During the morning of the 29th March, Swansea Astronomical Society set up a range of safe viewing equipment outside the Fairwood Airport café to show the public views of the partial solar eclipse which reached a maximum of around 40% obscuration of the solar disc. Fortunately an approaching weather fronts progress was slower than predicted, allowing some clear spells in which to enjoy the spectacle. Various projection devices were used, from pinhole projectors, to magnified reflectors using mirrors, monocular devices and telescopes including a Seestar S50 smart scope outputting live views on a mobile phone screen. Safe filtration was also used for direct viewing using eclipse glasses, special binoculars, a doublet refractor fitted with a Herschel Wedge, a Celstron 8" Catadioptric fitted with a glass filter and a Coronado PST to view the Sun in Hydrogen Alpha light. The views through the PST were really good at times; especially the prominences close to the Sun's "horns" as the eclipse progressed. Over the two hours the eclipse took place it was good to see the smiles from the public enjoying the various views of the eclipse and for SAS members to take the opportunity to carry out outreach activities during this successful partial solar eclipse event.
Click on the image to get a closer view
Chris Bowden
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