My friend Vic Maris of Stellarvue Instruments sent me this fantastic shot of a surprise guest appearance by Galileo Galilei at last weekend’s annular eclipse. The apparition occurred at Great Basin National Park in Nevada, where at first clouds threatened to spoil the event. “But Galileo told the several hundred park visitors to inhale deeply and blow toward the clouds,” said Vic. “True to form with Galileo’s magic, the clouds began to move away, and after the temperature began to drop, the clouds dissipated.”
Vic reports that visitors saw the whole event EXCEPT for the period of annularity. Ah well. “It was a good thing I didn’t appear as Mr. Evil Cloudcover, or I would have been stoned!” said Vic.
Oh, and Galileo here does bear an amazing resemblance to Vic, who is a fun guy and also happens to be one of the board members of the Astronomy Foundation, and its past president.