Partial Solar Eclipse – 12/8/26…

The UK enjoyed a partial solar eclipse on 12/8/26. About 92% of the Sun was covered by the Moon, and it seemed liked 92% of all people had gone out to see it!

I chose to view the eclipse from the cliff tops at Minnis Bay, on the Isle of Thanet. This location has an unobscured view to the western horizon, with Reculver Towers in the distance as a scenic backdrop. I was very impressed by the very good-natured way that people were enjoying the eclipse together, with plenty of small parties happening all around me.

As an amateur astronomer, I was of course well-equipped to view and image the eclipse. In recent years I have been imaging the Sun via eyepiece projection from a small refractor. I was finding that method fiddly and time-consuming, and had just invested in a dedicated white-light solar telescope to improve the whole process (an Acuter Solarus 80 ‘scope). I only managed to capture 1 good image by my old method during the partial eclipse of 29/3/25, but for this eclipse I easily took 47 images, with much better quality.

Of course, nearby people could also watch how the eclipse was progressing on the phone camera I was using. I think this may have helped to save the sight of several people who were otherwise trying to watch it through a welder’s mask (despite all the media advice not to do that). I almost missed First Contact while talking to people, so my first image of that is blurry, as I made sure to at least get something!

Here is a montage of some of the images that I took – the blue colour comes from a filter I was using for comfort on my eyes and contrast:

Wherever you were, I hope you also got to see the eclipse!