Wilson’s School
Cloudy with a chance of eclipse
On Thursday of last week, the UK was treated to a partial solar eclipse, where the moon moves in front of part of the sun taking a noticeable chunk out of its circular form. The timing of the eclipse couldn't have been much better, reaching its peak (20% coverage of the sun) during morning break. The weather, however, was less accommodating. Despite the preceding days being gloriously sunny with clear skies, the morning of last Thursday was cloudy. Not to be deterred by this, the science department was out in force, handing out pinholes for students to try to project an outline of the sun on to the ground, whilst reinforcing the important safety information not to look directly at the sun! There were occasional breaks in the cloud but getting an image with the pinholes proved challenging. There was, however, some success using our homemade portable pinhole projector box (see picture below) which was able to get a successful projection of the sun that was seen by a small group of students that had persevered with trying to get an observation during the episodes of thick cloud.
The thick cloud wasn't all bad news however. Although it was still dangerous to look directly at the sun even when in thick cloud, it was possible to take a picture of the eclipse using the camera on a phone without the need for a filter, producing the shot as seen below (top, middle).
Mr Luck used a more conventional approach using his DSLR camera with a solar filter over the lens, along with his patience, to produce the impressive image seen below (bottom left) when a break in the clouds finally came.
If you missed the partial eclipse or want to witness it again, then the next partial eclipse in the UK will be on 25 October 2022 and 29 March 2025 after that. If you are wondering when the next total eclipse in the UK will be, unfortunately you are going to have to wait until 23 September 2090!
The thick cloud wasn't all bad news however. Although it was still dangerous to look directly at the sun even when in thick cloud, it was possible to take a picture of the eclipse using the camera on a phone without the need for a filter, producing the shot as seen below (top, middle).
Mr Luck used a more conventional approach using his DSLR camera with a solar filter over the lens, along with his patience, to produce the impressive image seen below (bottom left) when a break in the clouds finally came.
If you missed the partial eclipse or want to witness it again, then the next partial eclipse in the UK will be on 25 October 2022 and 29 March 2025 after that. If you are wondering when the next total eclipse in the UK will be, unfortunately you are going to have to wait until 23 September 2090!
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DEPUTY HEAD'S REMINDER
E-SAFETY RESOURCES
Thank you to those parents who attended Wednesday's E-safety Evening. A range of resources is available from the Google Forms link that was sent to parents and these will continue to be available for those who were unable to attend the evening.
Dates for your Diary
- 21 - 25 June - Year 8 and Year 10 internal exams
- 21 - 23 June and 28 - 30 June Pre-booked visits for prospective parents
- Thursday 24 June - Senior vocal concert (7pm)
- Friday 25 June - CCF Competition at Frimley Park
ADMISSIONS
Registration for the admission process for Year 7 in September 2022 is now open until 13 August 2021.
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Site last updated: 1:48pm 22/06/2021
Wilson’s School
A boys’ grammar school in the London Borough of Sutton (UK), Wilson’s School is:
- committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment
- a charitable company limited by guarantee registered in England and Wales (no. 7536970). Registered office: Mollison Drive, Wallington, Surrey SM6 9JW
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