A ROMSEY boy put many more experienced stargazers in the shade when he captured the recent solar eclipse on camera.

Nine-year-old Martin Rogers used a camcorder fitted with a Baader white light solar filter over the lens to get his picture on August 1.

The results were so good, Martins picture was displayed on the website of the Society for Popular Astronomy, which has 3,000 members.

Martin's Dad, David Scanlan, also a keen astronomer, said: "I think Martin was one of only a handful of people that managed to get any decent photos of the eclipse as most of England was under cloud. His picture has been featured on the homepage of the UK's largest amateur astronomy society and also some photo galleries on astronomical sites."

David uses his dad's 6in Dobsonian and a Meade ETX90 Goto scope to study the skies.

Warning would-be observers to take care when looking at the sun, David added: "The filter (Baader white light) is a specific type of filter for viewing the sun and is not tin foil, which is what the filter looks like. Looking at the sun without specially manufactured filters can cause permanent damage to the eye.