The total solar eclipse! I drove from Houston, Texas, to Rexburg, Idaho, to see it. I took my 9-year-old son. Fortunately, we could visit family on the way and while there. I filmed the event from my brother and sister-in-law's backyard. We had something of a family gathering, and it was fun.
The sky was wonderfully clear and blue. The eclipse had all the classic traits. The moon slowly moved across the sun. The air cooled substantially. The sky darkened. Venus, Mercury, and Mars came out. Regulus appeared to the left of the sun and moon (as shown in the images above). The sky at horizon all around turned red. The corona appeared. Prominences were seen (two of them!) at the moon's edge; these were visible without optical aid (but were over-exposed in the images I took). The re-appearance of the sun made a diamond ring. The moon slowly moved across the sun's face. And then it was over. My son was impressed: "Wasn't that a wonderful eclipse, Dad?" I think he asked me this five times that afternoon.
The Corona! and Corona with Contrast! images are variations on a combination of 4 bracketed images. Software used included Canon's Digital Photo Pro 4, Photoshop CS3, and Photomatix Pro 6.0.2. The camera was a Canon T3i. The telescope was a William Optics Zenithstar 61 with matching flattener. The scope and camera were guided on a Takahashi NJP.
