Thousands experience rare partial solar eclipse
By Connor Steel
THOUSANDS OF residents in Gosport and Fareham came together early on Wednesday night (August 12) to watch an once-in-a-generation solar eclipse which was a 1st such occasion since 1999 and saw our moon move in front of the sun during a two hour astronomical phenomenon that was enjoyed under perfect warm skies around this country.
The partial eclipse began at approximately 6:20pm across Southern England and peaked shortly after 7pm as the air briefly darkened; which is when the moon covered over ninety percent. Although it never reached a ‘total ellipse’, the event drew gasps from those watching using solar glasses, colanders, cereal boxes, or paper to reduce eye damage.
A lack of ‘total eclipse’ was caused by the sun, moon and earth not quite being directly in line with each other whilst a reader described the experience as “being similar to a dimmer switch being turned on or off”. The feeling occurred as the moon moved across the sun to block the majority of light, helping to cast a shadow lasting for around 90 seconds.
Crowds gathered on the coastline including Stokes Bay and Lee-on-the-Solent, whilst others were able to watch from gardens and public parks. It provided a memorable and historic event that will not happen again in the UK for another six decades, although there is due to be a smaller example next year where only 45% of the sun is due to be covered.
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PICTURES BY MATTHEW EDISON: This partial solar eclipse is watched over Whiteley using the Nikon Z6 II with the 85mm 1.8 and an ND filter. The settings were 1/8000, F16, and ISO 50 through these images (both below and main).
