Eclipse Practice
Posted: Sat Mar 23, 2024 3:49 am
Today after the clouds burned off, I did a practice run for the upcoming April 8th total solar eclipse at my location. The partial eclipse last October was good practice too.
I made a cardboard shade to go on my AT80ED 80 mm,f/ 7 refractor telescope to keep glare out of the eyepiece. I compared the ease of viewing and photography between my telescope and my Sony DSC-H400 camera. I used a Meade Glass White-Light Solar Filter SF #450 with my telescope and a Thousand Oaks Optical Solar filter for the camera. I found that my wide angle Stellarvue 15 mm (37x), 82° eyepiece was the best for viewing and for use with my iPhone 14 Pro camera.
Though my camera has taken excellent Lunar and Solar photos in the past, it is very difficult because it lets me control nearly every aspect of the camera except the focus. There is no manual focus. Therefore, shots of targets at infinity truly depends on “lucky imaging”. Here is the one focused image that I got with it today out of many.
Below was captured by holding my iPhone to the eyepiece. I have a good iPhone mount for my telescope but it is more trouble than it’s worth. With the short exposure times for the sun and the Moon, just holding the phone camera up to the eyepiece produces I ages that are acceptable to me.
After the sun fell behind the trees, I started observing birds. A nice thing about this Astrotech telescope is its incredible focus range. With the 15 mm eyepiece I can extend the telescope to the point where I can focus on objects only about 5 m (20 ft) away! Here are some examples.
Cedar Waxwing
Mourning Dove
Brown-headed Cowbird
For the eclipse, I plan on mostly just enjoying the event with my own eyes. I will waste time with the real camera and if z9 take any photos, I will use my iPhone. I will setup my simple telescope so family and friends can observe the eclipse as it progresses. I’m sure at least a million people will be taking photos so I’m going to focus on experiencing the eclipse. Maybe family photos with crescent shadows all over them and such. At least now I won’t have to fiddle during the show, I know what I’m going to setup.
I made a cardboard shade to go on my AT80ED 80 mm,
Though my camera has taken excellent Lunar and Solar photos in the past, it is very difficult because it lets me control nearly every aspect of the camera except the focus. There is no manual focus. Therefore, shots of targets at infinity truly depends on “lucky imaging”. Here is the one focused image that I got with it today out of many.
Below was captured by holding my iPhone to the eyepiece. I have a good iPhone mount for my telescope but it is more trouble than it’s worth. With the short exposure times for the sun and the Moon, just holding the phone camera up to the eyepiece produces I ages that are acceptable to me.
After the sun fell behind the trees, I started observing birds. A nice thing about this Astrotech telescope is its incredible focus range. With the 15 mm eyepiece I can extend the telescope to the point where I can focus on objects only about 5 m (20 ft) away! Here are some examples.
Cedar Waxwing
Mourning Dove
Brown-headed Cowbird
For the eclipse, I plan on mostly just enjoying the event with my own eyes. I will waste time with the real camera and if z9 take any photos, I will use my iPhone. I will setup my simple telescope so family and friends can observe the eclipse as it progresses. I’m sure at least a million people will be taking photos so I’m going to focus on experiencing the eclipse. Maybe family photos with crescent shadows all over them and such. At least now I won’t have to fiddle during the show, I know what I’m going to setup.
