The Total Solar Eclipse of 2024 April 8 CDT,
observed from the Swallows Eve Wedding and Event Venue,
outside of Fredericksburg, Texas


The lovely Texas Hill Country
Don't mess with Texas.
On the bus ride over,
the lovely Texas Hill Country was a special treat.


My observing setup
My observing setup.
The cameras (from left to right) are named, "new Ringo," "John," and "Jimi." As always, Jimi was wailing.

My setup
Unfortunately, the weather was cloudy
.
It could have been worse: it could have been raining.


The intrepid eclipse chasers 
soldier on
The intrepid eclipse chasers soldier on,

regardless of the weather.

The partial phases
Going, going...
During the partial phases, the Moon only partly obscures the Sun.

Totality!
Totality!
The solar corona, which is hot gas escaping from the Sun, is visible through thin clouds.

This totality was 
the darkest I had ever seen
This totality was the darkest I had ever seen.
It was as dark as night: usually totality is an eerie twilight. Venus briefly become visible through the clouds, as a point of light to right of the eclipsed Sun.

The eclipse chasers get their 
money's worth
It's good to see
the eclipse chasers getting their money's worth. We could hear crickets chirping



Prominences
Prominences
are magnetically heated, buoyant loops and streamers of gas rising from the Sun. Multiple prominences were visible, but the clouds allowed me a shot of only this one, on the Sun's south limb.

My fearless girlfriend, the 
one-and-only Anne C. Smith
My fearless girlfriend,
the one-and-only Anne C. Smith
,
marvels at the wonders of totality.
Diamond ring!
Diamond ring!
The bright solar surface (also called the photosphere) emerges, signaling the end of totality.
The lovely Texas Hill Country, on 
the way home
The lovely Texas Hill Country
was a treat on the bus ride home, too.




The Total Solar Eclipse of 2017 August 21 PDT,
observed from the backyard of
Sweet Virginia's Bed & Breakfast hotel, Metolius, Oregon


Soundtrack
This soundtrack is an 8.41-MB, WAV-format audio file, which can be played on Windows Media Player.
It was recorded during totality by F. Ringwald. Here is a version with animation and music added by Dr. Mel Helm.


Tryna, Gail, and Anne at Sweet Virginia's
Tryna (in back), Gail, and Anne
in back of Sweet Virginia's, snapshot with a Canon PowerShot SX120IS 10MP digital camera by F. Ringwald.


The ground's in tip-top condition...
"The ground's in tip-top condition,
and I think we can expect some first-rate eclipsing this morning..."
(Eric Idle), snapshot with a Canon PowerShot SX120IS 10MP digital camera by F. Ringwald

My setup
My observing setup
,
snapshot with a Canon PowerShot SX120IS 10MP digital camera by F. Ringwald. The cameras are named, "John," "Paul," "George," and "Ringo," and "Janis" and "Jimi." As always, Jimi was wailing.


Eclipse crescents
Eclipse crescents,
which are shadows under a tree, on the garage of Sweet Virginia's and first noticed by Mel Helm, snapshot with a Canon PowerShot SX120IS 10MP digital camera by F. Ringwald





Wide-field composite
Wide-field composite
, with partial phases shown on a background taken during totality. Full-color image taken with a Canon T5 Rebel DSLR camera (camera "George") at ISO 200 through a Rokinon 16M-C 16mm f/2.0 Aspherical Wide-Angle Lens, with an exposure time of 0.3s (set by the camera) during totality, and of 30s and through a Thousand Oaks solar filter during the partial phases, by F. Ringwald

Going, going...
Going, going...
Full-color image taken with a Canon EOS 60Da astrophotography DSLR camera (camera "Jimi") at ISO 200 with an exposure time of 1/8000s through a Canon EF 400mm f/5.6L USM Super Telephoto Lens by F. Ringwald




Bailey's beads
Bailey's beads
are the last traces of the Sun's surface visible between the rims of lunar craters. Full-color image taken with a Canon EOS 60Da astrophotography DSLR camera (camera "Jimi") at ISO 200 with an exposure time of 1/8000s through a Canon EF 400mm f/5.6L USM Super Telephoto Lens by F. Ringwald

the last Bailey's bead
The last Bailey's bead
isn't the same as a "diamond ring.' Full-color image taken with a Canon EOS 60Da astrophotography DSLR camera (camera "Jimi") at ISO 200 with an exposure time of 1/8000s through a Canon EF 400mm f/5.6L USM Super Telephoto Lens by F. Ringwald


The solar chromosphere
The solar chromosphere
is the atmosphere of the Sun. Full-color image taken with a Canon EOS 60Da astrophotography DSLR camera (camera "Jimi") at ISO 200 with an exposure time of 1/8000s through a Canon EF 400mm f/5.6L USM Super Telephoto Lens by F. Ringwald


Total solar eclipse of 2017 
August 21, observed from Metolius, Oregon
The total solar eclipse of 2017 August 21
, composite of full-color images taken with a Canon EOS 60Da astrophotography DSLR camera (called "Jimi") at ISO 200 with exposure times between 1/13s and 1/2500s through a Canon EF 400mm f/5.6L USM Super Telephoto Lens by F. Ringwald

Great prominences!
Solar prominences
are loops or streamers of hot, buoyant gas rising from the Sun. Full-color image taken with a Canon EOS 60Da astrophotography DSLR camera (called "Jimi") at ISO 200 with an exposure time of 1/2500s through a Canon EF 400mm f/5.6L USM Super Telephoto Lens by F. Ringwald

Totality through a 
fisheye lens
Totality through a fisheye lens
, full-color image taken with a Canon EOS 5D Mark II DSLR camera (modified for astrophotography by Hutech) (camera "Paul") at ISO 200 with an exposure time of 0.3s (set automatically by the camera) through a Canon 15mm f/2.8 fisheye lens by F. Ringwald


We saw it!
We saw it!

