Shadow plays

 tl;dr - Between the 25th October 2022 and the 7th November 2022, i.e. in a timespan of only two weeks, our astronomy group witnessed four eclipses. 


Four? Ok, I can imagine your incredulous look, so let's be more specific: It weren't all solar eclipses, just three of them. Even more incredulous now? Stop furrowing your eyebrow and let me walk you through every single event.


25th October 2022: Partial solar eclipse over Bruneck

The weather forecast for the day was good and so we had taken our preparations seriously. We were equipped with several solar eclipse goggles, a solar projector and a binocular with safety filters. By 11 a.m. we had set up a small stand outside the school building, ready to let as many of our fellow students as possible enjoy the show. However, a thick and grey layer of fog stubbornly claimed the lead role for itself. We had to play the waiting game for almost 1.5 hours ere we could eventually start with our observations. Nonetheless for the remaining 30 min we had fun. See for yourself!


Sun is fun

Altogether about 100 students were able to catch a glimpse of the partially eclipsed sun.

A long wait with happy ending


26th November 2022: Two solar eclipses at a glance - on Jupiter


Just one day after the solar eclipse on Earth it was Jupiter's turn. Late in the evening the two Galilean moons Europa and Ganymede were to transit in front of the gas giant and to cast their shadows on its colorful clouds. This autumn the planet was well placed in the night skies of the Northern hemisphere, so this was not the first observation we could tick off, but certainly the most impressive one.


Animated gif of the Europa and Ganymede transits.
Moons on the right, shadows on the left.

Color image taken on the 28.10.22
featuring the GRS, the Great Red Spot.


8th November 2022: Lunar eclipse over Australia


Yes, you heard me right: Australia. True, school regulations do not allow us to travel to the far end of the known world, not even for such a valid purpose, however, by a lucky coincidence we had a special envoy on the spot. Three weeks ahead the event our valued member Gabriel Lercher started his academic year abroad and as you can fancy he was eager to let us know about his adventures amidst kangaroos and emus. So why not planing a 'live coverage' of the eclipse, straight from Brisbane into our classroom?


Waving good bye to Gabriel at the end of the call.

Lunar eclipse from Australia.
Courtesy of Ethan Hensley (Brisbane)


See? Four it was indeed, and the school year is still young ... 😎


Christof Wiedemair









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