Solar eclipse for astronomers
On 25 October, we had the opportunity to observe a partial solar eclipse, which in the north-eastern part of Poland reached almost 50% coverage of the surface of the solar disk by the Moon. In Wrocław, the phenomenon did not occur on such a large scale, but thanks to favourable weather conditions, we were able to observe an astronomical spectacle in which, as reported by dr Paweł Preś from the Institute of Astronomy at the University of Wrocław, almost 1/3 of the Sun’s surface was covered, which corresponds to a partial eclipse of 46% of the Sun’s diameter.
Safe observation of the eclipse and the opportunity to learn more about the phenomenon was made possible by the Institute of Astronomy at the University of Wrocław, where a large group of interested people gathered. With the help of the Wrocław branch of the Polish Astronomy Association, the audience was introduced to the mechanism of solar and lunar eclipses. The lecture “What can we learn from observing solar eclipses?” was given by prof. Arkadiusz Berlicki from the UWr, and after the apogee of the phenomenon, dr. Marek Stęślicki from the Solar Physics Department of the CBK PAN gave a lecture on “Why don’t we see eclipses every month?”. Thanks to the Polish Society of Astronomy Enthusiasts, those who could not attend the observation at the Institute of Astronomy were provided with an online transmission, which also allowed them to view the course of the eclipse.
