On Friday March 20th, hundreds of people turned out to watch the best partial eclipse of the sun visible from Preston since 1999. At maximum the sun was 90% covered by the disc of the moon. Partial thin cloud allowed for safe viewing of the eclipse, which was fortunate, because whilst JHI had provided enough eclipse viewers for 200 visitors, over 500 actually came to the viewing site at the grassy bank in front of the University main entrance.
The crowds were treated to a fine spectacle as the sun appeared to turn crescent-shaped as it was obscured by the moon. The sky darkened. Street-lights came on. Passing cars switched on their head-lights. Birds returned to roost. At maximum eclipse a slightly eerie light pervaded the scene. The apparent crescent moved to the opposite side as the moon passed on its way.
The event was covered by all local media, and JHI staff gave interviews to the Lancashire Evening Post, BBC Radio Lancashire and Rock FM, amongst others. Shortly after maximum eclipse the clouds moved in fully and no more was seen. Nevertheless, all who attended agreed that it had been a truly memorable
Image Credit: Daniel Brown, Brett Patterson, Timo Laitinen and Jackie Teehan