Event: Partial Solar Eclipse, 7th February 2008 - Observing/Imaging Guide

[iceman]

A Solar Eclipse occurs when the Moon passes in front of part or all of the Sun, which casts a shadow over a certain area of the Earth. Observers in South-East Australia and New Zealand will be able to view a Partial Solar Eclipse on the 7th February, 2008.

I've written an article which will give you all the information you need to prepare for this rare event - including:


What is a Solar Eclipse?
When and Where can I see it?
Viewing / Observing Guide
Photography / Imaging Guide
Upcoming Solar Eclipses

You can read the article by clicking on the link below:

Partial Solar Eclipse, 7th February 2008 - Observing / Imaging Guide (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/index.php?id=63,448,0,0,1,0)

Use this thread for discussions!

Thanks

[iceman]

Article uploaded!

[maksutover]

Action time for my recently acquired PST! Im still trying to focus using my 900nc. Confound it why wont you focus !!!!

[davidpretorius]

congrats mike, this is a great and extensive write up.

well done!

[ispom]

thx for the article, Mike.
very good stuff for understanding this phenomenon!

[jemada]

G'day Mike,
Good article - lots of information! However, I don't think it does 'the cause' a lot of good when we talk-up partial eclipses to the public. They're OK for the keener astronomers who will always get something out of anything astronomical, but really a partial eclipse is not much of a 'spectacle' - in fact, unless you were told one was occurring you would never know unless it approached totality and caused some obvious reduction in sunlight. Added to this is the fact that you can't really look at it without special filters or a pin-hole camera.
A total eclipse, on the other hand, is something else altogether! It is a truly awesome and unforgettable experience which everyone will appreciate. So maybe we should be encouraging people to travel to see totality. There are some great opportunities in the next few years - 2008 in Russia / Mongolia, 2009 (the big one!) in China & the north-west pacific, and 2012 in north-eastern Australia. So start saving your travel dollars!
Darryl.

[sheeny]

Hi M,

I think you'll find you can't get the sensor close enough. Modifying the EP holder on the PST is not an option for me, so try unscrewing the lens from a barlow and screwing it into the 1.25" adapter for the ToUcam. Some people have had success with this. I can get it to focus without a UV/IR filter but the image is poor (I think because of the lack of UV/IR filter) but with the UV/IR filter as well I can't achieve focus...

My PST is away getting the objective fixed. Hopefully it will be back in time.

Al.

[CoombellKid]

Time to throw together the solar filters for the 20x80's. But I'm not confident
we'll have clear skies :mad2:

regards,CS

[stephend]

Thanks for the article, Mike.

In your composite pic, one person appears to be using a telescope to project a large image of the sun onto a screen. I had this idea, too, though as soon as I waved a bit of A4 in front of the eyepiece, the paper caught on fire.

Easy to see that any slip-up using filters etc. could result in instant blindness:scared:

Placing a camera near the eyepiece could instantly wreck the camera, surely?

Projecting an image onto a screen then photographing the screen sounds safe. But how to do it?

Cheers

[circumpolar]

I'm going to try the projection method with my 12LB.
I have never done this with a telescope but have done so many times with half binoculars.
My plan is to set up on the concrete driveway and project the image onto the back of a 'FOR SALE' sign straped to the back of a rolling swivel chair. I figure this way I can adjust the height, angle and location of the screen as the event progressess as well as experiment with the image size.

Q: Does any see any problems with this setup?
Q: Does anyone have some advice or tips about using projection?

[dluth]

the way I observed the total solar eclipse in London in 1999 was to point my videocamera at the sun and watch it on the attached screen, which could tilt for easy viewing without me having to have my eyes pointing anywhere near the sun's direction

[stephend]

I just tried projecting the sun's image onto a screen again; it seemed to work but there are no sunspots at the moment so it's hard to say.

I would say the swivelling chair with screen attached should work okay unless it's a sloping driveway.