Like almost everyone, I carry a cell phone everywhere, and I also used it to try to capture the eclipse.
I had a cell phone eclipse filter that came with the eclipse glasses, but I couldn’t really get it to work.
My favorite kind of cell phone photography is the pano shot, rotating myself around to get an extremely wide angle view. I think the iPhone excels at that. I took a pano shot showing the row of photographers to either side of me just before totality.
I took a pano shot during totality that also shows Venus above and to the left of the eclipsed sun.
I also took some pictures of the setting sun. The pictures I got from the Panasonic LUMIX camera were better, but these were not bad.
What an amazing experience! Pictures from four different cameras, all of them interesting in their own way, but none better than being there in person.
I had deliberately limited myself to a single, wide-angle 12 – 60 mm lens for my travel camera, a Panasonic LUMIX DC-GX9. I didn’t want to waste time swapping lenses during totality, and my goal, like with the GoPro, was to capture the wider field, trusting the SeeStar to capture the eclipsed sun itself.
Nevertheless, the first temptation was to image the eclipsed sun. And, unlike the SeeStar, the image wasn’t saturated, so the hot pink solar prominence on the left side of the sun showed as hot pink, although with a 60 mm lens, there wasn’t a lot of detail.
Then I followed my plan and took pictures of the eclipsed sun with the landscape. I took some with the 12-60 mm lens set at 24 mm, capturing Venus as well as the eclipsed sun in one of them. Venus was about 50% illuminated, so it was a half-moon shape, although again with this lens there was not a lot of detail.
I also took some pictures with the 12 – 60 mm lens set at 60 mm. Venus was out of the frame for this one.
As the Moon moved away from blocking the sun, I stopped taking pictures … until sunset, when the sun was clearly a crescent and then a fin as it set behind the mountains.
What an amazing sight.
Which view do you like the best?
Camera geek info:
Panasonic LUMIX DMC-GF7 set at f/5.6, 15 second exposure, ISO 1600
LUMIX G VARIO F3.5-5.6/12 – 60
Corona image: 60 mm, ISO 200, f6.3, 1/40 sec exposure
Widefield image: 24 mm, ISO 3200, f8, 1/40 sec exposure
Widefield image with Venus: 24 mm, ISO 200, f6.3, 1/40 sec exposure
Normal image: 60 mm, ISO 3200, f8, 1/13 sec exposure
Sunset images: 60 mm, ISO 200, f14, 1/50 sec exposure
One of the things I wanted to capture with the total solar eclipse was the wide field experience of the sky getting darker and darker and then the weird alien sky with a black circle surrounded by a white glow (potentially with hot pink prominences) and the sunset colors on either side. And, for this particular eclipse, also the crescent sunset.
I have a GoPro camera, so I decided to bring it and attach it to the tripod I had my SeeStar on and capture just the period around totality and the sunset. I set it in auto mode for shutter, white balance, and ISO because I anticipated a pretty large dynamic range for how much light there was.
Unfortunately, some idiot (pointing fingers at my own head here) stood in front of the GoPro in order to remove and install the solar filter on the SeeStar. So I didn’t get a video of the whole event because my own hands, back, cell phone, and camera were in the way. Lessons learned: set up the cameras so managing one won’t block another.
However, I was able to extract video of entering totality and exiting totality. I also got video of the sunset, but the view was too wide and the sun too bright to really see the crescent shape. The pictures I got with my Panasonic LUMIX camera were better, which I’ll share in a future blog post.
I was also able to extract images from the video of the diamond ring on both sides of totality as well as totality itself.
Even though it isn’t 100% what I was after, it’s still pretty amazing. (And I used other cameras as well, which will get their own blog posts.)
I made a (time lapse) movie to try to capture the 2024 total solar eclipse we experienced in Granbury, Texas.
The movie doesn’t capture the planning and replanning needed to capture this event. Months ago, looking at the predicted weather, the weather across most of Texas was expected to be favorable for viewing the eclipse. I chose to stay in Temple, Texas which was within the band of totality, not too far from the centerline, and had a reasonably priced place for my husband, daughter, and I to stay. It turned out to be a great place to stay – we could pick up our daughter from an airport in Dallas and travel to Austin to see the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center (which given the combination of the weekend, eclipse tourists, and peak wildflower season was quite crowded). Even along the side of the road, the bluebonnets were plentiful, so I got my iconic Texas bluebonnet picture on this eclipse trip.
