More impressive images from the 13/14 Nov total solar eclipse can be found on the NASA Astronomy Photo of the Day website (APOD). No, this chromosphere image was NOT an APOD. ;-)
Equipment, what worked, what didn’t? Well, everything did, so I’m quite happy with the setup used to photograph the 13/14 Nov 2012 total solar eclipse:
When using EclipseOrchestrator, it is extremely important to test the control scripts thoroughly, over and over again. Camera cycle times and overall timing are tricky, especially when using mirror lockup and a serial port shutter cable. BTW: Fred’s support for his program is superb!
The Astrotrac’s tracking time is approx. 2 hours, not completely a perfect match for a total solar eclipse. And you definitely need something like the wedge and GIRO-mini, a normal “photo” ball head just won’t do it. For this eclipse the GIRO-mini would probably have worked without counterweights, as the sun was just 12 degrees above the horizon at totality and thus the GIRO-mini in a more or less upright position.
Finally! After the clouded out experience in 2009 we were able to watch the total solar eclipse of 13/14 Nov 2012 at the Palmer River Roadhouse in Queensland, Australia.
See some images from eclipse day in the new album Eclipse 2012.
Eine laue Sommernacht lud dazu ein, die Lightshow der Perseiden am Himmel zu genießen. Bei sternemklarem Himmel waren auch im lichtverschmutzen Köln viele über den Nachthimmel huschende Sternschnuppen zu sehen, einige davon erstaunlich hell.
Und immerhin drei davon ließen sich auch fotografisch einfangen, dafür waren allerdings 240 Aufnahmen mit jeweils 15 Sekunden notwendig.