It’s even more orange than me!
Eclipse dazzles the Trumps
MILLIONS stood and watched in awe yesterday as a rare total eclipse of the sun occurred across the world.
The spectacle was most visible across a vast swathe of the US, from Oregon on the Pacific coast to Florida on the Atlantic side.
The phenomenon plunged the country in a state of eclipse mania. Around 100million Americans were estimated to have travelled to national parks, sports grounds, and specially organised festivals to catch a view of the once-in-a generation sight.
President Donald Trump watched from the White House, with First Lady Melania joining him on the Truman balcony on the second floor to see the cosmic spectacle.
Those hoping for a glimpse of the event in Britain, however, were largely disappointed. Cloudy skies blotted out what would have been a partial eclipse for all but a lucky few.
In the States, this was the first time since 1918 that the path of darkness had crossed both the Pacific and Atlantic coasts, and the first total solar eclipse to make landfall exclusively in the US since independence in 1776.
‘The Great American Eclipse’, as it had been dubbed, was expected to be the most photographed eclipse in history. And the heavens did not disappoint.
For two minutes and 40 seconds the moon’s shadow fell across the Earth, plunging the daytime into darkness, as viewers got to enjoy the rare spectacle of a crescent sun rather than a crescent moon.
Another strange phenomenon also occurred called Baily’s beads. These are bright spots of light around the moon’s shadow – caused by the uneven effect of sunlight shining through the moon’s rugged valleys.
Professor Brian Cox, commentating for the BBC’s Stargazing Live said: ‘We were surprised by the brightness of Baily’s beads. It goes to show every eclipse is different.’
Millions of Americans gathered along a stretch from Oregon to South Carolina to watch the spectacle.
With them were a group of British scouts from Salisbury, Wiltshire, who had spent two years fundraising to camp in the path of the eclipse at Yellowstone National Park.
Former President George Bush senior, 93, tweeted a picture of himself and his family watching the eclipse with the caption: ‘Four generations of family taking in the partial eclipse today. Already looking forward to the next one in Texas in 2024!’
Many Americans attended ‘eclipse parties’, playing music from a list released by Nasa which included songs such as Here Comes The Sun by the Beatles and Fly Me To The Moon by Frank Sinatra. Other enthusiasts had painted their nails with depictions of the eclipse.
More than 12million people live in the 70-mile wide path of totality – the area that saw the sun completely blacked out.
Southernmost Illinois had the longest period of darkness at two minutes and 44 seconds. Carbon- dale in Illinois was one of the hotspots, billing itself as the ‘Eclipse Crossroads of America’ because it will also be in the path of darkness when the next US eclipse occurs in 2024.
A popular spot was Florida zoo, where sightseers went to see the effect of the eclipse on the animals. Flamingos squawked and began to roost in confusion as the sun was briefly blotted out.
In the UK gloomy skies spoilt the chances of most Britons to see the partial eclipse, where only around 4 per cent of the sun would have been blocked out by the moon.
Twitter was inundated with photos of cloudy skies, accompanied with the hashtag #eclipse.
Pictures from Manchester and Sheffield revealed the views were less than spectacular in the North, while one poster in Dorset wrote: ‘Waited to see the partial eclipse on Southbourne beach this evening, but sun went behind cloud just before 8pm.’
Another user tweeted a cloudfilled skyline, joking: ‘This view of the eclipse tonight is so so incredible in the UK, so happy to be able to see it.’
One did manage to capture a picture, however, which showed the moon slightly covering the sun alongside the caption: ‘ Solar eclipse taken just before sunset from Oxfordshire. Not brilliant,
‘Surprised by the brightness’
but I got it through the clouds.’ There have only been eight total solar eclipses in the last 500 years visible from Britain.
But don’t hold your breath for the next one because you will have a long wait – it isn’t expected until September 23, 2090.
And scientists say that the moon is gradually moving further and further away from the Earth, so one day eclipses will no longer occur.
With the moon receding at the rate of about one and a half inches a year, in 620million years there will be no more eclipses because the moon will be too far away to block out the sun.
‘Not brilliant, but I got it’