Eclipse Girl Summer

Summary

AWESOME ASTRONOMY – "Eclipse Girl Summer" (Episode 178)

Hosts: Paul & Dr Jeni | Date: July 24, 2026

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Episode Overview

This special summer edition of Awesome Astronomy delivers a relaxed, chatty vibe while diving deep into the upcoming major astronomical event: the 2026 total solar eclipse—the best over the UK since 2015 and the first total eclipse over Europe since 1999. Paul and Jeni recount their recent adventures, gush about trips and books, and share everything listeners need to know to enjoy this rare celestial treat, including practical viewing tips, eclipse science, and a bonus preview of the Perseids meteor shower. The episode closes with listener emails from around the globe and an enthusiastic encouragement to experience summer stargazing events to the fullest.

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Summer Catch-up & Banter (00:00–20:23)

Key Points

• Warm, sunny summer in the UK: Hosts reflect on the unusually hot weather; tales of adapting to the heat.
• Recent personal highlights:
  • Paul: Talk at Bromsgrove Astro Society on lunar exploration; shout-out for audience engagement (01:29). Attended British Grand Prix at Silverstone for his dad's 70th—shared festival-like atmosphere and a hilarious story of F1 drivers in Lego cars getting stuck in the gravel (05:51).
  • Jen: Reminisces about missing free pit passes at Silverstone as a student; worked summer jobs with helicopter rides (05:20).
• Pitbull concert in Cardiff: Paul dressed up with a bald cap and suit for the full experience (10:14). Shared nostalgia for club music and attending with friends.
  • “Me and my friend went to see Pitbull… If you don’t think you know a Pitbull song, you will know Pitbull songs.” – Paul (10:28)
• Jen’s summer: Finishing university term, prepping shows and festivals, and a scenic train/boat holiday to the Orkneys—highlighted the charm, clear blue waters, and peacefulness of Orkney compared to Mediterranean destinations (14:12).
  • "Why anyone bothers going to Mediterranean Islands, I don't know, because the water is clear blue, the beaches are golden, the views are spectacular." – Jen (16:29)
  • Fun note: The Orkneys have a population less than 20,000 but over 60,000 cows (17:16).
  • Practical astronomy tidbit: Up north, the sun barely sets in summer—no dark skies, so no stargazing there this season.
• Reading habits: Jen read three books during her trip, including John Wyndham’s The Chrysalids; discussed books as escapism and inspiration.
  • “That’s more books than I’ve read this year.” – Paul (18:47)

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Main Segment: The 2026 Solar Eclipse (20:23–46:51)

What’s Happening & When? (20:44–24:21)

• August 12, 2026: Key date for total solar eclipse over Europe.
  • “This is the key date for your diary. 12 August.” – Paul (21:26)
• Totality path: Across Greenland, Iceland, northeast Spain, Balearic Islands; partial eclipse visible over much of Europe, N.W. Africa, Canada, and NE USA.
• UK experience: Deep partial eclipse, up to 96% coverage depending on location.
  • “From the UK, it’s a really deep partial. Up to 96% of the Sun being covered.” – Paul (23:15)
  • Starts just after 6 pm, maximum after 7 pm, ends just after 8 pm local UK time.

How to View & Prepare (24:21–28:47)

• Safety first: Use reputable eclipse glasses (ISO 12312-2 certified).
  • “Make sure you go to a reputable dealer for your eclipse glasses… ISO 1-2-3122.” – Paul (21:57)
• Find your best spot: Due to the eclipse’s timing, the Sun will be low; recommends seeking high western horizon spots (hills, west-facing viewpoints).
  • “I would recommend… jump in the car, get your bike, whatever, and find that spot.” – Jen (26:24)
• Weather optimism: Cloud isn’t always the end—some viewing possible through patchy skies.

What to Expect & Enjoy (28:48–33:04)

• First contact excitement: Hosts love the anticipation and moments of the lunar shadow beginning/ending.
  • “My favorite thing… is trying to spot that moment of first contact when the moon just starts peeking in front of the Sun… so special.” – Paul (29:29)
• Slow pace beauty: “It allows you to slow down and just breathe.” – Paul (31:59)
• Sketching and tracking: Jen encourages recording the event by sketching changes as the eclipse progresses.

Viewing Methods & Safety Tips (33:04–40:43)

• For kids and groups:
  • Safe projection via colanders (multiple mini-images on a surface), pinhole projectors, binocular/telescope projection (never direct viewing).
  • “All you need to do [with a colander] is… you’ll get miniature versions of the eclipse coming through all the holes.” – Paul (34:17)
• Telescope users:
  • Use approved solar filters on the front of the scope [e.g., Baader solar film]; secure them well.
  • Never look at the Sun through the eyepiece without a verified filter; avoid using viewfinders even with filters.
  • Don’t use welding masks, sunglasses, or reflected images in water/mirrors!
    • “Do not use welders’ masks… they do NOT filter the whole spectrum of the Sun.” – Paul (39:05)

Eclipse Science: What’s Actually Happening? (40:43–46:51)

• The mechanics:
  • A total solar eclipse occurs when the moon’s tilted orbit lines up at new moon, so it completely covers the disk of the sun as viewed from Earth.
  • Only the narrow path of the shadow (umbra) experiences totality; much wider penumbra for partial eclipse.
  • Stunning cosmic coincidence: Sun is 400x larger and 400x further than the Moon, so they appear the same size.
  • “Eventually there will be the last total eclipse and it will never ever happen again.” – Paul (42:41)
• Eclipse rarity:
  • Any specific spot on Earth sees totality only every 318 years or so; UK’s next is 2090.
  • “The last totality in the UK… literally just crossed Cornwall… and it was cloudy.” – Jen (45:29)

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Bonus: Perseids Meteor Shower (46:51–50:21)

• Perfect timing: August 12 is also peak night for the Perseids, with a new moon for best viewing.
  • “It is, of course, not the most prolific meteor shower of the year, but probably the best because it happens in summer, so we’re not freezing.” – Paul (47:06)
• Tips for viewing:
  • Find a deck chair/blanket, look NE towards Perseus, relax eyes to take in as much sky as possible.
  • Expect up to 1 meteor every few minutes under good skies; chance of more during outbursts (discussed previous years).
• Double event excitement:
  • “If the weather’s good, it’s going to be a good night of astronomy that night.” – Jen (49:41)

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Listener Emails & Community Questions (52:22–66:48)

• AstroCamp bookings: Go live August 1, 2026 (53:08)
• Science funding and advocacy: Listeners share concerns about UK science budget cuts—encourage political engagement (54:51)
• Speaking invitations: Paul & Jen are open to virtual talks for astronomy clubs worldwide, including US east/west coast (56:28, 57:05, 58:08)
• International listeners: Shout-outs to listeners in Japan (59:02), with anecdotes about sunrise times and cross-continent livestreaming
• DIY stargazing tech: Marcel shares a Raspberry Pi-driven E-ink, real-time star map for home decor (61:07)
• Nerdy acronyms: Discussion of "KELT" (Kilo degree Extremely Little Telescope) and astronomers’ penchant for hand-waving rounding (65:04)
  • “700 degrees is about a thousand. To the nearest thousand, it is a thousand. So it is another just as you hate your acronyms, you can hate your astronomers for their order of magnitude hand wavy...” – Paul (65:47)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “It is summer vibes with a focus on the eclipse. So it is a very relaxed episode. It is chatty McChatty.” – Paul (00:51)
• “Why anyone bothers going to Mediterranean Islands, I don’t know, because the water is clear blue, the beaches are golden, the views are spectacular.” – Jen (16:29)
• “This is a total eclipse over Europe, also over Greenland, Iceland… But from the UK, it’s a really deep partial. Up to 96%… it’s seriously one to stop and take a look at.” – Paul (23:15)
• “It allows you to slow down and just breathe.” – Paul (31:59)
• “Use reputable eclipse glasses… ISO 1-2-3122.” – Paul (21:57)
• “Don’t use welding masks. Don’t use sunglasses. Don’t look at reflections in buckets of water.” – Paul/Jen (39:05–39:44)

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Key Timestamps for Main Segments

• 00:00–10:58: Summer chit-chat, events, and personal updates
• 14:12–20:23: Orkneys holiday, travel tales, and reading (Jen)
• 20:44–24:21: Eclipse date, importance, and path
• 24:21–28:47: Where/when/how to watch, safety, and practical tips
• 29:29–33:04: Eclipse experience, pacing, sketching
• 33:04–40:43: Safe viewing for kids/families; dangers to avoid
• 40:43–46:51: The science of eclipses, frequency, and rarity
• 46:51–50:21: Perseids meteor shower preview
• 52:22–66:48: Listener emails, AstroCamp, advocacy, international audience, stargazing tech, and nerdy acronym talk

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The Awesome Astronomy Vibe

Fun, silly, and informative, this episode balances science, practical advice, and the hosts’ authentic friendship. Paul and Jen encourage everyone—hardcore and casual stargazers alike—to seize this summer’s rare astronomical opportunities and share them with friends, family, or astronomy clubs.

