Hors d'oeuvres

[johnfosteruk]

Or... Wait for it... A selection of nibbles.

 

There's a nice park up the hill from me with clear horizons to the west so I pitched up at 7pm for our little piece of the eclipse. Perfect clear skies and a clear view as Sol set at 20 past 8.

Just after I got there another PAS member arrived with a pinhole affair, most surprised to see me there with 2 scopes (one for viewing, one for imaging). Then a family turned up and a chap who'd been birdwatching. Then some dogwalkers. A family with a young boy stayed a while too. A very enjoyable hour ensued.

 

I took some video to do a time lapse. Not a huge number of frames but gives an idea of what's happening. I processed this RGB from start to finish, no adjustments to levels or saturation, at the low altitude the captured images had a lot of colour, intensifying the lower Sol got. 

It's nowt special as I was busy with our little audience!

 

 

 took some stills for a full size image as well at 20:09. 

20 frames stacked in Registax. Processed RGB again all the way with just a little saturation boost and linear contrast applied.

 

 

 

The guy who'd been birdwatching played around with binocular projection (that's not his hand!)

 

At 2 degrees above the horizon the distortion is understandably noticeable. Sol is egg shaped now as you can see in this single frame.

 

Here's the last moments before the sun set.

 

The only disappointment being I'd planned to take a landscape of the last moments just before the sun disappeared over the horizon but realised the camera was in remote mode so won't release the shutter with the normal button!!!! Idiot. By the time I changed the setting it was gone.

Here's the view from the site moments later just after the sun set.

 

 

[Scooot]

Lovely captures. They were very much worth the trip up the hill.  

[Peter Drew]

Excellent by any standard!.   

[DrRobin]

Excellent shots.

Robin

[johnfosteruk]

Thanks chaps. 

[Stub Mandrel]

Well done John, that will be a great memory for you.

[johnfosteruk]

1 hour ago, Stub Mandrel said:

Well done John, that will be a great memory for you.

That it will Neil. I've got the bug which has worn off since the '99 eclipse! I've just had a conversation with the Present Mrs Foster who has approved in principle a New York trip in 2024. 3 minutes 32 seconds totality at Niagara Falls. That'll make for some nice photos, although the climate that far north may dictate a trip to one of the more Southern states.

[Moonshane]

The multi shot of several suns stopping over the horizon is fantastic.

You are a jammy sod ?

[Stu]

Great post John, sounds like a really enjoyable hour, and fab presentation too.

I wish I could have seen it too, but cloud, cloud, cloud  

[johnfosteruk]

7 minutes ago, Moonshane said:

You are a jammy sod ?

More Jam than Robinsons

[Beulah]

Epic.

It was clouded out here...good to rely on this great community for some amazing shots. Sounds like you had a great time - astronomy seems a lot more enjoyable when you get those amazing encounters with the public.

[andrew63]

That's a great sequence of events - all bases covered. Sounds like a good ad hoc gathering to, a lovely record.

 

andrew

[Stub Mandrel]

2 hours ago, johnfosteruk said:

3 minutes 32 seconds totality at Niagara Falls.

Don't fall over them in the dark...

[DrRobin]

If the missus doesn't want to go I could always come and carry your kit?  I have excellent night time seeing, so won't fall over the falls.  I can even bring my own jam, subject to customs of course.

[paulastro]

Wonderful images John, I envy you your clear skies for this event. 

[Pete Presland]

Great effort to get anything from the UK. I had pencilled in a few points locally, but the weather was so grim it really wasn't worththe effort. 

[johnfosteruk]

10 hours ago, DrRobin said:

If the missus doesn't want to go I could always come and carry your kit?  I have excellent night time seeing, so won't fall over the falls.  I can even bring my own jam, subject to customs of course.

I'll supply the jam but you'll be buying your own tickets mate!! Don't think I'd be able to sneak the cost of a Sherpa under the treasury radar! 

[johnfosteruk]

9 hours ago, paulastro said:

Wonderful images John, I envy you your clear skies for this event. 

Thanks Paul.  I guess I lost on the book. Glad I did though. 

[johnfosteruk]

4 hours ago, Pete Presland said:

Great effort to get anything from the UK. I had pencilled in a few points locally, but the weather was so grim it really wasn't worththe effort. 

It seems there were only a few clear patches in the UK!!

[David Smith]

Great catch John and some fab images.

[Paul M]

Nicely done, you also caught Earth eclipsing the Sun!

That happened here too. It went dark for 14 hours!