April 2014 Eclipse

The partially eclipsed sun over the coast of the Southern Ocean in southeastern Australia. Click on the second photo to see a beautiful close-up view of the eclipse just before disappearing behind the clouds. From the photographer: “The weather forecast for the eclipse was abysmal – a huge band of cloud covering all of Victoria and Tasmania but on the morning of April 29th the cloud forecast model showed a large gap in the clouds 300 km west of my hometown Melbourne coming just at the right time for the eclipse near the sunset. So in a snap decision I quickly threw all the gear in the car and drove for three hours through rain and storm. It rained when I was setting up but the eclipsed sun was shining at the same time. There were other challenges too. I also had to keep tourists away from my tripods as some were thinking if they put their smartphone next to my telescopes and lenses they will get a better picture than a meter away!”