West Frisian public observatory kept a close eye on the solar eclipse

When we walk onto the balcony of the Observatory in the Streekbos Pavilion at eleven o’clock, it is already noisy and busy. About ten enthusiasts with cameras and specially prepared telescopes do not want to miss anything of the natural phenomenon.

Theo Mulder, founder and driving force behind Orion Observatory, sighs: “A solar eclipse like this remains fascinating, because it is not often seen in the Netherlands.” It will then take at least an hour before the partial solar eclipse will have reached its maximum size.

To establish

We can ask one of the viewers, Jos Lankreijer, some questions, but not for too long because every 15 minutes he takes a picture of the growth and decline of the natural phenomenon. He is a member of the Orion association and an amateur observer, he says emphatically. He visibly enjoys and cannot stop talking about the eclipse.

Be careful

On the balcony of the Observatory you will of course also stumble upon the special eclipse glasses; such cardboard glasses with dark lenses. The glasses are necessary because spotting a solar eclipse is not without danger. Looking at the sun with the naked eye causes irreversible damage, let alone if you do that with binoculars. Lankreijer tells a terrifying anecdote about this: “Someone just came with binoculars and said: ‘I put on my eclipse glasses and then I look through the binoculars.’ I said, ‘Don’t, because those glasses will burn in seconds if you put them behind the binoculars.'”

A complete solar eclipse is also uncommon on a cosmic scale, Lankreijer explains. At least not in the known solar system. Just after one o’clock the spectacle comes to an end and the snack from the sun has silted up again. The cameras and binoculars are packed and the focus is on March 29, 2025, when another partial solar eclipse is on the cosmic agenda.