Solar Eclipses in Dreieich-Dreieichenhain, Germany 1976-1983

29. April 1976

The first solar eclipse I experienced, I viewed at the age of 12 on April 29, 1976. With a soot blackened diving mask not knowingly I exposed my eyes the danger of strong infrared radiation, which can damage eyes up to blindness. On my request my mother gave me the diving mask for eclipse observation at school. It was a clear nice spring day. I watched the eclipse during the second break from schoolyard, and later through windows of one of the inner yards of the just new erected Weibelfeld school in Dreieich-Dreieichenhain, Germany and let interested classmates take their looks. I was the last one, who had entered the classroom after the break. After school nothing of the suncovering moon could be seen any more. I thought, that someday it must fit for a total eclipse. Sometime I got to know that in the far far future, in the year 1999 it should be on in Germany.

20. July 1982

For that eclipse the first time I brought in position an astronomical equipment for solar eclipse observation. My Revue refractor (f=910mm, D=60mm) with an Olympus OM2 camera and tele converter for capturing the sun at 1820mm focal length. The solar eclipse should begin at the observation site Dreieich-Dreieichenhain, Germany at 21:04 CEST, lasting only a few minutes up to sun set. Although the sun was shining, I could see nothing of the eclipse, because the sun disappeared at 21:04 in strong haze, before reaching the horizon. On the one photo I took at 1820mm focal length before, the eclipse can not be seen.

15. December 1982

On that day Dreieich-Dreieichenhain, Germany had bad weather conditions with overcast sky, snow and rain. So I could unfortunately not see the eclipse.

4. December 1983

On a clear sky December day the partial solar eclipse was visible through the telescope (Revue refractor f=910mm, D=60mm with Revue sun filter) at about 13:20 CET in Dreieich-Dreieichenhain, Germany. I interrupted lunch and could recognize the eclipse for a few minutes as a small dent at the sun's limb - the first solar eclipse I saw through a telescope. I was enthused, how clearly it could be seen, even if there was only 1/1000 of the sun's disk covered during maximum eclipse. I didn't see any sun spots. The observation site Dreieich-Dreieichenhain, Germany lay at the northern edge of the penumbral zone. I didn't make any photographs of the solar eclipse.