“Have a great eclipse, people. Have a great Perseids. Have a great summer! We will be back… but we’ll probably mention it again.” – Jen (66:48)

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Resources Mentioned

• Eclipse timings/calculator:
  • timeanddate.com – personalized eclipse details
  • Sky Guide app – free eclipse widget features
• AstroCamp info:
  • astrocamp.awesomeastronomy.com (opening August 1)
• Go Stargazing:
  • For eclipse-themed events near you

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If you missed the live episode, this summary gives you all the energy, tips, insights, and enthusiasm the hosts poured into making Eclipse Girl Summer a summer astronomy highlight!

Transcript

[Jen]

Foreign. Hello and welcome to episode 178 Eclipse Special. It's the summer people. It's the summer. Summertime and the living is really, really warm.

[Paul]

Really warm.

[Jen]

Really warm.

[Paul]

Hey, I'm not complaining anymore. We've actually had a summer. We never get summers.

[Jen]

Yeah. Oh yeah, no, I've actually completely acclimatized now.

[Paul]

I'm like, yeah, it's cool now. I'm like, yeah, I just spend my day, I'm just perpetually a little bit sweaty at the minute and I'm just

[Jen]

used to it and I just spend my day in hot pants and you

[Paul]

know, just, you know, it's all good vibes.

[Jen]

It's all vibes. There's an image for all of you.

[Paul]

Oh, actually this is what this episode is. This is summer vibes with a focus on the eclipse. So it is a very relaxed episode. It is chatty McChatty. This is why there's no formal introduction.

[Jen]

It is. Imagine us sitting on a beach now. We're just sipping cocktails and like, you know, watching the sunset waves. Yeah. You know, trying to, trying to not get a bikini line tan and.

[Paul]

Yeah.

[Jen]

What have you been up to? What's, what's, what's been cool in your world?

[Paul]

I've got to look at my calendar now. I like my brain is so frazzled

[Jen]

and she's so heat stroked and just. She can't even remember what she's done now. She's such.

[Paul]

I know I can't. She's like, what I did do last night. And I had like, I just such a good time. So I went up to Bromsgrove to give a talk to Bromsgrove Astro Society. So hello if anyone from Bromsgrove is, is listening. And I did my modern lunar exploration.

[Jen]

Nice.

[Paul]

I really enjoy it. I have good fun with that one. And you know what, they were such an engaged crowd. They were like answering my questions. We did about half an hour of questions at the end, I think and fantastic questions, things that like I hadn't thought about before. Like has anyone done experiments to try and grow plants using lunar regolith? And I was like, oh, I don't actually know. And then someone else in the audience was like, oh, actually literally a week ago I read about an article where they are starting to do this and they're going to like pump the regolith full of nutrients and stuff to try and see if they can use as like a base. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It was fantastic. It was really, really good. I gotta be fair, good people of Bronze Grove. Yeah. Yeah. And spoke to Cardiff as well. My Drake Equation Tour, which I did at last. Astro Camp. Yeah, it was good fun. But I think the biggest thing that I've done since we last spoke was. Yeah, you're looking at me with blank face.

[Jen]

I What, like, do mosquito impressions? I know exactly what you're doing.

[Paul]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Silverstone, baby.

[Jen]

You went to Silverstone. I know. You saw the.

[Paul]

I did.

[Jen]

You saw the gp. You saw the Grand Prix.

[Paul]

Yes. And this was for. My dad was 70 in February.

[Jen]

Nice.

[Paul]

He doesn't mind me saying. And that was his present because he is a lifelong fan of the Formula One.

[Jen]

Nice.

[Paul]

He watches it literally every single year. And we were like, right, big birthday, big present, let's go to Silverstone. And you know what? I'd go again. It's bloody brilliant. Yeah.

[Jen]

Yeah, it's Great. I'm an F1 fan. I've only been to the Canadian Grand Prix years and years and years ago, which was. And it was great. It's great. Just the atmosphere, it's just really good. It's really good fun.

[Paul]

It's like a mini festival. Like, we had no idea.

[Jen]

And Silverstone, particularly Silverstone, is famous for being like.

[Ralph]

It's.

[Jen]

It's like the. One of, like, the key Formula One races in the calendar. It's just like. It's the big festival of motorsport.

[Ralph]

It's.

[Jen]

It's.

[Paul]

Yeah, because there was, like, you know, stalls selling merch and there's food stalls and there's drink stores and there's game stalls. Like, you know, literally, like a mini festival. Yeah, it goes on, like, Thursday to Sunday. We only went on the Sunday, but

[Jen]

Silverstone's active, like, all the time. I was. I was at Silverstone about two weeks before the Grand Prix because my son was racing there and. And. And it was great. It was. It's just really great kind of atmosphere. And the pit lane and being in the pit lane and all the rest of it, and, you know, it's just really. It's really cool. And you say, like, there's food everywhere, there's people doing stuff, and it's. It's just. It's really good fun. And. And, yeah, there's all different races going on as well, so it was, like, stuff my son was doing, and there's other different formulas and different things going on, all that sort of stuff. It's just really good. It's brilliant. So, yeah, it's a really, like. Like, fun, fab place, actually. And the Grand Prix, I imagine I missed out going on to the British Grand Prix for free. In fact, I was gonna get paid to do it. I know. With pit passes. When I was. Where was it? It was 1995 or six common. Which year it was now. One of those two. Long time ago. Galaxy far, far away.

[Paul]

Yeah.

[Jen]

And because I used to work, my summer job as a. As a. As a young student was to work for a helicopter pleasure flight company.

[Paul]

Oh, my God.

[Jen]

I don't know. How about this? Yeah, yeah. You know Cabaret. I don't know if they still exist, actually. They said Cabaret. They used to be based in Boreham Wood, and it's like those, you know, when you go to Fates and air shows, you go and have a ride in a helicopter.

[Paul]

Yeah.

[Jen]

And so I was. It was like the posiest job ever. It was basically 18 went and did a fire training rescue course at Stansted Airport, like, how to. How to get people out of a burning airplane, which is really cool. And then we had a big Hilux truck. It was a fire truck. And we could walk around in, like, dressed as firemen, being really posy. 18 sunglasses, all the rest of it. And then, you know, this helicopter. And some of us would ride in the helicopter to go to the, like, whatever, Fate or air show. And some of us would go in the fire truck so, you know, drive it up. And then we would, you know, just like, strap people into this helicopter, give them the briefing. Like, don't jump out of the helicopter because there's a big spinny thing above your head and all this sort of. Dude, don't wave your arms up and all this sort of stuff. And we were there for the insurance, basically. If it crashed, the company could say, yeah, we had some people there that could try and rescue them.

[Paul]

Okay, I got you. Yeah.

[Jen]

You know, it was just one of those stupid things. So we would just death strap people and Silverstone came up and it was like, yeah, look, we need crew to go down Silverstone. Unfortunately, I had been selected for something with the. The air force to go to Romania for a couple of weeks as a sort of representative of the United Kingdom and go and, like, be in Romania

[Paul]

in this big name, which is amazing.

[Jen]

Which was amazing itself. But it was like, literally like I was going the date. Like, I think I had to be. I had to be RF Uxbridge in West London the Sunday night that the Silverstone was. And literally there was just no way I could, like, have all my kit packed, do the whole Silverstone thing, and

[Paul]

then get down there and then get

[Jen]

to Uxbridge and be, like, arriving on the like when I was supposed to parade and like be there and you know, do all the thing.

[Paul]

Yeah.

[Jen]

And so I was gutted because I'd missed out on free pit passes and everything. It was like.

[Paul]

That is gutted, to be fair. That is absolutely gutted.

[Jen]

Yeah. Long time ago. Long time ago. They were still coal powered, the cars then.

[Paul]

I tell you what they did do, which I didn't know that they did. My mum and dad knew about it, but I didn't know they did it. They did. They got Lego. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because they did the historical cars.

[Jen]

Yeah.

[Paul]

I was like, oh, this. That was really cool. And then they did like this Lego.

[Jen]

All the Formula one drivers driving these little Lego cars.

[Paul]

Yeah, it was so funny because it was. It's like all the. All the drivers for that race were. Did a lap in these Lego cars and it was brilliant because like they started off and you could see that some of them didn't really want to be doing this, but they had to do it. And so a bunch of them, it was like six of them or something, decided they were going to take a shortcut across the gravel.

[Jen]

Yes, I saw that on the bob. Yeah.

[Paul]

Yeah. And they just did not account for the weight of a LEGO car, like.

[Jen]

No, it just.

[Paul]

Yeah, they just stopped. They just stuck in the. It was hilarious.

[Jen]

Yeah. So, yeah. Yeah, it's good fun. Yeah, it was a good, good race as well. It was a good race and everything. It was cracking.

[Paul]

It was. Yeah. We had quite a bit of action because we were on. Oh, come on. The name of the corner.

[Jen]

Are we on Stowe or. You're on.

[Paul]

No. L. Left field.

[Jen]

Luffield. Of course. Yes.

