eclipse Archives - Dr. Melanie Windridge

09 Sep 2019

Sticky Post By Lucia Schweigert Posted in Science & Exploration Permalink

What is a total solar eclipse?

Sticky Post By Lucia Schweigert On September 9, 2019

Melanie photographing the partial phase of the total solar eclipse in Eola Hills vineyard, Oregon, USA, on 21st August 2017.

A total solar eclipse is a fascinating and beautiful phenomenon and creates unique conditions for scientific measurement. But what exactly is it?

My Great American Eclipse

Sticky Post By Melanie Windridge On September 7, 2017

A total solar eclipse is a wonder to witness. Here’s my story of the eclipse in America on 21st August and some thoughts on whether or not to photograph.

Eclipses & Aurora

Sticky Post By Melanie Windridge On August 10, 2017

Like the northern lights, eclipses have been viewed since ancient times, often with a mixture of fear and awe. We all have a connection to the Sun; our planet too.

Svalbard’s Total Eclipse

Sticky Post By Melanie Windridge On March 27, 2015 With No Comments

Totality on 20th March 2015, Spitsbergen, Svalbard, by Ivar Marthinusen.

The total solar eclipse above the mountains of Svalbard.

Last Friday was an extraordinary day. Eclipse day. I awoke to mostly clear weather and couldn’t quite believe our luck. As I walked down through Longyearbyen towards the university (UNIS) just before seven o’clock, there was a large lenticular cloud hugging the summit of the mountain across the fjord, and some wispy, pink cirrus clouds up high. Otherwise the sky was blue. I met my friend Pål (pronounced Paul) at UNIS, an optics specialist in the atmospheric physics group, and we went across to the old aurora station in Adventdalen. Visiting scientists were there setting up their equipment for imaging and spectroscopy, and the Norwegian broadcaster NRK was preparing for a live broadcast. Pål set up his telescope and camera. The clouds disappeared and the sky became a perfect blue, the sun shining strong and clear and reflecting brightly around the snowy mountain landscape. Read more

27 Mar 2015

Sticky Post By Melanie Windridge Posted in Aurora Archive, Aurora Stories With 2 Comments Permalink

Anticipating Aurora & Eclipse

Sticky Post By Melanie Windridge On March 27, 2015 With 2 Comments

“You should be here earlier in the winter. When it was colder,” said Knut, the Sami reindeer herder in his gruff, accented English. “Now it’s warm weather, rain, we can’t see the northern lights.”

“We haven’t seen them at all since I’ve been here,” I replied. “That’s nearly a week. It’s been cloudy every day.”

“When it’s so warm it [the northern lights] doesn’t come.”

“When is the best time to see it?”

“December or January. When it’s very cold.”

We were out in the hills with the reindeer somewhere around Karasjok, a few hours’ drive inland from Alta, near the Norwegian–Finnish border. That was March last year. I was in northern Norway researching a book I am writing on the northern lights. I am a plasma physicist and the aurora is plasma, so despite my academic interests in nuclear fusion (I was the IOP Schools’ Lecturer in 2010 on this subject), the northern lights have long fascinated me. Read more