Solar eclipse - What science can you do?

To add insult to injury that I don't know what I am talking about, I ALSO found this:

A somewhat more accurate estimate can be obtained by observing the transit of Venus. This method was devised by James Gregory and published in his Optica Promata. It was strongly advocated by Edmond Halley and was applied to the transits of Venus observed in 1761 and 1769, and then again in 1874 and 1882.

So, I was talking through my hat, and mixing up 2 sun-related stories in the end... Now I'm confused!

Nope ... you're keeping us on our toes Seanie

This could become a never-ending thread rather like the "Ohio Never-Ending Star Party" that runs on the Cloudy Nights forum!

Sandclocks ... now we could be talking about another experiment to measure the weight of the Earth and the acceleration due to Gravity :lol: