Partial Solar Eclipse – May 20, 2012

Image courtesy Amos

It looked like the partial solar eclipse was going to be eclipsed entirely by clouds. We missed the first contact of the moon to the disk of the sun because of thick cloud cover, but after about 45 minutes, the thicker clouds were breaking and we could see the sun through a haze.

Heavy clouds came back as we reached the maximum for our viewing location, and I was only able to get this image of the max.

After another 30 minutes the cloud cover was getting thinner and we were able to see the sun and start taking pictures again.

Just as I was waiting to get a photo of the final contact of the disk of the moon with the sun, the clouds once again rolled over that area in the sky. By this point,  there was lots of blue sky with only scattered clouds.

Thankfully, I was able to get a shot of the final contact through a gap in the clouds. Almost missed it!

Two minutes after the eclipse ended, the sky was clearer and I was able to get a clear image of the sun with three groups of sunspots on the surface.

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