position to watch the eclipse?

Your phone won't be able to resolve it. There are plenty of simple, low tech ways to observe it. Google.

_Tombstone_

TripleAce wrote: »

I expect a big queue at the eye hospital tomorrow.

RTE Weather reckons most of the country will be under cloud.

Irelandcool

_Tombstone_ wrote: »

RTE Weather reckons most of the country will be under cloud.

Damn you nature.

jfSDAS

Thargor wrote: »

Will it sweep over Yosemite National Park in California? Thats 2017s holiday decided for me if so

Not over Yosemite but it will be total over Yellowstone.

http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEgoogle/SEgoogle2001/SE2017Aug21Tgoogle.html

More detailed maps available from http://www.eclipse2017.org/2017/maps.htm