Partial Solar Eclipse, Jan. 26 (Monday Late Afternoon) 2009

[rodsky]

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Yep, repeating my warning here:

Sun - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

ATTENTION:

This is both a warning and disclaimer. Looking directly into the sun is a POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS activity. I believe a pair of strongly tinted sunglasses can do the trick, kay late afternoon na man, however, I DO NOT RECOMMEND IT. Therefore, I STRONGLY SUGGEST you use WELDER'S GLASS. You can buy these sa hardware store, barato ra man siguro ni.

Again, you have been cautioned. Please do not blame me if something happens to your eyes--I already gave out the precautions!



SAFETY UPDATE:

1) Colored Water Cellophane is NOT acceptable. While you feel it's comfortable, harmful infrared/UV radiation can still damage your retina. I'm using colored Cellophane ONLY for photography purposes.

2) There is another way to view the event indirectly and SAFELY. All you need is a piece of cardboard, some aluminum foil, a needle, and a piece of bond paper.



Get two pieces of cardboard--one piece colored white to project onto. Cut a square in one cardboard, then tape a piece of foil over the square. Now make a pinhole in the middle of the foil.
With the sun behind you, hold the pinhole cardboard as far from the white cardboard as you can. Remember, the farther you are from the screen, the bigger your image. (from Exploratorium: the museum of science, art and human perception )

-RODION

[zurita10]

How's the weather in your area, its pretty cloudy here. Awts!

[rodsky]

Yep, clouds rolling in. There is still a slight chance of clearing up after 4:30pm. If it doesn't clear up by then, bye-bye chances.

-RODION

[heroineofthe90s]

haaay.... cloudy lang gihapon dinhi... wa na gyud koy chance ani makakita

[rodsky]

This is why amateur astronomy as a hobby, is NOT for everyone, especially the impatient. Sometimes you get to see something, but more often is the frustration of not being able to see the event. In all my years in this hobby, since I was a child, there have been more frustrating moments than the rewarding ones, but still, the sheer feeling of awe when one DOES get to witness a remarkable celestial spectacle is something you will carry inside you all your life. This is why I love the hobby.

UPDATE:

The window of opportunity to view the event in Cebu City has passed, and sadly, clouds have spoiled the view this time around. I was at Chowking JY (2nd floor) waiting for the sky to clear up, but the clouds kept rolling by and even building up just as my magic time of 5:15 PM passed by. I just hope someone else from another part of the Philippines was able to take decent shots.

-RODION

[josephdc]

Oh shoot, I learned this too late.

The sun is about to set and the skies are cloudy.

[rodsky]

Oh shoot, I learned this too late.

The sun is about to set and the skies are cloudy.

The Sun already set behind Cebu's mountains as early as 5:28PM. It then set into the horizon (sea) at approximately 5:50pm.

-RODION

[josephdc]

^ I see. I guess that's why the sky that I saw was reddish already.

[zurita10]

Flashback....

When we went to mapuyo,leyte we could see the stars brightly at night (and they were so many!), at the horizon you could see the lights of fishermen (in there boats, fishing season). And man, it was amazing to see falling stars, and stars that move really slow (papa told us they were satellites), and papa would tell us about Orion, big dipper, small dipper.... We used our "IMAGINATION" ...

But I guess we missed it today (thanks to the clouds), maybe the next eclipse, and when would that be Rodsky?

Back to work.

[rodsky]

Flashback....

When we went to mapuyo,leyte we could see the stars brightly at night (and they were so many!), at the horizon you could see the lights of fishermen (in there boats, fishing season). And man, it was amazing to see falling stars, and stars that move really slow (papa told us they were satellites), andpapa would tell us about Orion, big dipper, small dipper.... We used our "IMAGINATION" ...

But I guess we missed it today (thanks to the clouds), maybe the next eclipse, and when would that be Rodsky?

Get back to work

July 22. Partial gihapon diri, but at least it's a noontime event. Total na cya, pero the center of totality is a line running from Eastern India-Mongolia-down-to-Shanghai-China. Ergo, no totally in the Philippines.

I really want to save up for a trip to Shanghai on that date, just to take photos/videos. Plan--leave Cebu at dawn, photograph the event at noon in Shanghai, then come back to Cebu late afternoon. No need to calculate time because we're in the same timezone as Shanghai.

-RODION