This was the big one. We had known for a long time that the partial solar eclipse on Wednesday 12 August was going to be the major event of our solar observing season. What we perhaps hadn't anticipated was quite how big it would become. There had been plenty to worry about beforehand. Would the weather cooperate? Would strike action affect the opening of the Royal Observatory? Would we have enough volunteers? Would the queues become completely unmanageable? We even had a con

Each day, as we wake to the sight of the Sun, we hardly think twice about it. It’s a fixture in our lives, always there – so much so that...