We were lucky enough to be in the right place, at the right time to see a total eclipse of the sun back in August 1999 - we were near Lizard Point in Cornwall and the forecast was bobbins - I vividly remember sitting in a field, above cliffs looking at a grey and over cast sky thinking I should have stayed in London and being generally grumpy, as well as cross for dragging so many people down to the South West for this when, with moments to go, the sky in our area cleared slightly and we all saw this natural wonder - the speed at which it went dark was incredible, the temperature dropped massively, yes, the birds did stop singing - but the moment the sun popped out from behind the moon and blasted us with light and heat once again was simply breathtaking - its power is something we all take for granted. Got it on VHS somewhere, need to convert it to share the experience, but for this, here's Professor Brian Cox talking about it for his fantastic Wonders Of The Solar System for the BBC;
Anyway, those that know me (Ritch) well, will know how much I look forward to the lighter nights / clocks going to BST - and to celebrate this in 2010, we had a lunar eclipse on the Winter Solstice. It's not as spectacular or as rare as a total eclipse of the sun, but a fascinating display all the same - we weren't so lucky with the cloud cover last night, so here's a stunning time lapse from Florida.
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