I am posting this article to help anyone who is planning on seeing the upcoming total eclipse of the sun on April 8. The following is a brief explanation of the different types of eclipses and why total eclipses are so special.
There are two types of eclipses of the sun; a partial eclipse and a total eclipse. A partial eclipse is where the moon does not completely block the sunlight reaching the earth so only a partial shadow can be seen. The most impressive form of partial eclipse is an annular eclipse where the moon is too far from the earth to completely block the sun. Some light passes around the edges so that what is seen is a ring of light surrounding the sun. I saw the total eclipse of the sun in 2017 and the annular eclipse of 2023 in Corpus Christi, TX. The partial, annular eclipse in Texas was only visible if you had special filters to block most of the suns light. With these filters, glasses for viewing directly and others for cameras and binoculars, the sun looks like PAC MAN with a "bite" out of him. While not wearing the glasses, the eclipse is not apparent because not enough of the light is blocked to notice any dimming.
During a total eclipse, the moon completely blocks the sunlight in a certain path across the country, known as the path of totality. Outside of that path, a partial eclipse will be seen anywhere in the continental US. Inside that path, the experience is profound, spiritual even. As the eclipse nears, the sky will start to darken and saturation of all colors will occur. When totality is reached, the sky instantly goes black and the moon shadow blocks the sun directly and the solor coronna around the sun becomes visible. Below is a link to a website that shows the path of totality passing through a map of the US, state by state, with major and mid-sized cities visible so you can see exactly where the path will be near you. Some of us are lucky enough to live inside this path of totality (me) and won't have to travel to see it. The path is approximately 115 miles wide and the time the eclipse will occur is shown as the shadow moves across the US. You may have to copy and paste this site into your browser.
https://greatamericaneclipse.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u=75e7507a1e7a51bda8ee7cfcb&id=e0cdd22748&e=258e66cb39Some tips on photographing the eclipse and the partial eclipse leading up to it. First and formost, be sure you are inside the path of totality. Second, try to find a location where the sun will most likely be shinning. I live very close to Lake Erie and will only be about 5 miles from the center line of the path but known for cloudy weather (Oh No) and on the horns of a dilemma as what to do about it. Obviously check the weather reports beginning a couple of days prior. The closer to the center line, the longer totality will occur. The near the edges of the path, totality will last a minute or less. Note: lots of people show a collage of the partial eclipse leading up to a total eclipse and then the partial eclipse images following it. It's my experience that 99.9% of the people photographing the eclipse quit right after totality and just reverse the images of the partial eclipse leading up to it to complete the collage. As far as setting up to photograph the eclipse, use a big a focal length lens as you have mounted on a tripod with a remote shutter release, either a cable or electronic. Many places will publish settings to capture the eclipse. My advice is to use a manual program and set the aperture and shutter speed. Focus can be set by taking images of the partial eclipse leading up to totality. During the eclipse, change the shutter speed manually to get different exposures of the corona and any prominences that may be occurring. Post processing of these images will provide many opportunities to get just the image you want.
Two other suggestions of what not to do. First, many experienced photographers take images of Bailey's beads, a bright phenomena where just before the moon totally blocks the sun's light, some light passing between mountains on the moon create a bright pearl of light on the edge of the black moon's shadow which is spectacular looking. If you haven't done this before, don't attempt it because it because it takes special preparations and will diminish the initial experience of totality. Second, don't spend all of your time during the eclipse taking pictures. You will miss out on a lot of the peripheral experiences which accompany the eclipse. More on that later. For this eclipse, totality will last close to 4 minutes or longer so you should have plenty of time to get lots of images and still be away from the camera long enough to see what else is happening. During the 2017 eclipse lasted about 2 min. 30 secs. I remember that as soon as the eclipse was over, my wife turned to me and said "that didn't last long enough" and she was right.
The best laid plans work right up until the point something happens. This happened to me. I had my camera all set up on a tripod with filter and remote release and manual conditions set for total eclipse. These same conditions will work pretty well with the filter on during the partial eclipse phase too. I had planned to use my cell phone to make a video of totality. I knew that I couldn't make a video of the sun directly because it might fry the CCD in my sensor, so I set the zoom and focus on objects in the distance, then set the phone, face down on a table next to me. I got so engrossed in the experience once totality started with the camera and everything else that I totally forgot to turn my phone over. But I got a great recording of my conversation with my wife during the eclipse. That how I know she said it didn't last long enough. LOL
What happens during an eclipse. I got to my destination in Cross Plains, TN about 9 AM (Eclipse at 2:30 PM) just to be sure we would get a good location. The sky was partly cloudy and everyone was concerned about whether we would have a clean window during totality. Luck was on our side and it was cloud free. But it adds to the suspense. I took about 2 dozen picture of the partial eclipse begining about an hour before totality. Got a lot of good sunspot images. Thirty minutes before totality, we were sitting under a small tree (it was hot) and I noticed that the tiny spaces between the leaves were acting like a camera obscura and projecting images of the partial eclipse on the white cover of my cooler. Serendipity! About 15 minutes before totality, the light began to wane and noticeably diminish. The natural colors around us began to lose saturation (never seen that before). It was a very strange experience to see the daylight around you fall away. Then suddenly, just like someone throwing a switch, the sky went totally black and the black moon shadow was surrounded by the wispy white corona of totality. Aside from the experience of totality and camera work, I noticed that the temperature began to drop, birds that had been chirping in the tree we were under fell silent, people began to talk in whispers. I'm fairly familiar with astronomy and knew that Jupiter was within 30 degrees from the sun. It was bright red like a cars tailight in the dark. To my surprise, the sky was not totally dark but got lighter as you approached the horizon. At the horizon, the sun was shining and it was like a 360 degree sunset. Actually seeing beyond the edge of the moons shadow.
When the eclipse was over, everyone packed up fairly quickly and got back on the road home. I drove down to just above Nashville on interstate I-71 and I-65 and it took me about 7 hours. I made arrangements to arrive the night before so we could get out to our viewing destination early enough to get a good spot to watch the eclipse. When we left Cross Plains (about 5 miles west of I-65) we had little traffic until we got to I-65. From that point north we were pretty much in a traffic jam all the way home. Later realized we were in a wave of traffic heading north to all points north and east, i.e., Milwaukee, Chicago, Detrot, Louisville, Indianapolis, Cincinatti, Columbus, Cleveland, Pittsburg, Buffalo. At 3 AM on I-71 just north of Cincinatti, we ran into a traffic jam because of construction in one lane of traffic. It was 12 miles long, took 2 hours to get through and at one point we didn't move for 30 minutes. Finally got home at 7 AM for a total of 16 hours on the road. Should have stayed an extra day. But given the experience, we would have done it all over again including the 16 hours.
One last story. I mentioned that the eclipse was a spiritual experience. During the morning before the eclipse, we were sitting in the shadw of a small tree out of the sun. My wife and I were talking with a young couple with 2 children from Washington DC. During the conversation, the woman looked down and saw a 4-leaf clover. I had never seen one myself let alone find one. But further examination revealed that it wasn't just one four-leaf clover but a cluster of 4-leaf clover plants. Everyone got a four-leaf clover to take home as a souvenir. Tell me that's not a spiritual experience.