Last Thursday's Solar Eclipse

[OzEclipse (Joe Cali)]

Originally Posted by Rainmaker

Great images Joe, Bengt would have loved this eclipse, though he may have watched it from above.

Thanks Matt,
He asked me to get him to future eclipses any way i could. He was referring to when he was immobile but still living.

Best I could do now was attach a portrait of him to the tripod of the scope. I also put eclipse glasses on his pic during partial phases.

[Paul Haese]

Nice shots Joe. It was our fourth total. What struck me this time around was that the coronal streamers were more visible to me this time than previous times. I also noted that it looked considerably brighter than previous eclipses. I put that down to the narrow geometry between the Sun and Moon. It was our first eclipse where we have seen the inner corona and it struck me as being incredibly bright. Perhaps this is why the corona did not have that family fluffy donut look to it for me. Though perhaps my eyes are not what they were 10 years ago. In any event you captured the event well for such a short eclipse. Though not as short as 2002.

[OzEclipse (Joe Cali)]

Originally Posted by Paul Haese

Nice shots Joe. It was our fourth total. What struck me this time around was that the coronal streamers were more visible to me this time than previous times. I also noted that it looked considerably brighter than previous eclipses. I put that down to the narrow geometry between the Sun and Moon. It was our first eclipse where we have seen the inner corona and it struck me as being incredibly bright. Perhaps this is why the corona did not have that family fluffy donut look to it for me. Though perhaps my eyes are not what they were 10 years ago. In any event you captured the event well for such a short eclipse. Though not as short as 2002.

Hi Paul,

Thanks for your comments. These are all first pass from single images. Like many who viewed from Exmouth I am still travelling. Ceduna tonight and Adelaide on Saturday. I have been doing bits and pieces of composite editing and video editing but it will have to wait until I get back.

I think the narrow geometry was part of the explanation. The inner corona and chromosphere was very active. Through my 80mm refractor that single vertical Roman candle prom that was later identified as a CME was incredibly bright, so bright that I had difficulty seeing it as red. This doesn’t make sense because eyes don’t saturate like a sensor. Yet I recall being surprised that it was quite white. 80mm f5 refractor with Denkmeier D21 eyepiece. 20X, 4mm exit pupil.

Of course the telescope observation was rushed. Maybe my memory was playing tricks on me. Still a luxury to have 54 s compared to the meagrely 18 s of totality I had in 2002. Short eclipses are obviously short but this and the small diametric ratios makes them action packed and dynamic compared to long duration eclipses.

A 40km umbra doesn’t cover much of the sky. That’s why it didn’t get particularly dark and I think that brighter sky in turn reduced visibility of the faint outer corona.

Regards

Joe

[Paul Haese]

Originally Posted by OzEclipse

...................Through my 80mm refractor that single vertical Roman candle prom that was later identified as a CME was incredibly bright, so bright that I had difficulty seeing it as red. This doesn’t make sense because eyes don’t saturate like a sensor. Yet I recall being surprised that it was quite white. .........

...............Maybe my memory was playing tricks on me. ................

A 40km umbra doesn’t cover much of the sky. That’s why it didn’t get particularly dark and I think that brighter sky in turn reduced visibility of the faint outer corona.

Regards

Joe

I completely concur that the brightness of that CME (prominence) did not show itself as red. It was near white to my eyes. In fact I didn't see a single prominence during this eclipse but others say they did. The corona all appeared as bright white. And, I think the overall coverage did contribute to less visibility of the corona in general.