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