Looking to the skies and a trip to the zoo

Today was a big day for the sun and the moon. Firstly, the moon had to come between us and the sun, causing a solar eclipse. Secondly, it was the spring (or vernal) equinox, the official start of spring, when the orientation of the earth (in relation to the sun) means we have the same number of daylight and darkness hours. Finally we had a new moon supermoon, when the moon reaches its closest point to the earth (also called a perigee moon).

So how did it all go?

1.  The build up to this mornings solar eclipse was very exciting, but I didn't find myself in the best place to view it. In fact I was on a coach on the M25, helping to take 26 four and five year olds to Chessington World of Adventures for their class trip. It was very cloudy so luckily we didn't have to worry about the kids looking directly at the sun. We all waited for it to get dark, but we didn't see anything happen at all. It was a total anticlimax and a bit disappointing! Back at school, the clouds thinned just enough for them all to catch a glimpse, but we missed it all completely! The pictures on the news looked good though!

2.  We can now officially say spring has arrived and, despite a cloudy morning, we had a beautifully sunny afternoon. It definitely felt very spring like. Does this mean we all now have to look for #signsofsummer?

3.  Unlike a full moon supermoon which makes the moon appear bigger and brighter than usual, a new moon supermoon (or black supermoon) appears as a slightly bigger than usual black spot where the moon should be. Most observers, including me, can't even see it!

So, all a bit of a disappointment really!!

 

To make up for it, here's a photo of a tiger and a few other photos from our trip around the sealife centre and zoo at Chessington World of Adventures ...

Sea anemones

Little brother had his finger cleaned by a cleaner shrimp

Bioluminescent creatures

 

Capybaras