An Age of Magic

Solar eclipse August 1st

There will be an eclipse of the Sun on the morning of 1 August.  An eclipse of the Sun occurs when the Moon passes directly between the Sun and the Earth, so that the Earth passes into the Moon’s shadow. Along the centre of the track, this eclipse will be total, while areas on either side of the track will see only a partial eclipse.

The eclipse will be total along a line extending from the Arctic, through Siberia, Western Mongolia, and Western China.

In the UK and Ireland the eclipse will be partial, ranging from over 40% in N Scotland to less than 20% in SW England.

In Ireland, the phase averages around 25%. Details are as follows:

Maximum eclipse in Ireland will be 32.8% at Malin Head, and the maximum on the UK mainland will be 42.5% in N Scotland.

SAFETY: NEVER look directly at the Sun, even with the unaided eye, as the heat and light can seriously damage the eye. And it is even more dangerous to look at the Sun with any sort of optical aid, such as a telescope or binoculars or even an optical camera viewfinder.

The only safe way to observe the Sun is with a special solar filter, available only from astronomical shops and dealers, or to project the image of the Sun through a telescope or a pair of binoculars onto a piece of white cardboard. Some people may still have special ‘eclipse glasses’ from previous eclipses, and these can be used provided that there are no holes or scratches in them. So long as you play it safe you shouldn’t need to be getting any  term life insurance quotes prior to the big event, LOL.

If in doubt, DON’T look!

Thanks to Terry Moseley IAA for this information.

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The office clearout

Our front office has been getting out of control of late; as we have been pretty busy over the past couple of months paperwork has been piling up and when you start to have to stand on tiptoes to see over it to see your customers you realise you need to do something fast!

So we had a clear out on the weekend. We have also made up a list for some new office supplies such as a larger filing cabinet and a raft of new pens as they seem to have legs of their own and walk off. You know how it is with pens. I also thought that computers would put an end to reams of paperwork – not around here!

Popularity: 59% [?]

Protect your skin during the summer

I have just been away on holiday to a coastal resort on the Med and noted the usual large numbers of British families enjoying their holidays in the sun. One thing that struck me though was how badly sunburned so many of them were; one woman was extremely fair skinned with red hair and freckles and her skin was peeling all over her back. What skin was not peeling off was an angry looking shade of crimson.

I hate to think about the melanoma’s she will be diagnosed with in the future. The British, whilst they love the sun and sea, are not too fond of protecting themselves from the dangers of these aspects of summer. And they need to. Once you put a sunscreen on and go for a swim it is useless – they are NOT waterproof no matter what the bottle says.

Another girl had very bad acne on her face and back; the sun is known for aggravating this condition. It is no point applying acne cream and then baring your skin to the sun – and chances are the cream will react once the sun gets on the skin and cause discolouration. Best thing to do would be to wear a sunsafe shirt – or stay out of the sun until the hottest part of the day is over.

Popularity: 70% [?]