Richard the Third

[Ferretfancy]

What is spooky is the fact that as we prepare for a total eclipse of the Sun this Friday prior to Richard being reinterred, historians are looking back to a solar eclipse that would have darkened the sky 530 years ago on the day Richard III’s wife Anne Neville died.

Historical astronomical data of the time of Richard III and the Battle of Bosworth, examined by the University of Leicester, shows how, on the day of his wife’s death on March 16 1485, he would have looked up and seen the sky darken as the moon passed between the Earth and the sun.

A second cosmological occurrence is said to have taken place following the king’s death at Bosworth on August 22 1485. As Richard’s defeated body lay beneath the arches of the Church of the Annunciation in Leicester, it is believed that a blood-red moon shone down on his battle-scarred corpse due to an eclipse.

Even spookier is that yet another 530 years before in 995 there was an eclipse on the very day that St. Cuthbert's remains ( who was Richard's favourite Saint), was moved to Ripon to save him from the invading Danish hordes.

I'll watch some of the procession, having only passed through Leicester once, and getting entangled in major roadworks and diversions, I have no idea what it's like

It's only total in the Faroes Anna, the rest of us will see a partial eclipse. Even though the sun will be 85% obscured, the fall in light level will not really be noticeable.
The sun is so bright that even that amount of cover won't be detectable.
I was lucky enough to see the total eclipse in Salzburg in 1999, and believe me it was a stunning sight. I can understand how some people want to be eclipse chasers.

[Dave2002]

It's only total in the Faroes Anna, the rest of us will see a partial eclipse. Even though the sun will be 85% obscured, the fall in light level will not really be noticeable.

The sun is so bright that even that amount of cover won't be detectable.

One thing which I think may be worth watching out for, if it's possible to see the sun at all, is whether the birds and other animals go quiet. I have noticed this a few times during partial eclipses. The light level does drop, but not very much, but this does seem to affect animals. Maybe I'm imagining this, though. I haven't had a big enough sample to be sure.

[Flosshilde]

It's only total in the Faroes Anna, the rest of us will see a partial eclipse. Even though the sun will be 85% obscured,

In the SE of England. Here it will be 94%.

And during the last partial eclipse the fall in light level was very noticable.

[ardcarp]

Off topic...but here's my eclipse story. Perched on a cliff in Cornwall in August 1989 our family was disappointed that cloud was obscuring the sun. We were with some friends who were very committed Christians, and Mrs A. could not resist saying to them, "If your God is really up there He might at least let us see the ***** eclipse"....whereupon a gap appeared in the clouds and we saw it for a good two minutes.

[Nick Armstrong]

Mrs A. could not resist saying to them, "If your God is really up there He might at least let us see the ***** eclipse"....whereupon a gap appeared in the clouds and we saw it for a good two minutes.

Brilliant story ardy!

No chance of seeing the ****** eclipse here at the moment. Where are your ****** friends now?!

[Flosshilde]

"If your God is really up there He might at least let us see the ***** eclipse"....whereupon a gap appeared in the clouds and we saw it for a good two minutes.

I hope you and Mrs A are now regular church-goers?

[Ferretfancy]

One thing which I think may be worth watching out for, if it's possible to see the sun at all, is whether the birds and other animals go quiet. I have noticed this a few times during partial eclipses. The light level does drop, but not very much, but this does seem to affect animals. Maybe I'm imagining this, though. I haven't had a big enough sample to be sure.

From where I was in North London the fall in light level was much less than the effect of a heavy thunder cloud passing over the sun.
Tonight's Evening Standard plumbs the depths of absurdity, with photos taken from a plane of totality as seen from over the Faroes while mentioning that London was covered in cloud.
This didn't stop the hyperbole --- : "Millions of people across London stopped to watch as the capital was plunged into darkness" " Londoners were not able to witness the eclipse in its full glory. But there was a palpable sense of excitement as the gloom deepened on the morning of the spring equinox" -- etc. etc. etc.

Ridiculous nonsense.

[ardcarp]

I hope you and Mrs A are now regular church-goers?

Nah. We don't fall for stunts like that....

[Don Basilio]

I forgot about the eclipse, but noticing about 10 am it was notably chillier, I pressed the override button on heating. It was a beautiful sunny afternoon despite some haze.

[Ferretfancy]

Off topic...but here's my eclipse story. Perched on a cliff in Cornwall in August 1989 our family was disappointed that cloud was obscuring the sun. We were with some friends who were very committed Christians, and Mrs A. could not resist saying to them, "If your God is really up there He might at least let us see the ***** eclipse"....whereupon a gap appeared in the clouds and we saw it for a good two minutes.

Lovely story! It was actually ten years later, 11th August 1999 ( My niece's birthday )

[P. G. Tipps]

Indeed it was ... a full eclipse, not just any old partial one ... and, yes, at Cheadle near Manchester the day did turn into night for a few minutes, as I remember well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBIyYCdwX1k

Yesterday's non-event and the fuss made of it in the media was ridiculous, as you say.

Not sure I would blame Richard III for any of it, though ...

[BBMmk2]

Next week is the week. I hope everything will go according to plan, with no hiccups etc. RIP HM King Richard III, from a descendant.

[Anna]

Next week is the week. I hope everything will go according to plan, with no hiccups etc. RIP HM King Richard III, from a descendant.

I'm sure all will proceed smoothly BBM, although I don't know what the weather will be for the processions. I intend to watch the programme tonight about the Princes in the Tower (even though it has David Starkey).
I like the subliminal messages Channel 4 keep flashing up, one has the word Richard very faintly in the background and a white rose in the foreground and the other is:
R III P which I think is brilliant!

[ardcarp]

I intend to watch the programme tonight about the Princes in the Tower (even though it has David Starkey).

That was quite a larf. The semi-acted tableau-esque figures were laid on with a trowel, especially Buckigham who looked like a wicked Moor in a 19th century melodrama.

Right at the end , Starkey pulled his rabbit from the hat (presumably a bit of proper academic research) stating he had found evidence among routine court papers suggesting that Henry VII and his wife Elizabeth of York (and sister to the 'Princes in the Tower') attended in person the trial of James Tyrell.

[Anna]

.... evidence among routine court papers suggesting that Henry VII and his wife Elizabeth of York (and sister to the 'Princes in the Tower') attended in person the trial of James Tyrell.

That was the only interesting bit of the programme apart from the fact that the two Princes were illegitimate and therefore had no claim to the throne anyway so what's all the fuss about! I was expecting something, perhaps a little more - scholarly? Rather of a waste of time watching it. R4's morning service has just come from Leicester Cathedral with the Bishop on the theme of 'God's Grace Is Freely Given' and I see the Queen is to give a 'touching' eulogy to Richard on Thursday.
Edit: Terrible review in the Telegraph including: Unsurprisingly, nuance was not forthcoming. Richard III, who looked like Alan Rickman in the Harry Potter films, with curtains of greasy black hair, spent the entire hour narrowing his eyes in distrust, and standing hunched in a corner, draped in black velvet, like a bat lurking at the back of a cave