I really enjoy sharing cool astronomical events with friends and family, and I was very happy to share the recent total solar eclipse with my husband, my son, my daughter in law, her mother and brother, and her brother’s friends.

We watched the eclipse from the Autopia event at the Aerodromo de Siguenza outside of Siguenza, Spain, so there were other folks around as well.

We had been concerned about the potential for traffic between Madrid, where we were staying, and the eclipse site, so we got to Siguenza several hours early.  It was very hot, but the Autopia team gave us cold water on the way in to the site and had lots of drinks, and there were areas to sit in the shade under the trees beside the runway.  We had a great time hanging out, chatting, and playing games.  It was definitely more enjoyable to hang out with a group while we waited!

When it was time for the eclipse, I set up my SeeStar and GoPro in the line of photographers.  We had brought beach chairs for the group to sit on.

We had brought a colander from our Air B&B to use as a set of pinholes to project the partially eclipsed sun onto a surface. It took some adjustment to get it the right distance from the surface to have a good pinhole effect, but the experiment was successful and fun to show to other people.

I had brought eclipse glasses, and the event also provided some, so we had plenty.  It is truly cool to see the Moon start to move in front of the sun, and we had fun naming what the different shapes look like – cookie bite mode, banana mode, fingernail mode, fin mode.  It was interesting to hear what names the other people in the group came up with.  I had noticed in previous solar eclipses that it hits a point where you really feel like you can see the Moon as a sphere, and I had that sense again here.  

As totality neared, and it got darker and darker, it was fun to comment on what we were seeing.  When totality occurred, it was wonderful to express and hear others express amazement – seeing Venus, seeing the sun’s corona, seeing a pink prominence.  

My personal motto is “Find Wonder and Share It.”  This was definitely a shared wonder day.  

And it was definitely a better experience for being shared.

Have you shared any wonder recently?