Catching the Solar Eclipse

In case you were living under a rock, on Monday there was a solar eclipse.  I decided that I was going to watch it.  There were a few other folks at work that decided to watch it as well.   Depending on where you lived in the country, it was a full eclipse.

 A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon moves between the Sun and the Earth and totally blocks the sun.  If the Moon's orbit were circular, a little closer to the Earth and on the same plane, there would be a solar eclipse every noon.  But that is not the case.  There is however, a light angle to the Moon's orbit which means that there is a total eclipse every so often.

 Since you can't look directly at the sun, someone brought in some glasses which allowed you to look at the sun.  I ended up trying to use them as a filter.  It kind of worked but it brought the shutter speed down so low, that I I couldn't get a steady shot.

 That person did have a telescope set up with a sheet of paper so that you could look at the sun.  It was pretty cool and I think it made for some good pictures.

The next eclipse is supposed to occur in 2024 and should be pretty close to total in Michigan.  If I want to see a total eclipse though, I can travel to Toledo.