Of all the accursed luck! Swathes of thickest cloud like loft insulation are plastered across the entire skyscape. Damn and blast!<\/p>
The philosophical words of Patrick Moore<\/a> spring to mind: \u201cNever, ever give up. No matter how hopeless the weather may seem. Things can always come right just when you need them to.\u201d<\/p> At that second, a hazy sunbeam defiantly bursts through sending a shaft of illuminated hope into the hotel room. Could we really be gifted the clarity we crave at the vital moment?<\/p> Upon heading outdoors, a fresh feeling begins to swell amongst the gathered astronomers. And it\u2019s infectious.<\/p> Hope, even audacity, that the weather may actually cooperate with us, with still two hours before first contact.<\/p> The upbeat hopefulness swells as the cloud gaps continue broadening out. The sense of captivation is racing as all gathered make their observations in their preferred way.<\/p> Dr Paul Abel<\/a> composes his scientific diagrams in a manner befitting William Herschel<\/a>.<\/p> Pete Lawrence<\/a> has solar telescopes<\/a>, filters and cameras locked so as not to miss a micron of the event.<\/p> Kevin McNulty from the RAS charmingly creates a watercolour capturing the visuals and emotional experience of the event.<\/p> Nine minutes until totality, and the faint crescent Sun is crossed with a bulky cloud chunk.<\/p> Like a gaseous Madagascar passing over with the stealth of a Star Wars battle cruiser.<\/p> McNulty looks up and assesses this vapour monolith.<\/p> “About five minutes for that one,” he says. It turns out to be an accurate estimate.<\/p> Precisely five minutes later this crude sky blocker passes to reveal the tiniest hairline of sunlight.<\/p> One minute to totality, and only a gossamer thin stretch of cloud covers the Sun, adding ghostly texture to the view.<\/p> Then suddenly, amongst giddy cheers of awe, Bailey\u2019s beads give way to our first diamond ring of the purest light it is possible to ever behold.<\/p> Like a stage magician pulling away a silken veil, the final whisp of cloud departs.<\/p> The lunar shadow extinguishes the remaining daylight from the zenith of the sky, as though some heavenly being had flicked the switch.<\/p> Within a deep, inky electric blue sky, Venus and Jupiter materialise pin-sharp, as if to admire the view of their parent star with us gathered Earthlings.<\/p> Above the horizon the soft peach glow at the edge of the lunar shadow shimmers with the deep ocean blue of the sky.<\/p> What an ethereal borderline the two hues create.<\/p> The flamboyance of this corona is a classic: similar to 1999 but fluffed up and blow dried; if I can describe it that way.<\/p> The prominences spark majestically, like backlit crystal goblets of red wine.<\/p> Having been spoiled to more than four glorious minutes, our second diamond ring gracefully announces the end of totality.<\/p> That purest point of light returns.<\/p> I wonder if that spot of light is how the Sun appears on Jupiter.<\/p> An eerie sheen of pale ochre light bathes the entire scene in soft sepia shades, evocative of a photo taken in 1840.<\/p> Witnessing this eclipse has been like the astronomical version of Roy of the Rovers.<\/p> All had once seemed hopeless, yet here above us was the most pristinely beautiful, perfect, total solar eclipse.<\/p> The memory of this has joined the indelible array of past eclipses, etched deeply upon the heart.<\/p> At some future closing moment of mortality, as the images of life flash before the mind, I know that this event will proudly be amongst them.<\/p>![\"Paul](\"https:\/\/c02.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2024\/04\/JonCeclipse11-copy-922x1024.jpg?fit=800%2C889\")
![\"Kevin](\"https:\/\/c02.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2024\/04\/JonCeclipse9-copy-1024x971.jpg?fit=800%2C759\")
![\"Pete](\"https:\/\/c02.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2024\/04\/JonCeclipse8-copy-1024x768.jpg?fit=800%2C600\")
![\"Pete](\"https:\/\/c02.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2024\/04\/JonCeclipse10-copy-1024x879.jpg?fit=800%2C687\")
![\"Totality](\"https:\/\/c02.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2024\/04\/JonCeclipse2-copy-958x1024.jpg?fit=800%2C855\")
![\"Totality](\"https:\/\/c02.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2024\/04\/JonCeclipse3-copy-1024x696.jpg?fit=800%2C544\")