Snapshot with a Canon PowerShot SX120IS 10MP digital camera by F. Ringwald


The Total Lunar Eclipse of 2015 September 27 PDT,
observed from across San Ramon Avenue from the Downing Planetarium,
California State University, Fresno

Lunar eclipse 
sequence
Lunar eclipse sequence
of full-color images taken with a Canon EOS 60Da astrophotography DSLR camera at ISO 1600 with exposure times between 1.6s and 1/640s through a Canon EF 400mm f/5.6L USM Super Telephoto Lens by F. Ringwald



The Partial Solar Eclipse of 2014 October 23 PDT,
observed from the Downing Planetarium,
California State University, Fresno

Partial solar 
eclipse series
Partial solar eclipse sequence
, of Registax stacks of 300 x 1/12-s Orion Starshoot III exposures through a Coronado Ca K (70mm, f/5.7, 0.22nm bandpass centered at 393.4nm) solar telescope by Simon Gonzalez.

Partial solar eclipse
Simon Gonzalez observing the Sun
at the Downing Planetarium,
snapshot by F. Ringwald
Partial solar eclipse
Observing the Sun
at the Downing Planetarium,
snapshot by F. Ringwald



The Total Lunar Eclipse of 2014 April 14-15 PDT,
observed from Fresno State's Campus Observatory

Lunar eclipse 
sequence
Lunar eclipse sequence
of full-color images taken with a Canon EOS 60Da astrophotography DSLR camera at ISO 100 with exposure times between 1/800s and 8s through the Orion ShortTube 80mm refractor guidescope at f/5 by F. Ringwald



The Partial Lunar Eclipse of 2012 June 4 PDT,
observed from a balcony of McLane Hall at Fresno State

Lunar eclipse
Patial lunar eclipse
of 2012 June 4, full-color image taken with a Canon EOS 20Da astrophotography DSLR camera at ISO 200 with a 1/400-s exposure time through an EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM lens with f=400mm at f/5.6 by F. Ringwald



The Annular Solar Eclipse of 2012 May 20,
Whiskeytown Lake, California

Whiskeytown Lake
Whiskeytown Lake
, near Redding, CA,
snapshot by F. Ringwald
Our 
setup, with Dillon looking thoughtful
Our setup
, with Fresno State physics graduate student
Dillon Trelawny observing, snapshot by F. Ringwald

CaK annular eclipse 
sequence
CaK Annular eclipse sequence
. This is series of full-color Registax stacks of Orion Starshoot III exposures through a Coronado Ca K (70mm, f/5.7, 0.22nm bandpass centered at 393.4nm) solar telescope and wavelet processed by Dillon Trelawny.


Annular eclipse sequence
Annular eclipse sequence
. This is series of exposures through an Orion 90mm f/10 refractor and Thousand Oaks Type 2+ white light solar filter with a Canon EOS 60Da camera at ISO 100, each image being a single 1/13 to 1/80-s exposure, by F. Ringwald.


Crescent 
shadows, under a tree
Crescent shadows
under a tree,
snapshot by F. Ringwald
Eclipse crowd
Eclipse crowd of about 2000
,
snapshot by F. Ringwald

I was surprised that the crowd was so big, since this wasn't a total solar eclipse. There were none of the eerie "day turning into night" phenomena, but then the last annular eclipse in North America was in 1994. Let's look forward to the next total solar eclipse in the United States, 2017 August 21!



The Lunar Eclipse of 2003 May 15,
observed from the Downing Planetarium, California State University, Fresno

Lunar eclipse in totality, 2003 May 
15
Lunar eclipse in totality
, 2003 May 15. This is a 1/15-s exposure on 800-speed Fujicolor Superia X-Tra film, through a 90mm refractor at f/10 by F. Ringwald.

Lunar eclipse emerging from totality,
2003 May 15
Lunar eclipse emerging from totality
, 2003 May 15. This is a 1/15-s exposure about an hour after the previous one, by F. Ringwald.

Lunar eclipse after totality, 2003
May 15
Lunar eclipse after totality
, 2003 May 15. This 1/8-s exposure was taken about an hour after the previous one, by F. Ringwald.

Full Moon, 2003 May 15
Full Moon
, taken about an hour after the end of the lunar eclipse, 2003 May 15. This is a 1.0-s exposure on 100-speed TMax film, through a 90mm refractor at f/10, by F. Ringwald.

Lunar eclipse crowd, 2003 May 15
Lunar eclipse crowd
, 2003 May 15. This is a 1/15-s exposure on 800-speed Fujicolor Superia X-Tra film, through a 50mm lens at f/3.5 by F. Ringwald.

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Last updated 2024 April 26. Web page by Professor Ringwald (ringwald[at]csufresno.edu and replace [at] with @)
Department of Physics, California State University, Fresno. Please read this disclaimer.