Very Partial Eclipse of the Sun
On Friday, 8 April 2005
at
5:58P.M.
to 6:40P.M a Very
Partial Eclipse of the Sun only 5.3% covered at maximum on 6:18P.M.
from the Washington Metro area with the sun 15 degrees above the
horizon from the King Street Parking Garage was observed. This
is a very unusual hybrid
solar eclipse (around 6 a century) with part of the path being
annular and part total mainly in the South Pacific Ocean,
but not from the Washington Metro area.
I was the only person on the roof of the parking garage it
was mostly clear, though it had rained part of the day and been cloudy
most of the day, maybe that is why no one showed up, plus we are so
jaded that 5.3% partial eclipses of the sun are not worth viewing for
most people, and I saw and photographed it all. Fun for me
and nobody else! Here are a few photographs taken with my wife's
digital camera, the college's digital camera that I use to use has
malfunctioned and is evidently not worth repairing.
Directory
with all photos taken but not deleted with sequence numbers 1 through
36.
A few selected photographs from the directory that may be worth looking
at:
Sun
going down
Telescope
aimed at the sun
Picture
through the eye piece off axis, is this art or science or just a
crappie picture? I wish, I understood everything going on in this
picture. What forms the hexagons?
The partial
eclipse not quite in focus. The eye as always showed a better
image in focus with a larger dynamic range from brightest to dimmest.
The partial
eclipse again not quite in focus. One of these smaller, on
the upper left, is a sunspot (that I saw with my eye), but what are the
rest of the spots, I certainly did not see them with my eye. What
do cameras really see?
Questar
aimed at the sun.
Me
and my shadow walking down my world-line.
Van
and Questar telescope and shadows.
Montgomery
College Planetarium
Last changed 2:39PM on April 9,
2005 by Dr. Harold Williams