Getting ready for another Eclipse

Walt_Felix — Fri, 22 Mar 2024 18:58:46 GMT

The Great Eclipse is just a few weeks away, still trying to figure out where exactly I'm heading in Northern New England. Kind of thinking Burlington VT (weather permitting) as it is within a reasonable 1/2 day driving distance from my house in CT. As long as the sky is clear, this will be my 3rd eclipse. I was in TN for the 2017 Full event, and in MA for the partial in 2021.

For the 2017 Event, I was using a well used Rebel XTi 400D with a T-mount, on an older 5" Meade Reflector Telescope (1020mm, f/7.9 equivalent), with a homemade solar filter held in place by a rubber band. Challenge was the camera didn't have live view and I had to manually focus by trial and error. Once I got it the best I could, I just left the telescope tracking (checking from time to time to keep the sun centered in the shot) and triggered the shutter every 30 seconds with an app on a tablet. Meant to change the shutter rate to every 1/2 second during totality, but got distracted by the event and forgot to change the setting, so I only ended up with a handful of shots during totality.

The partial, was visible from my house, but I drove about 45 minutes north and shot it at a highway rest stop. I was using a 90D with a 70-200mm f/5.6 at 1/8000th. Didn't bring the telescope time, just a tripod. I was a little concerned because it was a little cloudy, but the high clouds added a nice texture to the shots.

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Getting ready for another Eclipse