Insufficient Superlatives – Again!
We lucked out for the 2017 eclipse, but this time the eclipse came to us and we lucked out again! I was on edge as high clouds approached at eclipse time, but fortune favored this neophyte astronomer and a small family group watching from our yard in northern New York. I took 3 exposures every ten seconds throughout the event. Here’s a preview hot off the press. More as time permits. Traffic stretched for miles as the eclipse concluded, but this time we got to watch rather than sit in it!
Update: These photos were taken through a Canon zoom lens set at 250mm and f8, and with the addition of a 2x expander for a total focal length of 500 mm. It’s an APS-C format sensor. There is minimal or no processing of these images…there are just too many to go through right now. But I hope process them bit as time permits to pull out more details.
The camera was piggy-backed on my CPC-800 telescope to take advantage of its tracking mount and equatorial wedge. But once again I struggled with the notion of taking images directly through the telescope. It’s field of view is a little too narrow and I didn’t want to crop the diamond ring and corona. So, the Canon lens it was despite its relative lack of sharpness compared with the telescope.
The Neophyte Astronomer 