The Last Total Eclipse of the Millennium

(You can click on any image to get a larger version. I took pictures with my 35mm camera, but I have to get the film developed. Check back in a few days).

See NASA page for a description of the path of this eclipse.  Here's a small view of the path:

path.jpg (19961 bytes)

We were nearly ideally situated in Hoofddorp - the NetApp European Headquarters - 93% or so totality.

But wait, where is Hoofddorp?  It appears on no known map.  It is north of the path of totality. Check out this composite map to give you context - about 300km north of the center of totality.

tn-weather.gif (6033 bytes)Weather maps for Europe looked grim!   Satellite maps showed clouds across much of the path of totality, so I didn't bother trying to see the real event in places like Stuttgart, Reims, Bucharest.  So I caught a partial eclipse.

tn-cloudy.jpg (5024 bytes)A quick visual check outside confirmed this.  We waited.

 

 

 

The clouds broke and people gathered.  Linda Wood is using recommended eye protection. tn-linda.jpg (10113 bytes)

 

 

 

 

 

tn-aliens.jpg (10586 bytes) It sort of looked like a bunch of people waiting for the arrival of the mother ship.  But everyone was out there from our office building, watching the sight.  tn-crowd.jpg (10530 bytes) It got noticeably darker, and someone thought it got cooler too.

 

 

 

tn-pinhole.jpg (9399 bytes)I constructed a pinhole telescope to view the event, using various boxes, paper and foil from the office.   The projected image was small - sheesh, I forgot, I haven't done this since I was a kid! tn-projection.jpg (1511 bytes)

 

 

 

 

 

If we had been in the path of totality, we would've seen a sequence like this (obviously not my pictures, and obviously we didn't see this):

 before.jpg (1034 bytes)