Clouds clear to give Gladstone good view of eclipse

TWO eclipses in two weeks and we almost missed out on both. Tuesday’s partial solar eclipse was almost a washout in Gladstone as cloud turned the display grey.

The partial solar eclipse on April 29, 2014, photographed from Auckland Point, Gladstone. . Picture: Luka Kauzlaric

TWO eclipses in two weeks - and we almost missed out on both.

Tuesday afternoon's partial solar eclipse was almost a washout across Gladstone as cloud cover turned the celestial display grey.

Clouds also blocked out the lunar eclipse over the city on April 15.

But patience paid off as the eclipse, which started about 4.30pm, emerged about 15 minutes later.

During the eclipse the sun transformed from a bright round disc to a setting crescent.

Our photographer Luka Kauzlaric snapped the eclipse over Auckland Point Lookout in Gladstone.

The partial eclipse was part of an annular solar eclipse, where the moon doesn't completely cover the sun, and the sun forms a thin ring around the moon. 

While the eclipse was visible across the country, the greatest coverage occurred in the south, with up to two-thirds of the Sun covered by the Moon when viewed from Hobart.

There will be more chances to check out astronomical events later this year, with the recent lunar eclipse one of a tetrad - four consecutive total lunar eclipses between April and mid-2015.

The next will pop up on October 8 then again on April 4 and September 28 in 2015.

Local photographer Astrid Allison captured this shot of the partial solar eclipse over Gladstone on April 29, 2014. Picture: Astrid Allison