Ah, rain. We’ve had rain on and off all night, and it continues now.
Long may it last. It won’t, but here’s hoping.
I think it’s the first serious rain here since a thunderstorm on Saturday 11th July. There was a dribble overnight on 25th/26th and 27th/28th, but nothing that made any difference. The paths cut into the wildflower meadow orchard are greening up again already, after just a few hours of moisture.
St Swithin got it wrong again. Thankfully.
It’s currently looking OK here for the partial eclipse next week. The UK’s biggest solar eclipse since 1999, and the next totality here isn’t until 7th October 2135, so I shan’t be around to see it. 90+% where we are. I know people who are off to Greenland, Iceland and Mallorca, hoping to see totality. I’m hoping they aren’t disappointed.
I don’t like peering at the sun through Mr BW’s rectangles of welding glass, so I finally got around to ordering a couple of pairs of eclipse glasses yesterday. I’m sure they are cheaper now than they were in 1999. Even if it’s cloudy on 12th, they will have 2 more potential outings in the next 18 months (August 2, 2027 and January 26, 2028).
August 12th is set to be a night of ‘astronomical wonders’: the eclipse occurs at New Moon, resulting in perfectly dark skies later that night – which is the peak of the Perseid meter shower. There is also a six-planet alignment before sunrise that morning. And Saturn (my favourite planet) is visible for the first time in ages.
Best dust off The Big Telescope then…
Tim W.
We have been without any rain for weeks now.
Next week, I shall be in the path of totality for the solar eclipse. I’m performing in a concert of astronomy-related music in Morella, Spain.
Blue Witch
Astronomy related music sounds interesting Tim! Holst?
Tim W.
Nothing from The Planets, I’m afraid – it’s all a capella singing.
Blue Witch
The Planets would have been a bit of a cliche…
Looking up ‘capella’ the AI told me that, “Eclipse Capella is an open-source tool for model-based systems engineering.” Slightly amusing.
It sounds like it will be an amazing experience, both for you as a performer, and for the audience. Wow! Can I commission a guest blog please?
delcatto
We would welcome rain here. Just a few brief light showers, barely a dribble of rain and the clouds move on. But today we have lots of gusts of wind, lots of clouds intermingled with sunshine. It is cooler though which is a blessed relief.
Hopefully we will see the partial eclipse, clouds depending.