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Where premium quality meets exceptional value. ZEISS Conquest HDX.

Partial Solar Eclipse on 29th. March (1 Viewer)

Tringa45

Well-known member
Europe

Still over a month away but there will probably be a run on filters etc., so there is time to get equipped.
Here Whitelight - English is a suggestion.
The Astro Solar Film is optically very good, but be sure to get the 5.0 optical density for visual with only 0,001% transmission.
I cobbled up a filter for my 65 mm scope with film and card but later bought a complete filter, which is only slightly more expensive.
With a filter on the scope everything is black and you have no reference points, so it's rather difficult to find the sun at higher magnifications. It helps if you minimize the shadow of the scope on the ground.
Personally I find a magnification of ~30x to be ideal even though the FoV encompasses about 4 sun diameters.

John
 
How has the eclipse-viewing been where you are, everyone?

We had cloudy weather predicted for this morning so I wasn't hopeful, but (exactly as last time, and the time before) it actually made for a much better experience to have this protective and dimming layer of cloud! The eclipse was easily and safely visible with the naked eye every time the cloud thinned to the right amount - too thick and there was nothing to see, bright enough to cast shadows and I didn't risk looking. But I got to watch it progress in stages as I hung out with my horse in the field. Incidentally, I know some people report animals behaving oddly during eclipses, but my usually very sensitive and highly-strung horse wasn't affected or interested in the slightest - the only things she thinks are worth looking up for are military (not police or ambulance) helicopters, hah

I've only got a bridge camera so no spectacular specialist astrophotography from me, but I'm pleased with how my pictures came out - here's one with the biggest 'bite' missing, and you can even see a sunspot in the top left.
 

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Would you believe it.... the sky is now blue and the sun is shining!!!

It's all to do with the timing, isn't it!
 
Despite a rather poor weather forecast we had only infrequent cloud coverage here in Cologne, where the eclipse reached about 20%.
Some of my neighbours and I viewed it through my 65 mm Swarovski scope at 30x with a Baader solar filter.
The next one is on 12th August 2026 with about 80% coverage.

John
 
It was blustery weather in N.E. England yesterday, with clouds scudding over.

Using sunglasses and carefully waiting for medium cloud cover allowed us brief moments of direct viewing.
We saw about 35% eclipse as Georgebird's photo in post#2.
 
The eclipse played hide and seek in the clouds at the same time as a steam-hauled special to Edinburgh was passing through Northumberland.

Three minutes separated these shots.
 

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