This was my third opportunity to image a solar eclipse - the first (21 August 2017) was our 30th wedding anniversary, the second (10 June 2021) was Paul's sister, Joan's, 75th birthday - this one was two days after my birthday!
We (our good friends Jan & Dave, Paul, Zeus and I) traveled to Los Alamos, New Mexico (after being defeated by the NPS campsite reservation system for a spot at Chaco Canyon). We stayed at the North Road Inn, caddy-corner across from the Urban Park, where we observed and imaged the eclipse.
Capturing and observing the eclipse
Capture Notes:
At 0620MDT (for a 0913MDT first contact), I began setting up in Urban Park, with Dave’s help. We got everything set up and running (Dave’s suggestion) in time to go back to the hotel for breakfast. By the time we’d finished breakfast and returned to the equipment, the eclipse had started…great suggestion Dave!
Three rigs captured images every 15 seconds throughout the period before first contact until after fourth contact. During the ~5 minutes preceding and following maximum annularity, the interval was changed to an image captured every 5 seconds. Interestingly enough, the three different solar filters required quite different settings to achieve the same exposure.
The rigs (pictured below along with the eclipse chasers/observers) were:
Rig 1 (Canon 5DSR on Southern Cross with Solarlite Polymer filter): 974 images, captured 14 October 2023 0830MDT – 1225MDT. Majority of the images taken at 15 second intervals, settings: f/5.6, ISO200, 1/250 exposure. In the period surrounding the maximum eclipse, changed the interval to 5 seconds, settings: f/5.6, ISO200, 1/20 exposure. The settings produced images that were approximately 2 stops under-exposed.
Rig 2 (Canon 5DSR, Tamron 150-600mm, screw-on glass solar filter): 972 images, captured 14 October 2023 0911MDT – 1236MDT. Majority of the images taken at 15 second intervals, settings: f/11, ISO200, 1/400 second exposure. During maximum, 5 second intervals, settings: f/11, ISO200, 1/15 second exposure.
Rig 3 (Canon 5DSR, Canon 100-400mm, screw-on glass solar filter) settings: 683 images, captured 0827 – 1234MDT. (Because this was on a stationary tripod and I wasn’t being completely attentive, many of the images were unusable as the sun drifted out of the frame.) Majority of the images taken at 15 second intervals, settings: f/11, ISO200, 1/160 second exposure. During maximum, 5 second intervals, settings: f/11, ISO200, 1/10 second exposure.
The gallery entry, for the “rest of the story” and (some of the ~2500) images is here: https://beersastrophotography.com/gallery/annular-solar-eclipse-14-october-2023/