[Paul]

Yeah. So we were on. We were on Luffield. So we had the. The like chicane corner. We could see all of that. And then we could see like the sort of short straight they've got before they go round the bend up to the long straight and. Which used to be the starting straight, but now they do Hamilton straight as a starting. So we have. So it's the slowest corner on the lap. So we could really like actually watch the cars and then watch them speed off. And because it's a slow corner, that's where they were gearing up for all their overtaking. Right. So it was. Yeah, it was good. It was. And I gotta be fair, big shout out to my mum for organizing this because the day the tickets got released, I was flying back from America. So I had to say to her, you have to buy the tickets because I. I'm literally in the air. I can't do shit. So big up. My mum, she made a really good choice.

[Jen]

Nice, nice, cool.

[Paul]

And the other thing I've been up to.

[Jen]

Go on. See, look. She starts off saying, where's my diary? I don't know what I've been doing.

[Paul]

What have I done?

[Jen]

I've just sat on my bum and done nothing. Says Jenny. Go on, go on. What else did you do?

[Paul]

Donned my bald cap. Suited her.

[Jen]

Yeah. What was that you said, that picture. And I literally, like, I have no idea what you would. You look like.

[Paul]

I look like Pitbull is what I look like. Because that's who we were going to see. So me and my friend went to see Pitbull and so there'll be some people. As soon as I said the bald cap and the suit, there'll be some people listening, being like, I know exactly what trended. So I went to see Pitbull in Cardiff and it is tradition for anyone who doesn't know who Pitbull is, Pitbull is a rapper. He's absolutely iconic. He's been around for decades. And if you don't think you know a Pitbull song, you will know Pitbull songs. He's produced so many number ones and he's been on so many number ones.

[Jen]

I just thought you looked like Max Wall.

[Paul]

I don't know who that is.

[Jen]

You don't know Maxwell. It's an old British comedian, used to wear, like, leggings and a suit and a shirt and they had a bald head. You just look like Max Wall.

[Paul]

Maybe. Maybe I also looked like him.

[Jen]

Yeah. I was like, you sent this photo going, like, look at what we're doing. We're doing this. And you said the whole little video

[Paul]

thing, the little video of us changed.

[Jen]

Yeah. And I was like, why are they doing Maxwell impressions? I don't get it. I don't understand.

[Paul]

To be fair, the song in the background of that Quick Change video was a Pitbull song. That was your clue.

[Jen]

I don't know. I don't know. Pitbull.

[Paul]

Look, look, you definitely know at least one Pitbull song. I will find a Pitbull song.

[Jen]

You know, I listen to Radio 4 and Radio 3.

[Paul]

There is going to be one that you have heard in an advert or saying, we will find it.

[Jen]

Adverts. You think I watched, like, telly?

[Paul]

Yes. Seriously, like, you will. No one even. Because, like, my mum and dads were like, who the hell is Pitbull? It was so funny, though, because my mum Was like, who are you going to see, Bulldog? I was like, yes, Mum, absolutely going to see Bulldog.

[Jen]

I'm so not down with the youth anymore when it comes to things.

[Paul]

Well, to be fair, like, Pitbull was massive when, like, we were teenagers, early 20s when we were hitting the clubs.

[Jen]

So when was that? Huge.

[Paul]

So this is like early 2000 and tens.

[Jen]

Oh, you see, I was. I was a young parent at that point. I had small children, I had babies and sh T. And it was like, yeah, I was needing that crap at that point, you know?

[Paul]

Yeah. So for us, it was amazing. It was hugely nostalgic because it was all our, like, late teens, early 20s. So we were just living our best life. Little John was the main support act who discovered Pitbull and again was like iconic from our clubbing days and did like so many classics. So honestly, it was like the best night.

[Jen]

That was, that night.

[Paul]

And at his Hyde park show, he got the Guinness World Record for the most people wearing a bald cap in one place.

[Jen]

That's mad.

[Paul]

It was mad. It was good, though.

[Jen]

I. I say, I think it was a. I can't remember. I was passing through recently, but I saw a load of people dressed like that getting on the train and I was like, oh, yeah, they would have

[Paul]

been going to see Pitbull.

[Jen]

There's more. Maxwell. Maxwell. Impressionists.

[Paul]

Oh, has he got a concert or something?

[Jen]

Maxwell's back on tour. Jenny went to see him.

[Ralph]

He's back.

[Jen]

I thought he was dead, but no, Maxwell is back. Yeah. No. So, yeah, yeah. I didn't know what you were doing.

[Paul]

I was having fun and being silly.

[Jen]

You were having fun and being silly and it really looked like you were having a lot of fun and being silly.

[Paul]

Yeah. Right. What have you been up to? Because that's what I've been up to. Come on. You gotta compete with my bold cap.

[Jen]

Finishing term has been the big. The big one and preparing shows. So I've got a whole summer of shows and festivals and that sort of malarkey. But I've been. I went on a brief little holiday because it was. It was, you know, we slotted in a little cheeky holiday and we went to the Orkneys.

[Paul]

And how did you get to the Orkneys?

[Jen]

By train. And that there ferry.

[Paul]

And not just one train.

[Jen]

Oh, no, no. It was eight trains to get up to the Orkneys on the way up, which is amazing. 7 on the way back and a ferry. Yeah, it was absolutely amazing. Absolutely amazing. I mean, I love train travel.

[Paul]

You've sent really Cool pictures.

[Jen]

Oh, it's beautiful. Absolutely stunning. I mean, we love train travel. I love. I'm one of these people. We go on holiday, we travel by train and travel across. We've been across India on trains and Canada on trains and Europe on trains. We haven't been all. And so, yeah, we left that there in west country and we traveled our way up through the United Kingdom and stopped overnight in Perth briefly to.

[Paul]

Not Australia.

[Jen]

Not Australia, no.

[Paul]

Do you know what? I got temporarily very confused because I didn't know that there was a Perth in the uk.

[Jen]

You didn't know there was a Perth in Scotland, Literally the place it's named after.

[Paul]

Yeah, well, I just didn't know. I didn't know that Perth in Australia was named after a place in Scotland. I thought it was just an invented word, you know. But to be fair, I've never been to Scotland, so.

[Jen]

Some Celt you are.

[Paul]

I've been to Cornwall. I just haven't been to Scotland yet.

[Jen]

Which used to be called West Wales anyway, generally, genuinely. So the. Yes, we went to bed because my wife has an aunt in Perth, so we stopped with her overnight and then the next day we continued our journey up to Inverness and then up to Thurso, which is basically like the end of the railway network in Britain. It's literally. You get to like the end. It's like you reach through, it's like a buffer. It's like there's the end, there's the end of the railway network and then you, you get a little taxi and you, you go to the port. The Scrabs. Scrabster. Scrabster, yes. And then you take a 90 minute ferry over to Stromness, which is in the Orchids. And the Orkneys are absolutely stunning and beautiful and why anyone bothers going to Mediterranean Islands, I don't know, because the water is clear blue, the beaches are golden, the views are spectacular. The weather was gorgeous.

[Paul]

Oh, it was, yeah.

[Ralph]

The.

[Jen]

The food was spectacular. I was literally.

[Paul]

The pictures that you were sending was stunning.

[Jen]

I cannot, I cannot wax lyrical enough about the Orkneys. They were just absolutely beautiful and stunning and the people were gorgeous and wonderful and sexy and welcoming and lovely and everything. And, yeah, it's just brilliant. And it's brilliant because the whole, the, the whole of the Orkneys is like. It's actually quite a big load of islands. It's quite a big area. It has a little air network so, you know, planes that fly around between the different places and things, and loads of ferries and so It's a big old place, but it's got a population less than my local town in Colne. It's got a population of less than 20,000 people.

[Paul]

Love that.

[Jen]

Oh, it's brilliant.

[Paul]

What a factoid.

[Jen]

And then. But it's got over 60,000 cows.

[Paul]

They're just like whales, isn't it?

[Jen]

Yeah, exactly.

[Paul]

You've got three sheep for every person.

[Jen]

They got three cows for every cows.

[Paul]

Yeah.

[Jen]

And it was just gorgeous. Just such a gorgeous place. And it was really so far north because it was. It was. It was brilliant. It was 13 degrees most of the time. Yeah. It was 39 back here. It was 13.

[Paul]

Yeah. We were, like, sweating our tits off. And you're there like, oh, I might put a jumper on.

[Jen]

I might put a jumper on. You know what? I'm. Put a coat on today. There might be a little bit of rain in the air. It was gorgeous because it was so nice to just be somewhere. We could walk around and not sweat all the time and. Yeah. It was just. I cannot stress how gorgeous the Orkneys are. Just what a wonderful, wonderful place. I just.

[Paul]

You've made me want to go.

[Jen]

I would live there in a hobby. It was just so lovely. And although from an astronomy point of view, it was still. The sun was still up at 25 past 10.

[Paul]

You did not get any astronomy.

[Jen]

No astronomy. Literally. It was. It was like sort of. It was so weird because you were sort of saying, it's really daylight, sun's still up and it's like, it's 20 past 10. It's that far north. It's. Yeah. But what a place. I. I would go back in a heartbeat. It's and. And managed to read three books. See, this. This was. This is the kind of holiday I like. I read a book up on the way, like, all the way on the trains, eight trains. Read a book, read a book while I was there. Read a book on the way back.

[Paul]

I think that's more books than I've read this year. I've read one.

[Jen]

Yeah.

[Paul]

And I've nearly finished second. I just, like, have had no time this year to read and I have bought many books. I've got so many bits I haven't

[Jen]

read, I can't remember what it is.

[Paul]

Oh, yeah. They're two separate hobbies.

[Jen]

Yeah.

[Paul]

The Japanese books and buying books.

[Jen]

Yeah.

[Paul]

Are two hobbies.

[Jen]

No, I've got. I'm just looking. I've got over here on my. I've got a to read pile and they have read pile. So it's just like you know, nice. And so far at the moment, my to read pile has 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 books left on it.

[Paul]

Yeah.

[Jen]

My red pile starting in January has 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 on it.

[Paul]

That's pretty good going. That's like two a month.

[Jen]

Yeah. My intention always, like read a book in a couple of weeks as well. Like a, you know, life and everything. But I read three in a week. But that was, that was. I was the top.

[Paul]

Yeah. He's impressive.

[Jen]

Yeah. I was happy that. Good books, good books. I have to say the last one was particularly because one I've been meaning to for years, science fiction book called John Wyndham.

[Ralph]

The Chrysalids.

[Jen]

Good if you know, if you know your Handmaid's Tale.

[Paul]

Yeah.

[Jen]

It's the book that Margaret Atwood says inspired her to write the Handmaid's Tale.

[Paul]

Okay.

[Jen]

John Wyndham.

[Paul]

Oh, I like that. Yeah. I'll have to add that it's a really good to read pile.

[Jen]

Good old 50s science fiction is great. There we are. But that's me. That's me. I've just been eating. Eating. Should we eat food in the Orkneys?

[Paul]

Yeah. And all that daylight in the Orkneys, I think is a nice segue onto our episodes.

[Jen]

Let's do it. Let's do it. Let's do the thing.

[Paul]

Let's do the thing.

[Jen]

Cue music.

[Paul]

So, of course, our special episode this month, it has to be about the best eclipse over the UK since, well, 2015. And it's the first total eclipse since 1999 across Europe.

[Jen]

Yes, yes, it is. I mean that the one we had in 2015 was. Was not bad. I can't remember what percentage it was, but it was, it was, it was a really good one.

[Paul]

Yeah. It was over 90% of the sun covered from Scotland in 2015. So it was, you know, it was on par with this one. And the date we're talking about, this is the key date for your diary. 12 August.

[Jen]

Yep. Da da da da da. 12th of August. 12th of August.

[Paul]

Put that in your diary because as we'll come on to later, it's also the peak of the Perseids.

[Jen]

Yeah, yeah.

[Paul]

So we'll talk about the po seeds after. But my God, what a day for astronomy. 12 August. Which means as. As this episode goes out slightly later in the month, but as this episode goes out, you have still got time to get your eclipse glasses. Make sure you go to a reputable dealer for your eclipse glasses and you want to look out, make sure you've got the safety code on these glasses. And that safety code is ISO 1-2-3122. Yes. If you've got that, you're good. Sometimes there's a couple of numbers after it but if you've got that, you

[Jen]

know that they are 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 2.

[Paul]

Yeah, yeah. They are proper solar eclipse glasses. But before we get on to like the safety and, and the how to, how to view and everything, let's talk about what is actually happening because it is sick. It is epic like. So this is a total eclipse over Europe, also over Greenland, Iceland and it goes over North Eastern Spain and then it ends down at the Balearic Islands. So that's where the path of totality goes. But of course it's a partial for much, much more land. So most of Europe sees a partial, including the uk, Northwest, Africa, all of Canada pretty much. And the very sort of north eastern top bit of America will also see a partial eclipse. And from the UK, because we'll focus on the UK perspective. But from the UK it's a really deep partial. Up to 96%.

[Jen]

Yeah.

[Paul]

Of the sun being covered.

[Jen]

Yeah. And it completely depends how you are. And of course the, the more kind of west you are and slightly sort of southwest ish going out that way

[Paul]

because of course you think about that.

[Jen]

Exactly. You'll, you'll kind of, you, you get more. So those in the east will see less. Those kind of northeast you're gonna see less. As you go down towards the sort of southwest and west coast and going out you're gonna see more.

[Paul]

Yeah. But even so it's like well over 50% right across the UK. Yes, it's a really, really deep partial eclipse. So this seriously is one to stop and take a look at. It's going to happen in the evening while you're in the UK. So it starts a little bit after 6o'. Clock. Maximal eclipse then is a little bit after 7 and then it'll finish a little bit after 8o'. Clock. Now we're not giving exact times because the exact times they really do vary depending where you are in the country. So have a look online for your specific location as to your exact start and end times.

[Jen]

And I can recommend for that by the way, there's various places but timeanddate.com is great for that because you can just pop in your, your thing and it does all sorts of things for. And it show you, it'll show you all the eclipses coming up and stuff. Like that. So like for instance, you know, I've just popped it in and showing me the like for where I live. The next 1, 2, 3. I think it's the next nine eclipses and exactly what you'll see. And it shows you a little video of what it will look like and like how, where it would be in the. It's really good site, I will say

[Paul]

as well in Sky Guide. So the app that I work for, we actually do eclipses really well. It's one of the features I'm super proud of. So Sky Guide is freeze download on the Apple App Store and all the eclipse stuff is free. So we've got a widget. So if you like hold down on your home screen, you can install a widget. We've got a solo eclipse widget. And what it does is it does a countdown to when the next eclipse is and then when you're in like the time of the eclipse, it personalizes the experience for your location. So it tells you when first contact is, when the maximal eclipse is, when last contact is. And then if you go into the app, you can simulate the eclipse for your location. You can also get, you know, to the second timing of when first contact is for your location, when the maximal is, when last contact is. You know, diagrams and everything. So yeah, you've got, you've got a few options to really make sure that you know when you need to be on target. You can, you know, see what your elevation is. Because this is the key from the uk because it's happening in the evening, you know the sun's going to be low in the sky at maximal eclipse and it is proving tricky to find like places where there's a clear enough west, like west northwest horizon because, you know, the sun could be like 10 degrees above the horizon by the time we get to maximal eclipse.

[Jen]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. It's. It's one of those that if you, if you've got a good hill, we. I'm quite lucky here because my, the, the hill I live on, I have to go to the other side of the village. But I've actually got a really good drop down to the west into the Avon Valley. So actually it's like a perfect. Exactly where I'm going to go and sort of stand and watch this because I, it will give you that kind of extra, extra bit of time not having to fight trees and buildings and things like that. That's. And I would recommend you do that. Absolutely. Go and go and find somewhere that's got a good western View, you know, it's worth, you know, jumping in the car, getting your bike, whatever, and finding that spot.

[Paul]

Yeah. And I know I'm banging on about the app, but I'm just really proud of what we do for eclipses, because in the app, so you can fast forward to, you know, the. The time of the eclipse, and then we've got augmented reality so you can have your live view of your location and you can overlay on the sky where the sun is going to be so you can see if. If it's like, oh, is that tree gonna be in the way? Or is that tree not gonna be in the way? Well, you can do it through the app. Yeah, I'm, like, super, super proud of it. I think it's really, really cool. So, yeah, really, like, do a bit of work now so that you're not disappointed on the day because it's gonna be so low, but because it's gonna be so low, it's gonna be super interesting. You don't get many kind of sunset eclipses.

[Jen]

No, no, no, no, no.

[Paul]

It's gonna be really, really interesting.

[Jen]

Really funny. Because it's gonna be like a sort of early sunset. It's gonna be like a really early sunset that suddenly then gets brighter again. Yeah. Just as it sets. So there'll be this, like, flash, like a little second day. There'll be a little flash of light, and then. Yeah, it's gonna get, you know, it's gonna get darker because of how low it is.

[Paul]

Yeah.

[Jen]

Actually, it's gonna get more dark than it would have if it had been sort of, you know, high altitude, essentially. You're gonna get. You're gonna get a sort of note, all these dip in light.

[Paul]

Yeah.

[Jen]

Because it already will be dimmer because of its altitude.

[Paul]

Yeah. And don't be disappointed if you haven't got, like, perfectly clear skies.

[Jen]

No.

[Paul]

Like, even if there's a little bit of cloud, it's still fine. You can see stuff like, through the cloud. So, you know. I mean. Yes, if you've got blanket clouds, you can't do about that, unfortunately. But if you've got little bits of clouds, like, don't stress about it.

[Jen]

What? I can say that given we've had clear blue skies in the UK for, what, how many weeks now?

[Paul]

Oh, my God. I don't know. Well, unprecedented number of weeks, like, ever

[Jen]

now, I can guarantee that the weather will break at about Lunchtime on Wednesday, 12 August.

[Paul]

Yeah.

[Jen]

Which is when all the clouds are rolling and all the thunderstorms will start and the Rain. That's when summer will. Will end. Okay, that's. That's pretty much.

[Paul]

That is exactly what's gonna happen.

