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

It's actually really hard to photograph the eclipse itself - you need special equipment and lenses. But it's great to photograph people's reactions around you. That said, I'd advise people not to bother with cameras, just to enjoy the experience. Actual darkness is probably going to be less than 6 minutes, so just savour every very sepcial second.

Oh, and it's traditional to crack open something when the sun reappears- tin of beer or botle of bubbly, anything.

Suss out your viewing site well in advance, and have something to sit or lie on in comfort.

I'm still tempted to try to get to the Faroes next March, though the chances of cloud are high. And the American one in 2017 sweeps right across the country - we're thinking "where it crosses Route 66" would be a cool viewing place.

MMF, if you were on the moon, you'd see the earth eclipse the sun far more often than we see the moon eclipse the sun. This is because the earth is much bigger than the moon, so it will blot out the sun more often.

Every time we see an eclipse of the moon, someone on the moon would see an eclipse of the sun and vice versa.

I went down to Devon to see the total eclipse in 1999.

To my eternal disappointment it was cloudy of course so we didn't get to see totality properly.

But we did get the sweeping darkness - street lights coming on - birds starting to sing as they clearly reacted to a false dawn/evening.

Even without being able to see the full black disc surrounded by the halo it was still a phenomenal thing to see and I'm glad I got myself into the full totality zone.

A truly marvellous experience. Even if the traffic jams on the way home were the worst I've EVER seen. We were not alone in travelling down there for the total eclipse methinks

I know that Peregrin went to Newton Abbot in Devon (where our house mate lived) to see the eclipse – and he told me all about how cloudy it was. He went by train last minute, though, and half-expected all the trains to be full but said he pretty much had the carriage to himself. He arrived in time to see it.

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I think most went the day before. We made a weekend of it. We saw it in Dartmouth

It could have been much worse, the sun was cloud covered the whole time but was visible until only a few minutes before the eclipse went total.

I remember seeing the the news afterwards and at St Michaels Mount in Cornwall it was full on heavy overcast with torrential rain. At least we didn't get *that*

One thing that annoyed me was that a whole bunch of people who were completely uninterested in the whole thing were on a ferry to France and got treated to the full cloudless spectacle whiles those of us who'd planned to be there for the previous 20 years got cloud - but such is the way of things.

Ah, yes, the traffic on the way back from Devon. And we'd slept in the car next to the beach so we were absolutely cream crackered as well. My advice would be, book a hotel before and after.

But that's kind of like advising 'make sure you're rich'

Mol

I saw the 99 eclipse from Plymouth Hoe; travelled down especially to be in the totality.

As I recall the view was spoilt somewhat by cloud rolling in, but I shall never forget the sight of the shadow arriving from the sea, rolling over several of the outer-lying islands and then racing overhead and *whomph* someone turned out the lights.

I too was surrounded by people using flash photography to record the moment which rather spoilt the mood as the blacked-out hills were outlined in a steady stacato popping of flash bulbs.

I remember the sight as totality shifted there was something akin to a a sunset out at sea, but no sun setting just lots of orangey reddish light on the horizon.


Sometime later I took a course which included kant's critique of judgement, the sublime in art and reality, something beautiful and terrifying but not fearful.

I often think back to that sight of the shadow approaching from the sea as my memory of a sublime moment.

Any more advice on seeing a Solar Eclipse or experiences in viewing one?

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We were at home for the 1999 eclipse, which was total in our area. Unlike many surrounding areass, we had a clear sky and we just had to lay on the grass and watch.

It certainly was eerie when the birds stopped singing.

This conversation has been used as the basis for a collaborative entry:

How to Experience a Solar Eclipse: A87828637
Conversation: F48874?thread=8308849

Can you double-check that I've credited everyone, and please let me know if you have any more comments (especially if you are Beatrice, almost certainly the most experienced eclipse-spotter here).

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Thanks everyone - we've made it to the Front Page: A87829555 Experiencing a Solar Eclipse

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