With eclipse glasses going for about a grand on the black market, I was never going to be able to get hold of a pair, so it soon became apparent I would have to try and see this partial solar eclipse by other means.
Being far too dyspraxic to construct something like a pinhole projector, I went with the most low tech option of all - the humble kitchen collander and a piece of paper.
Off I went to my chosen venue - the parched brown grass of the slope by the castle. I thought it would be kind of fun to project the sun onto the castle walls with my revolutionary optical device.
This I did, creating little crescent suns on the brick wall at the base of the castle, and showing a couple of passing people - there was a little crowd of folk there, most of whom were trying to ruin their eyesight by using sunglasses, or looking through their fingers.
No wonder a lot of people reported by underwhelmed by the experience. And to be fair, I get it. Although we did get quite a pretty light for a few minutes, 10% of the sun is still a heck of a lot of light, and you need full totality to have a truly magical experience.
But as a collective piece of citizen science, it was still fun!
Si
All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 14.08.26
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