Quote:
Originally Posted by astro744
Totality is only 62 sec south of Exmouth. You loose about 10 seconds at Exmouth at about 52 sec. This one is a hybrid eclipse as it’s also annular in the path. The one in the USA is longer in 2024 but no doubt any eclipse chasers know this and have likely booked. Exmouth does have very good weather probability.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Wussell
What equipment is everyone taking?
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I've observed 14 total eclipses over the past 28 years. I have eased off last few years following the untimely death of my close friend and eclipse observing partner. His passing really took the wind out of my sails. Of the 14 total eclipses I have seen, the 18s of totality observed at the end of the totality path at Cameron Corner in 2002 was the most dynamic, exciting eclipse. From that location, we were able to witness passage of the 120000km/hr shadow then liftoff from the Earth's surface. It's about so much more than duration. Most experienced eclipse chasers that I know have an end of path observation like 2002 and a very short duration totality like Exmouth on their "special case" eclipse bucket list. I am sure that my late friend would be upset with me if I missed this one on his account and I am sure he wouldn't have missed it if I was 6ft under.
My usual overseas eclipse rig is a William Optics 70mm ED refractor on either my own home made 1.9kg mini eq mount single arm fork mount (pictured) which breaks down to an almost flat pack or else a Losmandy Starlapse at around 5kg. If flying to a remote location in a small plane with only 15kg total baggage allocation inc hand luggage, I use the ultralight mount. When I have a standard international 23kg, I'll take the Losmandy. Even with the Losmandy, I have trimmed my eclipse travel bag with Starlapse down to just under 20kg to meet the internal domestic baggage limits in some countries.
The Losmandy seems to have around 20-30 arc sec PE, just a rough estimate, no easy way to measure it because it has no guiding input. My little mount is about 120 arc sec PE from its 30mm diameter worm drive.
But PE or even drive error is irrelevant for photographing a solar eclipse so you can easily get away with the moderate precision of something like the Losmandy or the horrid precision of my ultralight. The job of the drive is keeping the image centred. Maximum exposure at f5.6 -f8 is only a few seconds for outer corona even at ISO 100. Accurate polar alignment helps so that you are not continually re-centering the image. Also, if you do some HDR stacking, good polar alignment prevents image rotation which makes the coronal registration and alignment easier.
However, because I am driving over, I may bring a (taller) EQ mount for my own viewing comfort of the high altitude eclipse and more focal length than the 430mm of the 70ED to get some inner chromosphere/coronal detail.
On this occasion with the eclipse so high in the sky (>50 deg) and the shadow cone axis so erect, photographs of wide angle landscapes or umbral passages while not impossible, are less favoured. With the eclipse magnitude so close to unity(1.003), a full ring of chromospheric emission is a very distinct possibility. I may even forego the 8s of totality and stay in Exmouth so that one side of the solar limb exhibits a circumnavigating flash around chromosphere at the expense of the other. Plenty of time to decide. The farther off centre line you go, the faster more dynamic the flash around.
Recommendations
1. If this is your first eclipse or even if you have seen a small number, just sit back and enjoy the show.
2. Don't make the equipment too complicated. Keep it simple and don't be trying to operate multiple cameras manually. If you can't automate the sequence stick to one camera. Learn to adjust it by feel so you can watch naked eye while operating the camera by touch.
3. Make sure that if you are using a standard tripod to support a small scope or camera and telephoto, that you can point it up to 54 deg and view comfortably with the scope stable on the tripod.
4. Don't use glass or polymer filters. They are both thick enough to change focus when removed. Baader Astrosolar film is only 10 microns thick. Focus doesn't change on removal so you can focus on the thin crescent before totality. Important not to waste time refocussing (visual or photographic) when you only have 50-60s of totality.
5. A solar filter for a total eclipse needs to be both secure so that it cannot blow off AND quick and easy to remove without applying force to the tube. There is a description for a home made solar filter on my web site that people have been referring and linking for many years. I've used this design at 11 total eclipses and it has worked flawlessly every time.
https://joe-cali.com/eclipses/EQUIPM...arfilters.html
6. Never get so tied up with the photography that you forget to watch the eclipse. Something goes wrong, forget the photos and watch.
Joe
. At least we will get a partial eclipse here in Perth
