Whether day ended 400 years ago in Sir John Davies's time, or as it does today, the night sky that has attracted people for thousands of years begins another nightly show. For committed astronomers, amateur or professional, that darkening sky is all that is needed to get our juices flowing. Others require a little more, not just a static display that changes subtly from hour to hour, but something startling, something that crashes upon the celestial stage. A bright meteor, or an eclipse, can spark a lifelong interest in the sky. Eclipses are predictable, and there is usually nothing subtle about them. We can take the experience of an eclipse and put it into a bottle of fond memories. Eclipses show that the sky does change, that the sky is the show that never ends. Eclipses can inspire, and that is why I wrote this guide to getting the most from them.

An eclipse journey

Eclipses are so interesting that some people travel the world to catch them. My wife Wendee and I did this quite literally in late 2003, when we flew across the Atlantic from our home near Tucson, Arizona.