[Jen]

Astronomical guarantee, that is.

[Paul]

Yeah. That's all right then. Then that's what live streams are for.

[Jen]

Yeah. Yes, exactly. Exactly.

[Paul]

But yeah, so in terms of like, interesting points during the eclipse, I always. My. One of my favorite things to do with an eclipse because I've seen one total and I've seen a few partials in my time. My. Is trying to spot that moment of first contact when the moon just starts peeking in front of the sun and you can just see that little slither and it's like, who can see it first? Who's gonna see it? Who's gonna see it? Like, oh, so special. Like that is. Yeah, that's one of my favorites. What do you like?

[Jen]

I love that. Yeah, I just said. I agree with that. That kind of the anticipation of like, oh, oh, there it is, there it is, there it is. And, and you sort of see it. And actually the other end, like watching that last, you know, trying to work out when that last bit of moon just dipped up.

[Paul]

Yeah.

[Jen]

But there's just so much about it. It's just. I just love watching eclipses. I just, I think they're. They're just fab to just. You slowly watch that, that, you know, which. Either way, lunar eclipse as well, watching the. The earth shadow cross the moon, same thing. And we've got one of those towards the end of August, partial one, a big. A deep partial as well again. And they're just fun. They just. It's just, it's that sort of. You get very used to, you know, the sort of clockwork nature. You know, the sun and the moon go round, round, round stars appear. And then every so often you get something like an eclipse which just reminds you that it is actually slightly more variable and slightly more kind of. It doesn't all line up how it normally does all the time. And you know, they get in the way of each other occasionally. And so, you know, and there's all these shadows that project out into space and you know, these bodies can get in front of each other and things like it. So just the whole event, it's difficult to say, oh yeah, I really love that bit, but I just love it all. It's just. It's just really cool. And then trying to spot when you've got. With a part of a partial like this, you know, when have you actually reached that. The maximum coverage and things like that, it's just really. I love it, it's.

[Paul]

And I love that like you, you look at the sun and then you kind of chat with your mates for 5, 10 minutes and then you have another look and you can see the difference. And then, you know, you have another chat and, and then you have another look and it's, it's just this beautiful. Yeah. You know, you know, in a world which is so fast paced and you know, like on it, on it, on it. It's one of those events which. It allows you to slow down.

[Jen]

Yes.

[Paul]

And just breathe.

[Jen]

Exactly.

[Paul]

Enjoy it.

[Jen]

I love sketching it and I usually draw out a load of, load of kind of circles and just try and track it relative to things like, you know, the, the, the sunspots and the, the, the prominence you can see around you. Where's the position of the shadow and that, that's just, you know, it's just really fast as you say, you, you leave it 10 minutes, come back out. Oh, look, it's of kind covered that one or it's just about to cover that one. And now you know, because it's that how. Because the two, if you like. I know it's, it's, it's from our perspective, but the two bodies are moving, so it's not a, it's not a straight, you know, that stationary. And this one's just passing through, like through the. It doesn't actually pass through in a kind of how you imagine basically that you kind of get that it does a sort of, you know, curve sweep.

[Paul]

Yeah, there's a sweep.

[Jen]

And so it's quite fun to watch it and realize, oh, it's not quite going in the direction I thought it was going, if you see what I mean. It's like always going.

[Paul]

Yeah.

[Jen]

You kind of think it's always going to go straight across and they don't. And I love that. It's just. Yeah, it's just. They're just brilliant to watch.

[Paul]

They are. They're fantastic. And especially, you know, solar eclipse glasses, that's all you need, you know, and they're a couple of quid. Yeah, yeah, that's. That's it. And if you've got a local astronomy club, you may find that they're giving them out for free.

[Jen]

And I would imagine most astronomy clubs are running some sort of event.

[Paul]

Yeah.

[Jen]

Or party or something. They might be private if you remember, but a lot of will be doing public events.

[Paul]

Check out go stargazing because they've got their UK Eclipse website. So they've got loads of events and stuff listed on there.

[Jen]

Yeah. Yeah, absolutely.

[Paul]

So, you know, odds are there'll be an eclipse event near you and it'll be great to go and watch it with loads of other people. I've watched it, you know, done partials in big crowds before and it's always brilliant. It's always a right laugh and, you know, people can't believe what they're actually seeing and yeah, it's really good fun.

[Jen]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Paul]

I think let's, let's discuss now, I guess, ways to see it, because the eclipse glasses we sort of covered. But there are other ways, especially if you've got young kids. Projection methods.

[Jen]

Yes.

[Paul]

Are probably your best foot forward. And you can just get the colander out from the kitchen drawer.

[Jen]

Yep.

[Paul]

And you just. All you need to do is if you put a piece of paper on a table, just so it's got a nice surface for you to kind of, you know, project it onto, you just get that angle right with, with respect to the sun and you'll get miniature versions of the eclipse, you know, coming through all of the holes.

[Jen]

Yeah, yeah.

[Paul]

And so it's a really safe way for kids to enjoy it because you don't have to worry about them pulling off their glasses and looking at the sun and stuff like that.

[Jen]

Yeah. And you can, as simple as, you know, punch a, punch the end of a sharp pencil through a piece of card.

[Paul]

Yep.

[Jen]

Will do just as well. That will, that will, you know, get a bit of, you know, nice stiff card, punch a little hole through with a, you know, put a bit of blue tack in, you know, stab. You'll get a nice little pinhole. Boom. You'll see the eclipse. Projecting with binoculars, that works well. You know, put binoculars on a tripod or something. You can cover one side. You just use one, you know, sort of keep a lens cap on and just, just project it, you know, just, just aim your binoculars and you have to keep adjusting. But you'll, you'll, you'll see it and you'll get a nice bigger view and you might, you know.

[Paul]

And that's nice for kind of tracing.

[Jen]

Yeah, yeah, completely. Completely. I've done that. It's great. And you trace it. You keep tracing on the same bit of paper and you sort of get this, you know, if you be a bit fancy and get a bit, you know, stick a wood and sort of, you know, attach touch a bit of card to the binoculars so they kind of keep, keep position and things like that. You can make it as fancy as you like and then you project it with a telescope. Got to be More careful, of course, you know, and think about your optics because of course as optics get more powerful, you, you then get the problem of you damaging your, your optics. So it's quite often useful to tone them down. So think about if you've got a big reflector. You'll notice reflectors often have that little secondary cover on their sort of your objective cover. You've got the COVID at the front and there's usually like a little one that's almost like the size of the top of an eyepiece. And if you take that off, that's. That's to sort of reduce the amount of light coming into the telescope because you just don't need. You're pointing at the sun.

[Paul]

You don't need it when it's. No, no, no, no.

[Jen]

Yeah, but of course, then don't look through the eyepiece. Of course, don't look.

[Paul]

Oh, good lord, no. Cover it up, take it shut.

[Jen]

Just project.

[Paul]

Yeah.

[Jen]

Or if you're using it to project, just project. Don't look through the eyepiece. But you know, I would recommend, don't use fancy eyepieces though, because of course, you know, you don't want to damage your eyepieces if you've got nice, beautiful, you know, expensive eyepieces. Do not use your, your cheap 25 mil eyepiece that came with the telescope when you bought it.

[Paul]

That's the one to use.

[Jen]

Good enough for projecting, you know that, that'll do.

[Paul]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Jen]

That's all you need.

[Paul]

And then you can also just adapt your binoculars and telescopes to view the sun directly using Bada solar film.

[Jen]

Yeah.

[Paul]

And you can get that from reputable stores, you know, places like, I know first light optics and stuff like that. It's about 25 pound for an A4 sheet these days. And there's lots of instructions available online for, you know, you just use cardboard and sticky tape and glue and stuff like that. And you can make like a hat basically that sits on the end of your telescope.

[Jen]

Made many a little chef's hat.

[Paul]

Yeah. Makes it safe for and observing.

[Jen]

And I'd recommend, you know, a bit of masking tape. Just tape it on. Little, little bit of tape. Just, just put, you know, three or four bits of tape just to give you that reassurance. And no one's going to knock it off. The wind is, you know, the breeze isn't going to blow it off. You haven't made it quite tight enough. Yeah. Or you're not going. You do. So you can test open. It falls off, you don't notice Stick your eye in there. Which is, you know, unlikely.

[Paul]

But, but just in case, it just

[Jen]

gives you that bit of reassurance because. Yeah, yeah, it is it. You will, you know, absolutely bug your eye up and you don't do that. You enjoy the eclipse. So. Yeah, a little bit of tape, you know, a couple bits of marking tape. Keep that filter on there. Absolutely. And don't use your viewfinder to find the sun.

[Paul]

Oh, no, I've seen, I've seen people

[Jen]

suddenly try and do that where they've put their filter on everything and they still then like bend down to look through the view. It's like. Don't do that.

[Paul]

No, no, take the little telescope. First thing you do, cover it over.

[Jen]

Cover it over either don't use it, don't even attach it if it's on. Or just use it as an aiming point because you look back at the shadow of your telescope.

[Paul]

Yeah.