By the night before the eclipse, it was clear that Temple was going to have a lot of cloud cover for eclipse day. We were rained on (twice) the last time we tried to see a total solar eclipse, and we did not want to repeat that experience! So I used the Astropheric app on my phone (with four different cloud cover models) to look south to Austin/San Antonio (did not look promising) and north to Dallas/Fort Worth (looked better), and I settled on going to Hillsboro, Texas (which had temporarily re-named itself Eclipseboro), which was an easy drive up I35 and right on the centerline.
But Monday morning when I got up, the cloud odds were not looking good for Hillsboro either. So I looked at the options again and decided to trade time in totality for better cloud odds and decided to drive northwest to Granbury, Texas. We picked up breakfast and started driving.
Some had predicted massive traffic, difficulty getting gas, and difficulty getting food. There were even road signs to warn of the upcoming traffic.
We didn’t experience any of that. No traffic, no difficulty getting gas, no difficulty getting food. And, best of all, we drove out from under the heavy clouds and saw the sun shining in a blue sky with white puffy clouds.
We decided to view the eclipse from Hewlett Park. A group from New Mexico State University were set up there, doing an experiment with weather balloons. They allowed us to set up at the periphery of their launch area. I got my telescope set up well in advance of the eclipse start, so I was able to capture a time lapse of the entire thing.
I was able to see sunspots and use them to focus my telescope. A few minutes before the eclipse, I started my intervalometer to capture a picture a minute.
Once the time lapse started, we had some clouds pass in front of the sun, which was worrisome. But I had noticed in Astropheric that pretty much every prediction had shown fewer clouds during the actual eclipse. And a book I had bought on this trip, Totality: The Great North American Eclipse of 2024, by Mark LIttmann and Fred Espenak explained why. The Sun heats the Earth and pulls water from lakes and plants into the sky, where it cools and forms clouds. But when the Moon starts to block the Sun, this heating process stops, water stops being pulled up, and the clouds dissipate. This effect won’t help with the heavy cloud cover of a front, but does eliminate fluffy white clouds. And we saw the clouds dissipate and the sky grow clearer.
We also saw the folks from New Mexico State University release their weather balloons.
We walked around looking for cool crescent shadows, but didn’t spot any. Nor did we spot any changes in color.
But we did see it get really dark. The sign on the hotel across the street came on as did the streetlights.
I had wanted to take some wide angle pictures with my smaller camera, but I did not get it set up in time. When we reached totality, I decided not to mess with it and just enjoy the experience and take pictures with my telescope.
It was the weirdest alien sky I have ever seen. It was dark. But there was this elliptical bright white glowing spot in the sky, with a perfect black circle in the middle. I could see the two brightest planets – Venus and Jupiter – on either side. It. Was. Awesome.
I took the solar filter off my telescope, reaimed the solar tracking mount (either it lost track or I bumped it in my excitement), and manually took pictures.
I looked for the comet, but did not spot it.
I alternated between taking pictures and looking at the sky.
One of the things that I could see naked eye was a bright pink spot on the lower edge of the Moon. I thought maybe it was the diamond ring effect, but it lasted for too long. Later I found out it was a solar prominence. Amazing!
I saw the edge getting brighter and took a set of pictures to try to capture Bailey’s beads and the diamond ring effect – I got the diamond ring for sure.
When the picture got super bright, I put the solar filter back on the telescope and returned to letting it take a picture a minute.
By now the clouds were gone, and we laid on our picnic blanket with our solar glasses and watched the Sun come back out.
We watched until the Sun had fully emerged from behind the Moon.
Friends, before this eclipse, I said that I would rather photograph an annular eclipse because it was a more exciting subject. I. Was. Wrong. There is nothing like a total solar eclipse.
And so I’m left asking: When can I see this again?
Stay tuned!!
Camera geek info for solar pictures:
Canon EOS 60D in manual mode, 1/200 second exposure, ISO 100
Intervalometer
Williams Optics Zenith Star 73 III APO telescope
Williams Optics Flat 73A
Thousand Oaks optical solar filter
Sky-Watcher SolarQuest HelioFind tracking mount and tripod
Camera geek info for corona pictures:
Canon EOS 60D in manual mode, 1/200 second exposure, ISO 100
Williams Optics Zenith Star 73 III APO telescope
Williams Optics Flat 73A
Sky-Watcher SolarQuest HelioFind tracking mount and tripod
One of the things that surprised and amazed me during totality of the solar eclipse was a bright pink spot on the lower edge of the Moon that I could see naked eye. At first, I thought maybe it was the diamond ring effect, but it was not – it was a solar prominence! And when I looked at my pictures, I discovered that it was one of several.
