Pictures of the annular solar eclipse 2003

Pictures of the annular solar eclipse on May 31. 2003

from Heinz Scsibrany

Because of the bad weatherprospects in the annularityzone of this eclipse (northern Scottland, Iceland, Greenland) I decided to observe this eclipse at the northwestern border of Vienna. All pictures where made with my 80 mm refraction telescope with a focal length of 910 mm.

The upper tip of the crescent sun appears above the horizon. Soon the complete crescent of the sun is above the horizon Due to the refraction of the atmosphere because of the low altitude of the sun the crescent is ovally distorted.

As one can see the moon appeared significantly smaller than the sun, which is due to the moon being in the farthest point of its orbit around earth 3 days before the eclipse. This picture shows maximum coverage (76 %) of the sun by the moon.

The pictures at left and right show the vanishing phase of the eclipse and were made with a sun filter in front of the telescope. A sun spot is visible at the right of the sun.

The next partial solar eclipse will be visible in Austria on October 3^rd 2005.

Copyright 2003 by Heinz Scsibrany. Pictures and text may be used for non commercial purposes, provided this site is referenced as source.
Last change on 2004.05.19.
Any ideas or criticism are appreciated: .


The upper tip of the crescent sun appears above the horizon.	Soon the complete crescent of the sun is above the horizon	Due to the refraction of the atmosphere because of the low altitude of the sun the crescent is ovally distorted.

As one can see the moon appeared significantly smaller than the sun, which is due to the moon being in the farthest point of its orbit around earth 3 days before the eclipse.		This picture shows maximum coverage (76 %) of the sun by the moon.
	The pictures at left and right show the vanishing phase of the eclipse and were made with a sun filter in front of the telescope. A sun spot is visible at the right of the sun.