Eclipse April 8, 2024
Lake Santee, Indiana
Eclipse April 8, 2024
Lake Santee, Indiana
The pictures for this eclipse event are displayed below and arranged in time sequence as the eclipse progressed from the first moon contact to last contact.
A solar filter was put on the camera lens until start of totality at diamond ring effect, then removed until replaced again at the diamond ring effect at the ending half of the eclipse
Below: Beginning of eclipse, small notch at lower right. Camera time 1:52:19 pm Below: Eclipse in progress; Camera time 2:02:19 pm
Below: Eclipse in progress; Camera time 2:22:19 pm Below: Eclipse in progress; Camera time 2:37:19 pm
Below: Eclipse in progress; Camera time 2:52:19 pm Below: Eclipse in progress; Camera time 3:02:19 pm
Below: Filter Off, Diamond Ring; Camera time 3:07:11 pm Below: Filter Off, Bailey's Beads; Camera time 3:07:12 pm
Below: Filter Off, Totality started; Camera time 3:07:27 pm
Totality is estimated to have lasted from a camera time of ~3:07:20 pm to ~3:10:45 pm
Below: With filter still off, the first picture is right after the start of totality with a low exposure to highlight the red prominences at the sun's surface.
The second picture is two seconds later with a slightly higher exposure to highlight the sun's larger white corona glow. Camera time 3:07:29 pm
Below: With filter still off, the first picture is during totality with a low exposure to highlight red prominences at the sun's surface.
The second picture is two seconds later with a slightly higher exposure to highlight the sun's larger white corona glow. Camera time 3:08:10 pm
Below: With filter still off, the first picture is during totality with a low exposure to highlight red prominences at the sun's surface.
The second picture is two seconds later with a slightly higher exposure to highlight the sun's larger white corona glow. Camera time 3:08:37 pm
Below: With filter still off, the first picture is during totality with a low exposure to highlight red prominences at the sun's surface.
The second picture is two seconds later with a slightly higher exposure to highlight the sun's larger white corona glow. Camera time 3:09:31 pm
Below: With filter still off, the first picture is during totality with a low exposure to highlight red prominences at the sun's surface.
The second picture is two seconds later with a slightly higher exposure to highlight the sun's larger white corona glow. Camera time 3:10:25 pm
Below: Filter still off, Totality ending; Camera time 3:10:43 pm
Below: Filter still off, Bailey's Beads; Camera time 3:10:46 pm Below: Filter still off, Diamond Ring; Camera time 3:10:53 pm
After this shot the solar filter is placed back on the camera lens for the duration
Below: Second half of eclipse in progress; Camera time 3:15:45 pm Below: Second half of eclipse in progress; Camera time 3:30:45 pm
Below: Second half of eclipse in progress; Camera time 3:45:45 pm Below: Second half of eclipse in progress; Camera time 4:05:45 pm
Below: Second half of eclipse in progress; Camera time 4:20:45 pm Below: Eclipse is complete; Camera time 4:25:45 pm
Below: This is an enlargement of a low exposure capture near the end of totality to see the red prominences better. Camera time 3:10:23 pm
Misc. Comments
On the Prominences:
Many people were able to see red marks near the edge of the sun during the eclipse. These prominences are typically larger than the earth. I guess they would have to be pretty big to be visible by the unaided eye during totality at over 93,000,000 miles away.
On the Moon exactly blocking out the Sun:
Looking up some Wikipedia numbers help explain the geometry.
Moon Diameter: 2159 miles (Fred’s estimate of 2000 miles was very close)
Moon Distance to Earth: 238,000 miles
Sun Diameter: 865,400 miles
Sun Distance to Earth: 93,000,000 miles
The ratio of the (Sun diameter) to the (Moon diameter) is ~400. The ratio of the (Sun distance to Earth) to the (Moon distance to Earth) is ~400.
Net, the Sun is ~400 times bigger than the Moon but is ~400 times further away so they appear the same size in the sky (~0.5 degree across) and can perfectly overlap each other.
On the camera and exposures:
The camera was full frame that used a Sigma zoom lens set to 500mm focal length.
The filter was a Baader AstroSolar film (5 log intensity reduction ) set in a PVC drain pipe connector.
The camera was manually set to f/8 and ISO 400 for all exposures. White balance used was 5000K. Lower and slightly higher exposures on the final photos were achieved by the laptop adjusting exposure time (Tv) in the camera, and exposure settings when saving finals from the initial raw shots.
The filtered and low exposure shots were exposed at 1/1000 sec. The higher exposed unfiltered shots during totality were exposed at 1/30 sec.