[Jen]

And look for the point where the telescope becomes circular as a shadow. And that probably means it's pointing at the sun because if it's elongated, if you've got an oval shadow, you're not pointing directly at the sun. You're kind of not. So that's all. Don't look through. Don't make the kind of error of even with like, you know, your kind of non magnified red dot finder and things like that. Some people seem to think, you know, that's okay because it's not magnified. No, don't look at the sun.

[Paul]

You cannot look at the sun with the naked eye. Nope.

[Jen]

Just don't do it.

[Paul]

Just do not, do not do it.

[Jen]

Use welding masks.

[Paul]

You always do not use. Well, I see this crop up all the time. They do not filter all of the whole spectrum of the sun because it's not just the visible light, it's the ultraviolet light, the infrared light, which is what the, the solar filters do is they block out all of that. The welders, masks. Do not, do not use them.

[Jen]

Don't do it. They don't do it. They're very good filters. They, of course they are. Because welding is, you know, it's very. But they just don't do it enough. People just do not realize quite how bright the sun is. It is.

[Paul]

Yeah, yeah. And I've seen people looking at reflections in buckets of water. Do not do that either. It is not safe.

[Jen]

No.

[Paul]

Like get your piece of card, poke a hole, do that instead. If you don't look in mirrors.

[Jen]

No looking in water, not welding masks, nothing like that. Not sunglasses, nothing like that.

[Paul]

Not sunglasses. Stacks on top of each other.

[Jen]

Don't choose sunglasses. Don't do sunglasses. Well, I've seen all these things. I've seen all these things over the years. People think like, oh, I've got a welding mask with a pair of sunglasses underneath. Yeah, that's still not good enough. You know, it's just, I think what people. I've shown this to people when they. When they sort of, you know, talk about welding masks and things like that and say, right, yeah. Hold your welding mask up to, like, you know, a very bright bulb, and what you'll see is. You'll see a faint little glow.

[Paul]

Yeah.

[Jen]

You'll see the bulb. Now hold your solar glasses or your solar filter paper up to a bowl. You won't see a thing. It was not remotely bright enough for the light to penetrate that filter. And that's a massive demonstration of. It just doesn't filter enough.

[Paul]

Yeah. So I guess next it's what's actually happening.

[Jen]

Yeah, yeah. So what the dickens is going on?

[Paul]

What is going on?

[Jen]

So for all those cavemen out there that are the screaming at the sky that it's being eaten by a dragon, what's really going on?

[Paul]

Yeah, what is going on? So a total solar eclipse is when you. So the moon passes in front of the sun from our perspective. And a total solar eclipse is where they line up perfectly so the moon fully covers the full disc of the sun. And they're special because you get to see the corona, the. The outer atmosphere of the sun. And this doesn't happen at every new moon because the moon's orbit around the Earth is tilted with respect to the Earth's orbit around the sun. So the orbits of the two bodies are sort of misaligned.

[Jen]

Yeah.

[Paul]

And so this means that it's only occasionally, it's a couple of times a year, you get the orbits lining up. You basically get a new moon where the orbits intersect. And that's what you need. You need a new moon where the orbits intersect in space, that. That node point, and there. When that happens, that's when you can get an eclipse. And it's not always total eclipse. Sometimes it doesn't hit land in the right way because, you know, the paths all for every eclipse are different. It's only a small part of the surface of the Earth that, you know, actually gets to see the eclipse. And it's a beautiful cosmic coincidence that we live in a time where the moon and the sun appear the same size in the sky because The Moon is 400 times smaller than the sun, but the sun is 400 times further away, so they, the effects cancel. And so then they can perfectly overlap each other.

[Jen]

Yeah.

[Paul]

And you know, there will be a time, because the moon is slowly moving away from us that eventually it will never fall fully cover the sun again. It's thousands of years away. But eventually there will be the last total eclipse and it will never ever happen again.

[Jen]

Which is quite an amazing thought. And, and of course in the past total eclipse were kind of more regular, they happened more often. And because the moon was closer and were exactly. Were more total in a way because actually the moon was a bit closer. So it actually appeared bigger than the sun by actually by quite a bit if you go back far enough. So, yeah, you go back millions of years. The moon was actually quite a bit bigger. And so it was. And therefore things that were like this one would be a partial, actually a much broader kind of total.

[Paul]

Yes.

[Jen]

Over a bigger area and things. So they were more common. So yeah, we just live in this sort of funny special time. Special time, yeah, special like Saturn's rings. They, you know, we, they weren't there in the past, they won't be there in the future. They're just, we're just in that little window.

[Paul]

And it's so interesting that because, you know, the moon's orbit is elliptical and Earth's orbit is elliptical and all of this is, you do get these variances in how long total eclipses are. So it can be up to about, I think the absolute maximum theoretically is approximately eight minutes, like if everything lines up perfectly. So that's when the moon is sort of closest to us and so it appears a bit bigger in the sky. And then it's like this max, the maximum for this one is only a couple of minutes because the moon's a little bit further away.

[Jen]

Yeah, yeah.

[Paul]

So it doesn't go, it's, it doesn't cover the sun so well. But so, so once you've got, you know, the moon is blocking up the sun, it's casting a shadow into space. Right. And then that shadow, it hits the surface of the Earth and there's, there's the umbra, which is the inner part of the shadow, the darkest part, and that's where totality is. And then the penumbra is like the wider part of the shadow. And that's where you sit if you are seeing a partial eclipse. And it's, I mean that the track of the moon shadow on Earth is a few hundred kilometers. That's it. It's a really, really, really really narrow path, which is why so few people see totality.

[Jen]

Yeah, it is, it is, yeah.

[Paul]

But many more people see, see the partial eclipse and they are spectacular still. Yeah, granted, not quite as spectacular as, as a total eclipse, but total eclipses are so rare.

[Jen]

Well, you know, they all, in a sense, they, they kind of happen regularly, but it's a very narrow window, so it's actually a very nice strip. And actually they often happen in the middle of the ocean or over the Antarctica or just places where people aren't and you can't see them.

[Paul]

Yeah, it's like the chances of you being on a patch of land or what is the statistics? It's something like a given patch of land on the surface of the Earth sees totality once every 318 years or something like that. So your odds of seeing totality unless you travel for it are very, very.

[Jen]

The last, the lowest totality in the UK was it literally just crossed Cornwall. It didn't even cross much of the uk. Literally, like it was even. Not even the whole of Cornwall. It was like the tip of Cornwall. It was like right at the end and it was cloudy.

[Paul]

And the next total for the UK is 2090.

[Jen]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I'll be dead.

[Paul]

You know, it's.

[Jen]

Well, no, I might not be.

[Paul]

No, I might make it. I'm maybe might make it. We'll see.

[Jen]

I'd be 113.

[Paul]

Yeah, you'll live to 113.

[Jen]

You run all the time. I'm not. Christ.

[Paul]

Who knows what medicine will be able to achieve by then?

[Jen]

No. 113.

[Ralph]

Christ.

[Jen]

Can you imagine what you'd be like? Yeah, I wouldn't be able to see the eclipse.

[Paul]

One tooth.

[Jen]

Yeah, one. One tooth and sitting in my own urine. Yeah, no, thanks. Live fast, die young, leave a good looking corpse. Yeah, no, so, yeah, it is, you know, because that, it's worth taking this opportunity when you get, you know, like 96% partial. You know, you're, you're, you're as close as. Damn it. So, you know, it's definitely worth, you know, getting out there and seeing it. And the nice thing is this is in the evening, so most people, this is after work, it's in the summer holidays. This is great, you know, it is.

[Paul]

So it is. It's the perfect one to, to go and enjoy. So there's all your, your tips and your tricks for enjoying the eclipse and then there's just one, one last astronomical event to discuss, which is happening the very same evening.

[Jen]

I know, get that.

[Paul]

I know, get that. Incredible. And it is, of course, okay, not the most prolific meteor shower of the year, but probably the best because it happens in summer, so we're not freezing our temperatures.

[Jen]

And it's not a million miles from the most prolific. It's actually, it's one of the top. This is one of your top three. Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

[Paul]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And we're talking about the Perseids.

[Jen]

Yep.

[Paul]

Perseids are great because under, you know, truly dark skies. And we're gonna have a new moon because of the eclipse. It's a new moon, so there's no light pollution is perfection for the Perseids. You know, under perfect dark skies, it's over 100 an hour. In reality, I'd say one every few minutes, one every couple of minutes. So like 30 an hour.

[Jen]

Every so often we get an outburst. The last outburst I saw, as my mother in law regularly reminds me, it was the two of us sitting out, laying out in her driveway watching this years ago, years and years ago. The last, last big outburst was. I think it was about. We remembered what year it was recently when we were talking about it, but it was something like 2009, 2008. Something like it was. It was quite a while ago and it was. There was another outburst more recently that. But it was cloudy and we only saw bits of it through the clouds. There were little gaps and suddenly you could see meteors through like these gaps in the cloud. Briefly. But yeah. So it's been a while since we've had a really good Perseid.

[Paul]

So like an outburst. But they are always good and they're reliable and you know that they're going to happen. So our best tips for meteor shower watching is deck chair, blanket.

[Jen]

Yeah, yeah. Lounger, sleeping bag. If it was a bit colder. Absolutely. Flask or something.

[Paul]

And the radiant is to the northeast. So just let your eyes wander. Just have that idea of where Perseus is not far from the W of Cassiopeia, and just let your eyes wander around the sky.

[Jen]

As I say, I tend to find like kind of looking kind of just above where the radiant is. So basically looking at Caso. Cassiopeia. Cassiopeia. And then kind of almost like opening your eyes up. You see what I mean? You're kind of relaxing.

[Paul]

Yeah.

[Jen]

Try to take as much of the sky as possible and just kind of lay there.

[Paul]

Yeah. Just, you know, let your eyes roam around a bit.

[Jen]

Yeah.

[Paul]

And you will miss them.

[Jen]

Yeah.

[Paul]

Because someone with you will go, oh, did you see that? And you were looking the other way Damn it. But yeah, it's so annoying. It's great fun.

[Jen]

It should be good. Yeah. So if the weather's good, it's gonna be a good night of astronomy that night. It's gonna be good. And we're back to dark skies as well.

[Paul]

Yeah.

[Jen]

Because we'll be past the end of July. We're almost there now. We're almost there now. It's the 21st as we're recording this. And so we're just six days from actually getting a bit dark sky back. And then by the 12th, nice little windowed, so you could get your scope out properly and do a bit deep sky as well. Watch your Perseids. You've just seen an eclipse, which means it's going to rain all night. I'm just saying.

[Paul]

No, it's going to be great. It's going to be fabulous. It's going to be beautiful. Best stargazing night ever.

[Jen]

Good thing. Although I have to say, I do hope it has rained by the 12th because my garden looks like a desert.

[Paul]

Mine is luscious and green because it's plastic.

[Jen]

Yeah, your Barbie girl guy.

[Paul]

Although. Although. I think I've, like, accidentally killed my lavender by watering it too much because I've got this Spanish lavender out the front, right, and it's got started to go brown. I was like, why is it going brown? Like, because I haven't. I've been watering it, like, every couple of days, but apparently if it goes, like brown from the bottom up, it's like over watering.

[Jen]

Yeah, yeah. So you shouldn't. You shouldn't water it every. Every couple of days. Yeah. Lavenders. Lavender is quite robust. It doesn't. It's quite woody. It doesn't need loads of water.

[Paul]

And I. That's the thing is I thought I was, like, actually being cruel because I was only doing it every, like, two or three days, but no, apparently I have basically killed my lavender.

[Jen]

You probably washed a lot of nutrients out the soil as well.

[Paul]

Well, I've put the beads on for the nutrients, the plant food beads, you know.

[Jen]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. See, it's your plastic garden. Your. Your Barbie garden.

[Paul]

Yeah, well, you know, I'm trying. I got, you know, lavender pollinators like it. I'm growing sunflowers. They'll like that too. I got my olive tree. They enjoyed that while it had flowers.

[Jen]

That plastic's a right old heat trap, isn't it?

[Paul]

I can't stand on it. When I put the washing out, I gotta put shoes on. Can't stand on it.

[Jen]

Yeah.

[Paul]

And it Came with a house, this thing came to the house. And when I bought the house, I'd full intentions of like putting grass back. And then I lifted up the Astroturf and realized it is concrete everywhere. And I was like, I can't. I can't be jackhammering concrete.

[Jen]

Yeah, you need loads and loads and loads of pots. Loads and loads of pots of plants everywhere.

[Paul]

And that is what I'm doing. I'm slowly building them up.

[Jen]

Loads and loads of pots. Just cover all in pots. Yeah, yeah, cool.

[Paul]

Yeah, cool. That is. That is what I'm doing.

[Jen]

Right then, shall we. Shall we have a quick, quick whiz through some emails in.

[Paul]

Yes, let's do some emails.

[Jen]

Right then. So go for it.

[Paul]

I'll do the first one.

[Jen]

Go on then.

[Paul]

Only because we couldn't actually see it in the emails. I don't know what's happened to this email. So this email comes from Thomas Daniel and I can see like the summary and the title, but not the actual content of the email. Really weird. Yeah. But Thomas Daniel is asking how to book Astro Camp according to the summary. And so, yes, this is why I brought this up. Because the plan is for bookings to open at the beginning of August.

[Jen]

First of August. First of August. And what you do is at lunchtime on the 1st of August, you sacrifice a goat. Okay. And then you dance naked round your garden three times.

[Paul]

Make sure your wobbly bits are wobbling.

[Jen]

Got you wobble away. Wobble like crazy. The more wobble the better. And then you howl at the moon. Even if it's under, if even it's below the horizon, you must point.

[Paul]

You find the direction.

[Jen]

You howl at the moon and you say, you know, three hail Jennies and suddenly the website appears on your. On your computer.

[Ralph]

Just.

[Paul]

Do you know what the irony is, right? Paul is probably saying something about the website now. And the Internet and my Internet's just frozen. Look at that.

[Jen]

There we go. Look people, that we're doing this. I say the Jen. I say I didn't say enough. How Jenny's.

[Paul]

How the Internet froze.

[Jen]

The Internet froze. And we could. But no, seriously. So 1st of August is when we're gonna kick off and it is the website you need to.

[Ralph]

These.

[Jen]

Are you ready? Got your pen ready? Everyone ready? Write this down. Www.astrocamp1word.awesomeastronomy1word.com.

[Paul]

That's us.

[Jen]

Www.astrocamp1 word.awesome astronomy1word.com and that is where you will find the exciting and the brilliant Astra camp where you'll Be able to book and bookings are open on the 1st of August. So. Right. Next.

[Paul]

Next. Go on then.

[Jen]

Dear awesome Astronomers, this is from, by the way, Raymond McCarthy. Raymond McCarthy.

[Paul]

Hello, Raymond.

[Jen]

Dear Awesome Astronomers, I absolutely agree with all that you said. The mind boggles. Cutting science budgets when clearly we need to maintain or dare I say increase them. Seems like, to quote the orange one, like a very, very bad plan. I should have done that impression better, shall I? Very, very bad plan. Uses frankly.

[Paul]

Don't like it.

[Jen]

Frankly. Like the word frankly. That bloke.

[Paul]

Yeah, frankly, it's a very, very bad plan.

[Jen]

Anyway, we seem to be living in very backward looking times. I hear you. Keep up the great work, love the show and look forward to the next episode. Ray McCarthy, Chelmsford, Essex. And in another email, Ray advises that he did indeed email his MP about the budget cuts and got a reply. Well done.

[Paul]

Yes, well done for doing that. That is sort of action that will lead to change.

[Jen]

So emailed mine, not had a reply yet.

[Paul]

Well done, Ray.

[Jen]

Next.

[Paul]

Okay, next comes from Dana. Dana. Dana, Dana Bostic. Hello, Dana. Dana says hello. Jen and Paul. Love, love, love your podcast. Thanks. I've been listening for years. It would be brilliant to have Ralph back on for another visit at some point. Who's Ralph?

[Jen]

He's dead to us.

[Paul]

He's dead.

[Jen]

We don't care.

[Paul]

Ralph who?

[Jen]

I'm sure, I'm sure he'll be back at some point to give us the ghost of Ralph. He'll pop in at some point. I'm sure. I'm sure when we get a bit more moon action, he'll be all over it. He'll be all over it. You know what he's like for a bit of moon action.

[Paul]

Yeah. I had a quick question. Do either of you ever do speaking engagements for astronomy clubs in the us? We're based on the east coast and our meetings are one Friday a month at 7:30pm Eastern. Eastern. In case time zones matter. We've never like discussed the opportunity of doing like talks and stuff like that via awesome Astronomy.

[Jen]

I absolutely would be open to the. The idea.

[Paul]

Open to the idea.

[Jen]

We've both done talks at UK astronomy groups things and absolutely doing it online. It would be. Yeah, would absolutely do that.

[Paul]

We could do it in person too.

[Jen]

Yeah. Yeah. Well, yeah, if you're gonna pay for, you know.

[Paul]

Yeah, fly us out, you know.

[Jen]

No, absolutely. The 7:30. What's that?

[Paul]

7:30 would be 7:30 Eastern is five hours behind us.

[Jen]

Yes. So that's like midnight. Yeah. Yeah. So that's half Midnight here, which is fine, you know, be, you know, up doing astronomy at that point. Absolutely doable. But, yeah, I would do that.

[Paul]

Yeah. She goes on to say, I imagine you're both in demand these days and usually booked for paid appearances, but I thought I'd ask all the same. Either way, you've got fans over here in the US who genuinely appreciate the show and perhaps appropriately, I remembered to send this on the 4th of July. Regards, Dana.

[Jen]

So you rebelled scum. You rebelled scum. You.

[Paul]

Yeah, why not? We will reply to you, Dana.

[Jen]

We would. We would. We would happily do that. We could do as a twosome and everything, couldn't we?

[Paul]

We could, yeah. Double act going on.

[Jen]

Double team them. Yeah, absolutely. No, yeah, get in touch. We could organize something. Absolutely. That goes for any.

