Partial Solar Eclipse - October 3, 2005

 
When it comes to observing solar eclipses, I have a track record of bad luck. The best illustration is the total solar eclipse of August 11, 1999, which I tried to observe from Luxemburg, but completely missed due to poor weather.

Unfortunately, the partial solar eclipse of October 3, 2005 turned out to be not really a counter example. Whereas large parts of Flanders were reported to have clear skies, weather at my location was determined by low, thick clouds. Every now and then, clouds became just a bit thinner wth the sun peeking through. It was shining sufficiently softly, to allow following the eclipse without using special eye protection. Also photographically, I could make images without a need of a solar filter. I present a couple of my images below. All of them were made with a Konica Minolta A200 8-megapixel camera, operating at 200-mm (equiv) focal length, and often boosted with 4x digital zoom. Aperture was stepped down to f/9, to increase sharpness.

I hope to become more lucky with solar eclipses, as I have just made flight reservations for the total solar eclipse of March 2006 at Turkey !


08h08m UT


08h45m UT


09h11m UT (close to maximum eclipse)


09h41m UT


09h52m UT


10h03m UT

  

 
 

 

 

Copyright © 2005 - Tonny Vanmunster.