On Wednesday evening, millions of people in Europe watched a rare solar eclipse. The Guardian asked readers to share their photographs and experiences of the celestial event. Here are some of their responses.
From welding visors to colanders
Deniz, 45, an artist from Glasgow, watched from cloudy Loch Lubnaig with her husband's welding visors, describing it as “a few minutes of glory”.
David, 57, from Hampstead, London, said it was “bizarre being on Hampstead Heath with dozens of people with cereal boxes and colanders on their heads as the light fades”.
Amelia, 19, a receptionist from Nuneaton, Warwickshire, said seeing the eclipse was “a surreal experience”. She added: “The atmosphere felt completely different as the eclipse happened, and it was amazing to see the sky change in front of me.”
Homemade devices and community spirit
Matt, 38, from Eastry, Kent, watched from Deal beach with his wife Becky, using a range of homemade viewing devices. “We thought that the colander worked best!” he said.
James, 64, a retired attorney from Sonoma County, California, travelled to Iceland and boarded a ship called World Navigator to find a clear spot. Despite cloudy conditions all day, a patch of clear sky opened up right before totality. “We were really in awe, with some passengers getting a bit choked up. The pictures don’t nearly do it justice,” he said.
Luke, 30, a lawyer from Islington, London, said: “I went out on to the street and saw everyone with their little contraptions – such a cool unifying event.”
First eclipse memories
Sarah, 31, an admin worker from Alcester, Warwickshire, watched from her front door. “It was the first solar eclipse I can remember seeing, and it was so exciting. I kept calling my wife to come and look,” she said.
Annayah, 31, a lecturer from Bradford-on-Avon, Wiltshire, sat outside with neighbours, using colanders and pizza boxes. “We saw crescent circles of light shifting on the cardboard as the moon moved across the sun – it looked like scales,” she said. “My partner and I were really young in 1999, so this is the first eclipse we’ve seen IRL.”
Laura Ngo, 41, from Essex, took her telescope to Brightlingsea, one of the few west-facing beaches in the south-east. “It was lovely to listen to children playing whilst taking in the atmosphere. There was a very community feel on the beach,” she said. One child who didn’t have glasses said: “It just looks like the moon.”
Sharing glasses in Belgium
Pauline Vandewiele, 30, an interior architect from northern Belgium, watched with family. Her sister had brought 10 pairs of glasses, which they shared with others. “We even gave some to the people there who didn’t have any so it was really very cosy,” she said.