[Paul]

Anyone out there who's listening.

[Jen]

Yeah, absolutely. In fact, even. Do you know what? I was thinking? West coast might be a bit much, I actually thought. But no, no, actually, west coast. Do it over breakfast, to be honest, if you're on the west coast of the US and we could do it over breakfast, but, yeah, absolutely. Would happily. Happily take some questions. We could do some Q and A with.

[Paul]

Yeah. Bit of like an awesome astronomy live.

[Jen]

Yeah, do some of that. I'm looking up for that.

[Paul]

Get in touch now. Cogs turning.

[Jen]

Yeah, yeah, cogs are turning. We could do that.

[Paul]

All right, then. Next, Next.

[Jen]

Next. Right, so this is John Frederick Wreck. And he says it's Wreck because it's pronounced like car wreck, apparently.

[Paul]

Cheers, John.

[Jen]

Put that on there. Well done.

[Paul]

That was there for B, let's be honest.

[Jen]

It was there. Well, you know, Joe, it's probably for both of us, actually. Right. Hello there. I'm back for more email. As an American who has been lost in Japan for the last seven years by choice, hearing good, reasonable science, bantering familiar sarcastic words, waffling on casual tone of voice is fantastic. I currently teach JSH English over here in the land of the rising sun. Hello. 4am Summer sunrise. Yeah.

[Paul]

Oh, yeah, that's exactly the same here.

[Jen]

Yeah. The Japan's a very similar latitude to the UK. We get 4am sunrises in the summer. It's brilliant and it's amazing. There's a guy, he's on YouTube and I forgot his name. He's a Texan and he's moved to the UK and he's got this YouTube channel. He's talking about, like, you know what it's like to be a Texan who's living in the uk. He's living in Suffolk. He's really Nice guy. And he was just saying, like, his first summer here, this. This summer. And he's just like. He just was not ready for the fact that he would wake up at four and think he'd missed his, like, missed work because it was sunny. So he's like, yeah, I thought I missed the alarm. And it's like, it's only 4:00am yeah,

[Paul]

it's like, no, no, it's just. It's 5:00am Just being sick for a bit. You're good?

[Jen]

Yeah, yeah. I'd just like to thank the crew for the wonderful monthly listens. Thanks, John. Frederick Rec. That's all right, John. And Japan, I adore. It's all my. It's been on my bucket list for years. I absolutely love to go to Japan. Love to go Japan. In fact, talking of distance things, my wife did one of her shows to a school in Japan during. During the dark days of COVID She did a. From our house, she did a. She did like a show live.

[Paul]

That's epic.

[Jen]

Yeah. To a school in her invisible museum show. She did it to a school in Japan and that was online like that. So all these things are possible. It's all possible.

[Paul]

She had to go.

[Jen]

She had to do it about 3 o' clock in the morning, I seem to remember, because I was the technician, I was the very sleepy technician running the computer and all the lights and sound and everything in our living room, which we turned into a studio for Covid. Yeah, it was about 3 o' clock in the morning. It was. It worked. It was fine.

[Paul]

Hey, look, want more than tech, innit?

[Jen]

Yes. Right, go on. Next. What have we got Next?

[Paul]

We've got Marcel. Jan Kringsman. I've butchered that, Marcel. But I. And I apologize profusely. You can send me an email with it phonetically so I can get it right next time. But Marcel says. And they said there was a couple of emails because he was like, I'm struggling to get in contact. This is where we're having all the email issues.

[Jen]

So I'm like, several months ago.

[Paul]

And so there was a little bit back and forth and then. So this is why this email begins. Right? We have contact. We do have contact. So I have in my living room something what looks like a framed poster, A4 format, and it shows the southern night sky, but it isn't a paper poster and it refreshes every hour. I built this with a Raspberry PI 02 mini computer and an E ink display. And I made the Star map with Python and the Python package Star Plot that I use is linked here. Star plot is really cool, by the way. And the code is available to everyone on GitHub, so it's GitHub.com marcel-yan so J-A N inky star map. If you buy a reasonably modern Raspberry PI and a Pimaroni E ink display and install my inky star map, you can have one too.

[Jen]

It's amazing.

[Paul]

This is epic.

[Jen]

I was looking at the picture.

[Paul]

So cool. I want one in my office.

[Jen]

That's fantastic.

[Paul]

I would have that in my office as well. So it's just for the listeners. It is, you know, a map of the night sky, constellations, planets are on there as well. You know, southeast, south, southwest. Interesting question. Does it tick through the other cardinal points? Marcel Yan or is it looking south at the moment? Yeah, that's great.

[Jen]

I love it.

[Paul]

Like a lifestyle map. So clever. Congratulations on that. And maybe some listeners will take you up on your offer and thank you for like making the code free and stuff. Appreciate that.

[Jen]

That is brilliant. Right, next. Next.

[Paul]

Hi team and final one.

[Jen]

Is it the final one?

[Paul]

I've looked final email for this time.

[Jen]

This is how relaxed I am. I haven't scanned down the script enough. Oh, it is the last one. Look at that.

[Paul]

Yeah, it is the last one.

[Jen]

Hi team. Love the recent POD and sympathize with Paul's twitch. Very contrived mission acronyms. Yes, yes. Fellow traveler. Fellow traveler. Thank you. I think the worst I've seen was Osiris Rex. Yeah, that is an awful lot. Awful one. Great mission. Shame about the name. Correct. Good opinion, Tess. I have no problem with as a name. And it's a great mission. It's orbital dynamics or a masterclass of planning for synchronization for observations to dodge the moon, the sun, while being able to reduce the power needed to download his data. Yep, absolutely. One Ashrak who I really like, though I don't fully understand it, is that given to the two kelt. The KELT telescopes, the client. See, look, I've defeated. And this is br. I haven't got my glasses on. See, I'm getting to that age now. Kilo degree, extremely little telescope. I get the ELT bit as their 42 millimeter aperture smaller than a C star S50. But what I'm not sure about is where the kilo degree comes from. Wikipedia says the field of view is 26 degree by 26 degrees, so it's overstating its ability by almost 1 third. In a way, this ties in with the comments about using smart telescopes for research grade astronomy as the KELT is one of the scopes used for exoplanet detection so a small aperture isn't an issue. Anyhow, musings over back to wondering what to image this evening as the sky is looking promising clear skies. Owen from Astrocamp Go on then. So go there

[Paul]

Dr. Dr. Jen.

[Jen]

Dr. Jen.

[Paul]

Dr. Jen did did the googlings and you are absolutely right Owen that the field of view is 26 by 26 degrees right? Which gives you near enough 700 square degrees field of view. Now the actual field of view that you get is smaller than that due to the physical optics of the systems. You can never use your full field of view effectively. But where the kilo comes in is a classic astronomer speak where 700 degrees is about a thousand to be fair mathematically rounding mathematically rounded, you know, to the nearest thousand.

[Jen]

To the nearest thousand.

[Paul]

To the nearest thousand it is a thousand. So it is another just as you hate your acronyms, you can hate your astronomers for their order of magnitude hand wavy it's about a thousand. That's where the kilo comes from.

[Jen]

Oh I, you know I, I, I, I hate and love that simultaneously.

[Paul]

Yeah yeah but that's what it is. That's where it comes from and that

[Jen]

that's probably a great place to leave is.

[Paul]

It is. So if you want to get in contact it is the show awesomeastronomy.com we need some new emails for the next episode so do fire us. Your questions, your thoughts, anything you've built, anything you've imaged, we want to see it, we want to talk about it, we want to raise your profile. So yeah, get in touch.

[Jen]

Absolutely. And if you're in America and you want to want to have a chat with us and we'll do it or

[Paul]

if you're not in America, I've done a talk for 10 Tasmania before you

[Jen]

did do a talk for Tasmania. See these things are possible. It's all possible. Absolutely.

[Paul]

Things happen. Things happen.

[Jen]

So have a great eclipse, people. Have a great Perseids. Have a great summer. We will be back actually quite soon with a with our more formal episodes.

[Paul]

Yeah episode but actually less chitty chatty.

[Jen]

It'd actually be before the eclipse. So we'll be talking to you again before the eclipse but we'll probably mention it again. But yeah, have a great summer guys. Bye bye.

[Paul]

Speak to you soon. Bye bye.

[Ralph]

Awesome Astronomy is produced by Ralph Paul, Jen, John Damian and Dustin and is free to use with attribution. Theme music by Star Salzman with Stinger variation by Rin Jorgensen. We promote general science, astronomy, space exploration, and rational thinking with more resources on our [e-mail] if you want us to read your thoughts and comments out on the show, send us your views, opinions, critiques, or questions to the [e-mail] tweet us @awesomeastropod or give the awesome Astronomy Facebook page a like and leave your comments there. Thanks for listening. From Cydonia Base. End of transmission, I think.

[Paul]

Do you know what the funny thing is? Is that we both actually waved at the camera.

[Jen]

I know. We did. We did.

[Paul]

They can't see that.

[Jen]

Dustin's gonna leave that in now because he's kind of embarrassed. We were both waving at each other as if.

[Paul]

Yeah, I know.