The sun: eclipses and proselytising

Yeh, so this is late, but anyway... we saw the eclipse! It was a partial here, apparently about 56% at maximum obscuring (wrong word, I know). We set up in the driveway, which was perfect, and we watched from just after first contact (dang, missed the actual start) until it was clear that the moon was receding - and we knew this happened because ta-dah, the sunspots came back! Because yes, it was a nice enough sun to see; two sets of sunspots, I think, and some nice flares on the edges, etc - so it was worth looking at in general, along with the GREAT BIG PACMAN eating the sun. Plus, we got to show off to several people, two of whom were planned and two of whom were walk-bys, and they were totally impressed, which was good. I was having so much fun I fantasised about not going to work and just looking at the sun all day. I would have had to get a hat out, though.

A few days later, we had a family reunion, so we decided to take the solar scope with us there too. Tragically it was a boring sun - two solo sunspots, as far as I could tell; one impressive-ish flare and a few other tiddlers. Of course, no one else there had ever looked at the sun, so simply seeing the sun was exciting in and of itself. Young adults, old adults, and kids all had a look and they really enjoyed it - some coming back for a second or third glimpse.

I love looking at the sun.