This morning I awoke to a particularly bright and sunny morning. Today was an auspicious day with the Spring Equinox coinciding with a partial Solar Eclipse. The sun was diffused by clouds giving it a pale yellow glow but the moon however was nowhere to be seen. The absence of the illusive moon led me to notice ’my oak tree’ catching the morning sunlight so I took a photo.
I made my way to work and soon after I arrived the daylight dimmed and briefly took on a strange greenish tinge. After this brief interlude the light returned to the more sunny outlook that it had been on my short walk to the office. As to the Eclipse, a small sliver of moon was reported to have passed in front of the sun.
I was reminded of the Solar Eclipse of 11th August 1999. At the time I was working on the third floor of a building that had building wide glass windows. From my desk I was able to watch the sun and moon travelling towards each other. As the time of the eclipse approached I went outside to witness the eerie experience of totality as the moon passes in front of the sun causing the sun’s light to momentarily be erased from the sky.
New Scientist provides us with some interesting snippets regarding today’s partial eclipse.
It’s the first one since 1662 to coincide with the spring equinox. Another unusual feature is that it will beat a path over the Arctic, ending at the North Pole. A further coincidence is that the eclipse will come just a day after a lunar perigee, a point in the moon’s elliptical orbit when it swings closest to Earth and so appears larger than usual.
Coincidentally, a huge solar storm erupted on Tuesday this week and this could affect the eclipse. Researchers in Potsdam, Germany, will be watching closely to see if flares from the storm disrupt the geomagnetic signature of the eclipse, and checking the impact of the eclipse on space weather. There could, with luck, also be an aurora borealis at the same time, although such a coincidence has never been documented before. Eclipses also have a weird effect on gravity .
“Eclipses also have a weird effect on gravity”
yes I noticed that this morning, I just floated down the stairs
Is that because you had a ‘wee dram’ before you descended the stairs
Fabulous footage, Cherie. JD deserves a wee dram and so do you.
Thank you
I am sure the three of us will have a fine conversation whilst sipping the wee dram 
Well all I can say is the eclipse was a bit of an anticlimax here. It did get darker, but only just. Perhaps if it had been a brighter day in the first place it would have made more of an impact.
It was very bright here but it didn’t have a big impact. The view from that plane however is spectacular
Natural wonders are so amazing. Reminds us just how spectacular our universe is.Thanks for the clip.
Yes the universe is amazing
i just love your tree sprouting its fresh new leaves Cherie…
i wasn’t able to see the eclipse yesterday but we have been having wonderful northern lights this week…
but they were out a 1:30 a.m. and i wasn’t going outside in the -24C weather to photograph them…
but we will get many more up here in Northern Ontario….peter:)
The lighting on the tree that morning was quite something
I look forward to seeing some photos of the Northern Lights when the weather is more favouable