After first contact, the moon can be seen to be taking a small bite out the sun’s disk. A large sunspot group can be seen near the center of the sun’s disk with another smaller group to the left. Solar granulations and plages can be seen along the upper left solar limb.
Location: Hot Springs, Arkansas.
Telescope/mount: Celestron Super C8+ with Celestron f/6.3 focal reducer/corrector and Thousand Oaks glass solar filter.
Camera: Canon EOS mirrorless R8. 1/1000 second exposure at ISO 800.
About halfway through the initial partial phase of the eclipse, the moon’s edge is approaching the large sunspot group near the middle of the sun’s disk.
Location: Hot Springs, Arkansas.
Telescope/mount: Celestron Super C8+ with Celestron f/6.3 focal reducer/corrector and Thousand Oaks glass solar filter.
Camera: Canon EOS mirrorless R8. 1/1000 second exposure at ISO 800.
Several minutes prior to the onset of totality, only a thin crescent of the sun’s disk remains visible beyond the edge of the moon.
Location: Hot Springs, Arkansas.
Telescope/mount: Celestron Super C8+ with Celestron f/6.3 focal reducer/corrector and Thousand Oaks glass solar filter.
Camera: Canon EOS mirrorless R8. 1/1000 second exposure at ISO 800.
Several seconds before onset of totality, the glass solar filter is removed from the front of the telescope to photograph the first diamond ring effect. This is when a small amount of uncovered sun remains on one side of the moon, while the sky has become dark enough for the inner corona to shine around the rest of the moon’s edge. This creates the illusion of a brilliant diamond ring in the sky. Photographing this and Baily’s beads requires careful and precise timing; removing the solar filter too soon risks melting the telescope and camera with intense sunlight, but removing it too late can result in completely missing these brief events.
Location: Hot Springs, Arkansas.
Telescope/mount: Celestron Super C8+ with Celestron f/6.3 focal reducer/corrector.
Camera: Canon EOS mirrorless R8. 1/2000 second exposure at ISO 100.
Moments after the diamond ring effect, Baily’s beads appear on the edge of the moon. This is where small amounts of uncovered sun shine through valley’s between mountains on the edge of the moon. They are named for British astronomer Francis Baily who described them during the annular eclipse of 1836. The sun’s red chromosphere, a thin layer of hydrogen and helium gas just outside the photosphere, is becoming visible along the moon’s eastern limb.
Location: Hot Springs, Arkansas.
Telescope/mount: Celestron Super C8+ with Celestron f/6.3 focal reducer/corrector.
Camera: Canon EOS mirrorless R8. 1/2000 second exposure at ISO 100.
At the beginning of totality, a prominent group of solar prominences projecting above the sun’s red chromosphere were visible along the eastern limb. The tip of a prominence near the southern edge of the sun is also visible. The latter prominence will become much more exposed as the moon continues to move across the sun.
Location: Hot Springs, Arkansas.
Telescope/mount: Celestron Super C8+ with Celestron f/6.3 focal reducer/corrector.
Camera: Canon EOS mirrorless R8. 1/2000 second exposure at ISO 100.
This is a composite image of exposures taken just after onset of totality and just before end of totality to show all the prominences visible around the edges of the sun.
Location: Hot Springs, Arkansas.
Telescope/mount: Celestron Super C8+ with Celestron f/6.3 focal reducer/corrector.
Camera: Canon EOS mirrorless R8. 1/2000 second exposure at ISO 100.
No single exposure of the corona at totality can capture what the human eye can see. This is a composite image of multiple different exposures combined to approximate what the human eye can see. This is a typical corona during solar maximum with multiple rays projecting from the sun in all directions. The temperature of the corona is 2 million degrees F and is the hottest thing the human eye can see in the universe. The temperature of the sun below is only 10,000 degrees F.
Location: Hot Springs, