Images of Wales
The 1999 Eclipse of the Sun
Wednesday, 11 August 1999
There was a total eclipse of the sun in Britain today, but only across the south-western tip of England. Here in South Wales, the eclipse was partial, with about 97% of the sun's disc covered. Unfortunately, there was dense cloud cover during most of the morning, but breaks appeared in the clouds about 20 minutes after the height of the eclipse (see pictures below).
The view east (above) and south (below) at 11.10am, the eclipse maximum.
The scene became very gloomy and the street lights switched themselves on.
At 11.20am a break appeared in the clouds (below) and the crescent sun became
visible for the first time. The sun's disc is too small to be seen in this picture.
While standing outside my house, I noticed a
strange lighting effect on my drive (below).
 
The dappled sunlight passing through the trees produced dozens of tiny images of the
crescent sun, projected onto the door of my garage (above), and the back of my car (below).
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