![]() To solve this problem I used the iOptron SkyTracker Pro. This isn’t a problem for short exposures, but it is a problem for a two-hour event because if you point the camera at the sun then look away for five minutes, the camera will no longer be pointed at the sun (the time varies based on how long your lens is). The sun appears to move across the sky because of the Earth’s rotation. In fact, as you’ll see, my daughter took some killer pics of the eclipse hand-held with a Canon Rebel.īall Head: Really Right Stuff BH-40 w/ Lever-Release Clamp I also have the luxury of being able to afford a full-frame camera, and should point out that a crop camera would absolutely work in this rig. Note that I will always shoot full-frame given the choice as I don’t like crop cameras. This is my main camera and I already had it so no choice was made. I opted for a 400mm f/5.6 prime (not a zoom) lens and added a 1.4x teleconverter (TC) that made the lens into 560mm f/8. They also come in their own suitcase so they didn’t work for me. Lens: Canon 400mm f/5.6L w/ 1.4x TC (560mm f/8 total) Īs much as I would have loved to use a 500 or even a 600mm lens, the only options from Canon in that range start at $8000. In a nutshell, a long lens is perfect and I just happened to have a nice long(ish) lens. Both come in a dizzying array of options but for a solar eclipse magnification is more important than aperture and center-field imaging is more important than flat-field (which you’d want for dim celestial objects). You need good glass (a nice lens or telescope). There are some things that you need to shoot great astrophotography. Don’t worry, I’ll show you how you don’t have to, either. These reference points can be calculated mathematically based on your position on Earth but math is hard and I didn’t want to do that math. ![]() These references are commonly abbreviated as C1, C2, C3, and C4, and here’s what they mean:Ĭ1 is the point where the moon first “touches” the sun.Ĭ4 is the moment that the moon no longer covers the sun They are called First Contact, Second Contact, Third Contact, and Fourth Contact. ![]() Solar Eclipse Terminologyīefore we get started, there are four major milestones during a solar eclipse that I will reference in this article. It had to be portable, it had to be completely automated, and it had to work. I had done a lot of research and knew that totality could render the most well-prepared photographer boggled for the scant few minutes that totality lasted, so I set out to automate the entire process.Īnother goal was that everything had to fit in my StrongBags Vortex 2 suitcase because we were flying from New Jersey down to South Carolina to view the event. As July unfolds, Comet NEOWISE will move into progressively darker skies.Before this event I had seen many lunar eclipses, multiple partial solar eclipses, and one annular eclipse. Some observers worrried that the comet might disintegrate in the withering heat instead, it held together and became bright enough to see in morning twilight. On July 3rd it flew past the sun near the orbit of Mercury. Indeed, the future looks bright for Comet NEOWISE. "If this brightness holds, the comet will become much easier to see in coming days when it can be seen in a darker sky." "Using the nearby stars Theta Auriga (v=+2.6) and Beta Tauri (Elnath, v=+1.7), I would estimate that the nucleus of NEOWISE was about magnitude +2," he adds Espenak. I also found that I could see the comet with the naked eye about 3/4 of the time." "Wow! The comet was easy to see in 7x40 binoculars. It was my third morning observing Comet NEOWISE," says Espenak. Fred Espenak of Portal, AZ, took this picture just before daybreak on July 5th. The incredible morning comet is surrounded by twilight-blue. If you want to see one, you have to rise early and see the comet on the northeast sky □īRIGHT MORNING COMET: Comets are usually seen in the dark of night.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |