Total Solar Eclipse - Aug. 21, 2017

This was my first total Solar Eclipse. I had originally planned *not* to take any pictures, as I had heard many say that taking pictures detracts from your very first experience. However, I did some research and found an application called "Eclipse Orchestrator", a great program by Moonglow Technologies that automates the image acquisition process during the eclipse, freeing you to watch the eclipse as it was meant to be watched. I must say the anticipation of the event, without doubt, heightened the experience. The appearance of two sets of sunspots made viewing the partial stage that much more exciting. The temperature, which had been 101 degrees Farhenheit before the eclipse began, steadily began to decrease as totality approached. The most obvious impending sign of the climactic event was the gradual descent of an ethereal, subdued lighting over our surroundings. When the time finally came, the transition was extraordinarily fast (as you'd expect with the shadow moving at almost 1500 mph!). Within mere moments, the shadow of the umbra flowed across the trees and mountains in front of us, darkening the world below us. In the distance, clouds were suddenly illuminated as if by the setting of the sun. Bailey's beads shimmered and totality began. The temperature had dropped to a mere 81 degrees Fahrenheit. I looked up, and saw a black hole in the sky: Mars a hand distance to the right, Mercury a hand distance to the left, Venus about three times that distance to the right, and Jupiter about twice that to the left. It was dark around the hybrid body with stars around, with the rest of the sky in varying shades of blue. I had originally planned to look at the eclipse with my binoculars, but I never got the chance. I stood mesmerized by the event with little time to take in what was constantly changing before me: fine coronal tendrils streaming from the surface of the Sun in flux as I watched without looking away. And before I knew it, totality came to an end. I must say I felt underwhelmed, after hearing so much about this life changing experience. Has it changed me? I can say this. As time goes on, the memory of that singular event continues to linger. My mind's eye continues to return to that brief moment in time to when a black hole formed in the sky and the sun was devoured by its negative image. The coronal tendrils continue to stream forth from the star that is my sun, and I can't seem to take my eyes off it.

All images shown here were taken using a Canon T3i with a Canon 70-300mm USM telephoto lens set to 200mm (unless otherwise specified) and a filter made using BAADER AstroSolar® Safety Film 5.0. A tripod mount was used with no tracking, so exposures had to remain faster than about 1/10 s.


 

Showcasing: Bailey's-Beads-and-Prominences

Bailey's-Beads-and-Prominences - End of Totality  by Terry Riopka
Designation: Bailey's-Beads-and-Prominences
Alternate Name: End of Totality
Constellation: Leo
Imaging Date: August 21, 2017
Imaging Location: Chilhowee TN
Exposure Time: 1 frames@200sec ~ 1/200s
ISO Setting: 200
Imaging Device: Canon Rebel T3i
Optics: 200mm Telephoto
Focal Reducer: NA
Comment: This is a close-up of image below, showing both Bailey's beads and two beautiful prominences.

 

Partial-Eclipse

Partial-Eclipse - First Contact With Sunspots  by Terry Riopka

Coronal-Loop

Coronal-Loop - End of Totality  by Terry Riopka

Sunspots

Sunspots - Solar disk before start of eclipse  by Terry Riopka
Designation: Partial-Eclipse
Alternate Name: First Contact With Sunspots
Constellation: Leo
Imaging Date: August 21, 2017
Imaging Location: Chilhowee TN
Exposure Time: 1 frames@200sec ~ 1/200s
ISO Setting: 200
Imaging Device: Canon Rebel T3i
Optics: 200mm Telephoto
Focal Reducer: NA
Comment: Beautiful partial view, just before the Moon covered the first sunspot.
Designation: Coronal-Loop
Alternate Name: End of Totality
Constellation: Leo
Imaging Date: August 21, 2017
Imaging Location: Chilhowee TN
Exposure Time: 1 frames@200sec ~ 1/200s
ISO Setting: 200
Imaging Device: Canon Rebel T3i
Optics: 200mm Telephoto
Focal Reducer: NA
Comment: One last fantastic diamond flash just before totality ended - a spectacular finish to an astounding event!
Designation: Sunspots
Alternate Name: Solar disk before start of eclipse
Constellation: Leo
Imaging Date: August 21, 2017
Imaging Location: Chilhowee TN
Exposure Time: 1 frames@1024sec ~ 1/1024s
ISO Setting: 200
Imaging Device: Canon Rebel T3i
Optics: 300mm Telephoto
Focal Reducer: NA
Comment: A total of 5 sunspots were visible during this eclipse, three close to the meridian, and two rotating into view as the eclipse began. This couldn't have been more fortuitous for solar imagers everywhere, allowing very precise focussing for the main event!

Bailey's-Beads

Bailey's-Beads - End of Totality  by Terry Riopka

Prominences

Prominences - Total Eclipse  by Terry Riopka

Outer-Corona

Outer-Corona - During Totality  by Terry Riopka
Designation: Bailey's-Beads
Alternate Name: End of Totality
Constellation: Leo
Imaging Date: August 21, 2017
Imaging Location: Chilhowee TN
Exposure Time: 1 frames@200sec ~ 1/200s
ISO Setting: 200
Imaging Device: Canon Rebel T3i
Optics: 200mm Telephoto
Focal Reducer: NA
Comment: Bailey's beads reappear once more in this gorgeous photo showing streaming coronal lines and two spectacular prominences below the bright bead, and near the bottom of the Sun.
Designation: Prominences
Alternate Name: Total Eclipse
Constellation: Leo
Imaging Date: August 21, 2017
Imaging Location: Chilhowee TN
Exposure Time: 1 frames@800sec ~ 1/800s
ISO Setting: 200
Imaging Device: Canon Rebel T3i
Optics: 200mm Telephoto
Focal Reducer: NA
Comment: This is a gorgeous view of the total eclipse, with two spectacular pink-hued prominences. These same prominences are seen again when Bailey's beads reappear here.
Designation: Outer-Corona
Alternate Name: During Totality
Constellation: Leo
Imaging Date: August 21, 2017
Imaging Location: Chilhowee TN
Exposure Time: 1 frames@100sec ~ 1/100s
ISO Setting: 200
Imaging Device: Canon Rebel T3i
Optics: 200mm Telephoto
Focal Reducer: NA
Comment: This was a longer exposure to capture the outer part of the corona. You can see beautiful tendrils extending in many directions from the surface of the Sun. You can also see Regulus in the top left part of the image.


Diamond-Ring

Diamond-Ring - Start of Totality  by Terry Riopka

Inner-Corona

Inner-Corona - During Totality  by Terry Riopka
Designation: Diamond-Ring
Alternate Name: Start of Totality
Constellation: Leo
Imaging Date: August 21, 2017
Imaging Location: Chilhowee TN
Exposure Time: 1 frames@200sec ~ 1/200s
ISO Setting: 200
Imaging Device: Canon Rebel T3i
Optics: 200mm Telephoto
Focal Reducer: NA
Comment: I missed this visually, but this was my first picture I processed after our group got back. It was also my first ever picture of a total solar eclipse, so even though I didn't do a great job processing it, it will forever be my iconic view of this fantastic event.
Designation: Inner-Corona
Alternate Name: During Totality
Constellation: Leo
Imaging Date: August 21, 2017
Imaging Location: Chilhowee TN
Exposure Time: 1 frames@800sec ~ 1/800s
ISO Setting: 200
Imaging Device: Canon Rebel T3i
Optics: 200mm Telephoto
Focal Reducer: NA
Comment: As anyone will tell you, capturing the complete corona is difficult due to the enormous dynamic range of the phenomenon. This was a short exposure to capture the innermost portion of it.

 

 

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