A Partial Eclipse of the Heart

The Moon crossing the Sun, a few sunspots marking its surface.

It’s been over ten years since the UK’s last glimpse at an eclipse. It was only partial (both this time and before), with up to 96% coverage. But it was still a spectacle. Breathtaking cosmic events like these fill every observer with wondrous awe, sprinkled with the existential anxiety of knowing how small we are in the grand scale of universe.

This eclipse marked my first with a proper camera. Pairing it with my 100-400 mm lens — and draping it in a solar filter — meant I could resolve sunspots on the solar surface. Seeing our local star magnified to such a degree on the LCD screen (let alone my computer, later on) gave me such a giddy feeling, like a child seeing the Moon through a telescope for the first time.

I captured a bunch of images. For a little zhuzh, I tried creating a time-sequence collage people see online. Working in GIMP was incredibly frustrating, but the results came out well for a first try.

The phases of the partial solar eclipse, reaching up to 96% coverage.

I’m eagerly awaiting next year’s total solar eclipse, hoping to shoot it in Spain. Stay tuned for the tale. Hopefully the results will be worth it.