Annular Solar Eclipse

May 21, 2012 by Jared Smith

Compilation photo of eclipse.

View the full quality (3MB) version of the compilation photo above.

An annular solar eclipse occurs when the moon covers most of the disk of the sun. I threw a solar eclipse party and had about 200 people stop by to take a look.

Solar party.

I even got a few nice photos. We had about 85% solar coverage here and very nice weather (though a few clouds right at sunset). Several active sun spot regions made for some fun observing.

Eclipse has just begun.

This crop of the photo above shows the sunspot details. The small bumps along the rough lunar arc are ridges and mountains on the moon. You could fit several planet Earths inside each of the large sunspots.
Crop showing sunspots and lunar mountains.

Maximum eclipse:
Maximum eclipse.

One of the neat effects of an eclipse is that shadows become more distinct with sharper edges. And tree leaves can make lots of pinhole cameras that project images of the eclipse in their shadows…
Dozens of eclipse projections in the shadows of a tree.
or on people …
Eclipse projections one someone's shirt.

You’ll shoot your eye out, kid!

Oct 21, 2011 by Jared Smith

From today’s local newspaper:

Ralphie in a pink bunny costume

In addition to those in the article, here are a few of my favorite comments:

  • It was…SOAP POISONING!
  • Fragile… must be Italian.
  • When Michael Bay starts casting calls for the Christmas Story reboot, you’re in a very good way!
  • Shuttup, Randy.
  • He looks like a deranged easter bunny. He looks like a pink nightmare.
  • WOOOPPIEE A ZEPPELIN!
  • Daddy’s gonna kill Ralphie
  • SO HELP ME GOD, YELLOW EYES!!!
  • You are the world’s best worst parent.
  • I was expecting to see a kid with a flute up his nose.
  • Does your job provide benefits for family psychological therapy?

Who knew a pic of a kid in a bunny costume would be of such interest?

Bryan Before and After Dentist

May 15, 2011 by Jared Smith

If you haven’t seen David After Dentist, it’s probably because you’ve been living in a cave for the last several years. Bryan recently had some dental work done that required some sedatives. We had a similar experience watching him transition through the 10 steps of… well, whatever it was he experienced.