Solar prominences are loops of plasma that are anchored to the sun’s surface and extend out into the sun’s corona, following the local magnetic field. The plasma is made of electrically charged hydrogen and helium. Hot hydrogen emits red light, which is why they appear pink.
Since we are close to the maximum of the solar sunspot cycle (solar max is expected to occur within the next year), there happened to be a lot of prominences for this eclipse. So cool!
These pictures show the solar prominences during totality and the diamond ring effect where the sun emerges at the end of totality.
Camera geek info for corona pictures:
Canon EOS 60D in manual mode, 1/200 second exposure, ISO 100
Intervalometer
Williams Optics Zenith Star 73 III APO telescope
Williams Optics Flat 73A
Sky-Watcher SolarQuest HelioFind tracking mount and tripod
In preparation for the upcoming solar eclipse, I’ve gotten some new tools (toys). I got a solar tracking mount that tracks the sun so I don’t have to try to set up my tracking mount (which needs a view of the stars to align) in the daytime. And I got a solar filter for my telescope (this is not optional – eyeballs and optics can be destroyed without a proper solar filter). Solar filters have been hard to come by – I’ve had one the correct size on order for months – and this one was too big. But my awesome husband and his 3D printer came to the rescue! He made me a spacer to go between the solar filter and the telescope. It worked perfectly!
I tried a variety of settings for ISO and exposure length. This particular shot at ISO 800 with a 1/400 second exposure had the best sun spots on this particular day. It seemed like settings where ISO * exposure >= 1 worked the best.
Camera geek info:
Canon EOS 60D in manual mode, 1/400 second exposure, ISO 800
Intervalometer
Williams Optics Zenith Star 73 III APO telescope
Williams Optics Flat 73A
Thousand Oaks optical solar filter
Sky-Watcher SolarQuest HelioFind tracking mount and tripod
Our original plan was to drive to Missouri, visit family, and see the total solar eclipse from Rosecrans Memorial Airport in St. Joseph, MO. When we left home, the weather was predicted to be clear, but that grew worse as we travelled north. By the night before the eclipse, the weather was predicted to be partly cloudy at best, thunderstorms at worst. However, since none of the other local weather looked to be any better, we decided to stick to our original plan.
As we drove to the site, the clouds grew worse, but the traffic was not the expected carpocalypse.
The site had everyone parked in a field in a giant astronomy tailgate party. It was cloudy, but we were hopeful.
Here I am, ready to look at the sun.
Camera geek info:
Panasonic DMC-GF7 set at f/11, 1/125 second exposure, ISO 200
LUMIX G VARIO 12-32/F3.5-5.6, set at 12 mm
Here’s what the site looked like.
Camera geek info:
Panasonic DMC-GF7 set at f/11, 1/320 second exposure, ISO 200
LUMIX G VARIO 12-32/F3.5-5.6, set at 12 mm
I set up my camera and tried to get a picture of the sun through the clouds. With the solar glasses on, I could see the sun, but not the camera. I tried to use live view to find the sun and focus so I wouldn’t be looking at the sun through the lens. Turns out, it was difficult to aim the camera with the telephoto lens at the sun with the solar filter on it using live view. I ended up using my wider angle lens to find the sun with live view and then switching.
Before the eclipse started, I was able to get a picture of the sun with its sunspots.
Time: 11:24
Camera geek info:
Canon EOS 60D in manual mode set at f/4, 1/250 second exposure, ISO 100
Canon EF 70 – 200 mm f/4L lens, set at 98 mm, manual focus at infinity
Tripod
Cable release
Homemade Baader Solar Film solar filter
Then it rained. The camera gear and I sheltered in the car.
As the eclipse started, I was able to get another set of pictures of the sun as it went in and out of the clouds.
Time: 12:05
Camera geek info:
Canon EOS 60D in manual mode set at f/4, 1/250 second exposure, ISO 100
Canon EF 70 – 200 mm f/4L lens, set at 70 mm, manual focus at infinity
Tripod
Cable release
Homemade Baader Solar Film solar filter
Then it rained.
The clouds looked angry, like aliens swarming in the sky.
Camera geek info:
Canon EOS 60D in manual mode set at f/4, 1/160 second exposure, ISO 100
Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8 EX lens, set at 24 mm, autofocus
Then it rained again, harder, with thunder. A lot of people started leaving. With totality a half hour away, I thought they’d just end up sitting in traffic and wouldn’t get anywhere better. We stayed. I hoped that the rain would clear enough of the cloud cover that we’d get another view of the sun.
When it stopped raining, I got out of the car.
An exclamation rose up from the crowd around me. Up in the sky, a tiny sliver of sun was visible through the clouds.
Time: 13:03
Time: 13:04
Camera geek info:
Canon EOS 60D in manual mode set at f/4, 1/160 second exposure, ISO 100
Canon EF 70 – 200 mm f/4L lens, set at 200 mm, autofocus
The sliver went in and out of the clouds.
Then it got dark. And I said, “whoa!” Then it got darker. “Wow!” Then it got as dark as night. “Amazing!!!!!”
For over two and a half minutes, we had darkness in the daytime. But the horizon was a sunset in every direction. In one direction I could see a pink and orange cloud with rain streaking down from it in the sunset, with black overhead and black below. Where we were, it was dark.
I spent some time with my mouth gaping open, admiring the sight.
My pictures of the sunset do not do it justice, as the camera was still set for taking pictures of the sun.
Camera geek info:
Canon EOS 60D in manual mode set at f/4, 1/160 second exposure, ISO 100
Canon EF 70 – 200 mm f/4L lens, set at 188 mm, autofocus
Then, after two and a half minutes of darkness, the sun returned. People on the field cheered. People on the bluff set off fireworks.
Time: 13:09
Camera geek info:
Canon EOS 60D in manual mode set at f/4, 1/25 second exposure, ISO 100
Canon EF 70 – 200 mm f/4L lens, set at 200 mm, autofocus
Time: 13:12
Camera geek info:
Canon EOS 60D in manual mode set at f/4, 1/400 second exposure, ISO 100
Canon EF 70 – 200 mm f/4L lens, set at 172 mm, autofocus
As the moon slowly uncovered the sun, the clouds drifted away.
Time: 13:38
Time: 13:47
Camera geek info:
Canon EOS 60D in manual mode set at f/4, 1/100 second exposure, ISO 100
Canon EF 70 – 200 mm f/4L lens, set at 163 mm, manual focus at infinity
Tripod
Cable release
Homemade Baader Solar Film solar filter
Time: 14:05
Camera geek info:
Canon EOS 60D in manual mode set at f/4, 1/200 second exposure, ISO 100
Canon EF 70 – 200 mm f/4L lens, set at 163 mm, manual focus at infinity
Tripod
Cable release
Homemade Baader Solar Film solar filter
Time: 14:08
Note that the sunspots have rotated from their position before the eclipse!
Camera geek info:
Canon EOS 60D in manual mode set at f/8, 1/200 second exposure, ISO 100
Canon EF 70 – 200 mm f/4L lens, set at 163 mm, manual focus at infinity
Tripod
Cable release
Homemade Baader Solar Film solar filter
Time: 14:17
Time: 14:29
Camera geek info:
Canon EOS 60D in manual mode set at f/5, 1/200 second exposure, ISO 100
Canon EF 70 – 200 mm f/4L lens, set at 163 mm, manual focus at infinity
Tripod
Cable release
Homemade Baader Solar Film solar filter
I have enough pictures of the second half of the eclipse that I may try to make a time-lapse movie of it.
Note that all of these pictures were taken through clouds, and even with that, the pictures at the end were overexposed, and I could not see the sunspots. For a cloudless day, I’d want to use a much faster shutter speed. And remember to zoom the telephoto lens all the way out. LOL.
In spite of the clouds, experiencing totality was nothing short of amazing. I would not trade my cloudy totality for someone else’s sunny 98%. I look forward to trying this again when the next US total solar eclipse occurs over my home state of Texas!
A solar eclipse is going to be visible across the US in less than a week. I’m hoping to get a good picture! But to do it safely, I needed a solar filter.
I made my own using Baader Solar Film. I was able to see sunspots! And I got an artsy shot of the sun with clouds. Sometimes surprises make the best pictures.
Space&Aliens 