Eyes turned to the skies across Europe for the solar eclipse in August. From campus to Spain, alumni share their photos of the special event.
The UK experienced its most significant solar eclipse since 1999 in August, with between 90 and 96% coverage, while some parts of Europe witnessed a total eclipse.
Members of the global Leeds community turned their eyes to the sky to capture the phenomenon, and we’re sharing a selection of their finest pictures.
If you’d like to contribute your own, complete our short form and include your image.
On campus, the student AstroSoc society held a special event outside Leeds University Union to take their photos of the partial solar eclipse:
Philip Songa (MSc Environmental Engineering & Project Management 2005) made a trip to Otley Chevin, a country park near Leeds, to capture the moment: “I used a long lens at 900mm equivalent and a solar filter. I loved the simple, graphic representation that the sun, moon and clouds gave.”
David Wiggins (Mathematics 1989) headed to Richmond Park, London, where he showcased the simple colander technique to view the progress of the eclipse:
Robert Smith (Mechanical Engineering 2005) enjoyed the eclipse whilst on holiday in Wales, using a Canon R10 with RF 100-400 lens:
Bogomil Georgiev (Geological Sciences 2019) experienced a rare total solar eclipse near Zaragoza, Spain:
Simon Quinn (Electrical & Electronic Engineering 1993) took his photos from his allotment in Sevenoaks:
Mofan Xu (Film 2026) stepped out of her doorstep in Leeds to watch the partial eclipse playing out through the leaves of a tree, which acted as a natural pinhole camera:
Charlotte Bennett (Fashion Design 2019) enjoyed the eclipse from the Peak District. “This was taken around 8pm just outside of my hotel. The darkness of the shot was achieved with a low ISO.”
Further information
Share your view from where you were watching for the alumni community collection.
For further information, email Ed Newbould, Digital Communications Officer at the University of Leeds, at e.w.newbould@leeds.ac.uk.