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George
McCue At Airdrie public observatory on
Wednesday 11th August 1999 we were prevailed to witness a
partial solar eclipse, an event so rare that the next solar
eclipse would not be seen for at least seventy years. The
sky was cloudy for most of that morning, until about 10.04
a.m., when the sky finally became clear enough to witness
first contact - the moon crossing over the sun. The event was well attended in the
observatory by many members of the public and also by a
large number of Astra members. The library staff even came
to see the event as well! We all watched the event by means
of solar projection using the Cooke 6" refracting telescope
with the clockwork drive working well all through the
complete event, with some manual adjustment of right
ascension to keep up with the sun crossing the
sky. At 12.32 p.m. the sun was about 85%
covered by the moon and we all noticed a considerable change
in temperature and lowering of the light intensity. I was
amazed with all the changes and the atmosphere was
electric! The event finished at 1.17 p.m. when
the moon finally left the edge of sun. The days event was a
total success and once again, we pulled off a most memorable
event and the weather was most kind to us! My thanks, to all
members who was able to help out on the day.
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