h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

On Wednesday the 11th August 1999, the Eclipse came to the world. The only parts of England that received totality were parts of Cornwall and Devon, but the Isle of Wight still managed to get over 99%.
So Sarah and I took the day off work, and drove down to Blackgang Chine around 9ish. At the Theme Park we bought some eclipse glasses, and we could already see the moon and the sun not too far from each other in the sky. We decided to climb the hill to the Pepper Pot on the top of St. Catherine's Down, while about 20,000 more people arrived in the area. Blackgang Chine is at the south-west corner of the Island, and so the nearest to the actual path of the eclipse.
St. Catherine's Down is about 290 metres above sea-level, and it was quite a climb - less than 75 people made it to the top by the time of the eclipse. The Pepper Pot there is an octagonal medieval lighthouse - the oldest in Britain - and from the top we could see the sea curve round to the west, south and east. Looking west, we could see a line of darkness steadily approaching along the shore.
It was quite sunny on the Island - an occasional grey cloud, but not in any way as much as what plagued the rest of the country. And for the next two hours, Sarah and I amused ourselves by watching the moon pass in front of the sun. Yes, we used the glasses, taking surgical care over them, and neither of us have suffered any eye damage.
Looking to sea, we could see the darkness approaching. A few people had telescopes etc. with devices to monitor the eclipse. Most were just observers like us - out for a day trip. There were several people there I recognised from work who had skived off like we had.
When the sun was completely eclipsed, it was quite unexpected. Yes, we could see that the sun was no-longer visible, we could see the line of darkness and light out to sea, and we could see that where the sun was, there was only the black darkness of the moon. But that isn't what was unexpected - what we would see, though spectacular and extraordinary, was as we were told it would be. No-one, though, told us about the cold.
When the eclipse came over us, the whole area just froze. It became literally freezing cold - numbing cold, the cold where you cannot feel any part of your body. My arm froze, and I wasn't able to move it again until about 45 minutes after. The people around were freezing, and on a sunny summer's day. I can't remember if there was a wind - I don't think there was - but what I do remember other than staring into the black and the sun being swallowed, pacman-like, by the moon is the eternal feeling of cold.

Lots of mad people said it was going to be the end of the world, and that Paris was going to be destroyed. When it wasn't, I was very disappointed.

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The closest to total I have experienced was a 96% annular eclipse. I didn't experience cold such as you did, but I did feel a definate tidal pull upwards for two or three minutes right at the point of convergence.

That's interesting - I personally didn't notice a pull as such, but I was too busy concentrating on how cold it was!
So, was that the same 1999 eclipse that you experienced 96%, or another one? Where abouts where you?

Oh WOW!!!! I thought you knew I was mad about eclipses!!! You never told me!!!

That was a lovely detailed description there! Did I ever tell you about my eclipse experience? We had 97% in Southend on Sea, and like you, we felt the cold!!!! It was really weird how it just suddenly got cold.......and also it was darkish towards the south west. I took loads of photos which I've yet to scan in. We got a telescope and projected the image onto card, and I took photos of the card. There was also a tree nearby so I took photos of the shadow of the leaves, because they become crescents during the eclipse! If I remember to scan them in e-mail me [email protected] and I'll send you some pics!

Me and my friends are thinking about going to Spain in 2005 cos there's an annular eclipse of the sun there, which should be fun, cos we're gonna be 19 then! Wow......to much to think about........

You never told me that you were mad about eclipses - you've mentioned you're a Kerazy Skandal fan, but eclipses? Nope - you haven't mentioned them at all.

I didn't take any photos - my camera doesn't have a flash, and if it did, I don't know if taking photographs of darkness would be very effective... I don't know - next time I'll plan better, and may even have a cam-corder! I recorded the live BBC coverage, though - although Cornwall had cloud and we didn't
I had a look on the internet after the last eclipse about when the next ones are - and I thought there was a Turkey one first - oh well, I'll check again. But it was definately a sight to see, and if you do ever scan in the photos, I'd be interested in seeing them.

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Ah. Sorry, when I first joined h2g2 I was just as mad about eclipses as I am now with Skandal (but I think I'm more obsessed with Skandal than I ever was with eclipses). I didn't see the BBC coverage as I was too worried about seeing it for myself! I saw the very beginning when they did a countdown to when it first started, then I ran outside and about 2 minutes later I saw the first "bit" being eaten out of the sun. I was then going mad, and the postman came along and seemed a little surprised I should be soooo excited about the moon coming in front of the sun......

When I finally scan those pics in I'll try and send them to you!

Sarah & I were quite organised as we had planned to take the day off work, and even set the video ready whilst we went to Blackgang chine to see the eclipse from the best possible place. But then, I had first heard of the eclipse in 1993 when I was a member of Vectis Astronomy Society, so I had been waiting for it for quite some time...
But it was definately an event worth "going mad" about.

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I think I heard about it around the same time, cos I remember doing my own little project around that time and including it in there....

It's something to get excited about cos of the atmosphere

I was looking forward to it even before the media started on it, and I thought they started to spoil it nearer the time, which was sad. But it was quite an event, and well worthwhile.

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True, I remember asking my mum if we could go to Cornwall for it in 1994 and she said maybe, already I was asking permission to take photos of it LOL! She said maybe, but then again it was sunny (ha ha) in Southend on the day so we probably saw more than them!

I expect you did - the reports from Cornwall looked terrible.
I'm definately glas I saw it from the Island - I had planned to go to Cornwall, but in the end could not.

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Ah, see, we got it better What was 99% like then? Did you see the diamond ring or the corona at all?

Nope, no corona or diamond ring - you only get that with 100%, not even 99.8% will do
But I did get to see the sun not be there at all. Nothing - just total darkness, without the ring around the edge.

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Now that is strange! What did it look like, a hole in the sky? Could you look directly at it?

Well, I wore my eclipse glasses things the whole time, so I didn't look at it directly, although a lot of other people about seemed to, and as far as I know they're fine and haven't been attacked by Triffids at all...
But I guess it looked like a hole in the sky - just a very black circle in the middle of a dark, night-like area, although you could stuill see light out to see and all around you, just not where you were.

It was definately weird...

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Oooh one day I'll see it I remember when we reached 97% (which was our maximum) I could only see bits of the crescent, it was like Baileys Beads but obviously wasn't, I accidently looked out the corner of my eye through my sunglases and it was soooo weird seeing a crescent sun!!!! And yes, the light was VERY weird, the sky was like blue splashed with black paint, and it was freeeeeeezing!!!!

Strange that - when it was around 97ish% the sun itself looked more impressive than 99% - yet the complete cold was scary. Did I mention that my hand froze and I couldn't move my fingers? It was that cold. We had taken a thermos of coffee, but that had been long gulped down.

What made the experience seem even more unreal was that I was reading the Isaac Asimov & Robert Silverberg novel "Nightfall" the night before. If you haven't read it, then you definately must - one of the best books I've ever read. It's based on a Asimov short story which is quite famous, but it goes beyond the storty and is much better. So if you really are eclipse mad, it's a must-read.

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OK I'll look out for it

yeah I was wearing jeans and a t shirt and I froze, but I didn't care, even though my arms were actually freezing I didn't put anything over them cos I just wanted to say the reason why I was cold was cos there was an eclipse going on! See how mad I am!

Well, we were freezing with coffee up a hill and about 1 1/2 miles away from our car, so we didn't really have much choice but freeze. . It was definately worth it, for the memory alone.

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true, very true