Solar Corona from Queensland Eclipse

[Phil Hart]

It's only taken me six months to get back to my eclipse images, but I have finally processed the solar corona images I captured at the Queensland Eclipse in November.

We were well clear of the low cloud on the coast, but there was some nasty high cloud which only become visible during morning twilight. It has certainly affected this image but hard to say how much.

Check out the original image plus more from the eclipse at SmugMug (http://philhart.smugmug.com/Night-Sky-Photography/Eclipses/Queensland-Solar-Eclipse/29088837_7FzLD7#!i=2476056150&k=TZgWtvw)

Or updated words and pictures on www.philhart.com (http://philhart.com/content/solar-eclipse-queensland-14th-november-2012)

Gear for this image:
William Optics Zenithstar II (545mm, f6.4) with a Canon 5D Mark II tracking on my Vixen GP-DX, controlled by Eclipse Orchestrator.
Pentax 300mm f4 ED IF lens, also with 5D Mark II on the Vixen mount, controlled with programmable cable release.


Processed primarily with Fitsworks and Photoshop (and the Topaz plug-in).

Thanks to Gavan Salter from the ASV for the loan of his Zenithstar scope, and another friend Dan Chubb for the loan of his 5D Mark II.

EDIT: Repro added. Trying to reduce posterisation/colour banding and improve brightness gradient from centre to edge. Original version is on the left.

Phil

[batema]

Stunning.

[Matt Wastell]

Fantastic - you certainly had the eclipse covered!

[Paul Haese]

Very nice Phil. You have reminded me I need to go back as well and do the same. I really like your sharp detail. I suspect this is because you were well away from the coast and the poor seeing that was present where I was set up.

[Phil Hart]

Thanks!



Yep.. five cameras all up (one doing timelapse did not work out at all) but the others all got good results even if not quite what was intended. I did get very lucky as a mistake I made with the scripted cameras could have been disastrous. But since it turned out ok I haven't learnt the lesson and will keep trying to use too many cameras!



Thanks Paul. If you're using Fitsworks as well, I found very low settings for radius and degrees in the Larson-Sekanina filter got the best results for maintaining subtle detail. The Topaz plug-in for Photoshop helped pull out the larger scale detail/contrast in the outer parts late in the processing sequence.

[Derek Klepp]

Definitely something to aspire to.

[iceman]

Incredible work, Phil!

[RB]

Simply awesome Phil !

:thumbsup:

[Larryp]

That's superb!

[Peter Ward]

Very tidy result :thumbsup:

.... and the web page link has some excellent people & sky shots :D

[Phil Hart]

Thanks Derek.. great to know it inspires others.







Thanks Mike, Andrew, Larry!



Thanks Peter. I had no idea those people were going to be in that shot when I set it up and probably would have avoided them if I had known. But in the end they were very photogenic :)

[U.K.Cowboy]

What an iconic image that is!

[Phil Hart]

Should mention that I think that group of three found that observing site via my post the night before the eclipse on Ice In Space.. if they happen to be watching again they could let me know!

[jjjnettie]

Gorgeous!!!

[Phil Hart]

I've added a new version, trying to reduce colour banding and improve brightness gradient. But in the JPG version there is still some subtle colour banding visible in the background. Better in the TIF version at home.

[strongmanmike]

Beautiful record Phil and up to your usual high standard :thumbsup:

Mike

[StephenM]

Beautiful corona detail, Phil!

And nice to be thinking about the eclipse again :)

Cheers,
Stephen

[Troy]

Great image :thumbsup:

[multiweb]

That corona is awesome. So much details. I also like the bayley beads video. Very realistic. Made me squint my eyes when the sun came out the other end. :lol: Great report on your site too. Top work. Very well put together. :thumbsup:

[Phil Hart]

Thanks folks! And yes Stephen.. it is nice to be immersed in eclipse images again. Was a great day!



Thanks Mike. I'm *really* happy with how the album of images has come together.. one of my best efforts I reckon.



Thanks Marc. I just uploaded a new version of that video last night and going to post it as a separate thread. You got a sneak preview ;).

[gregbradley]

Superb work Phil.

Greg.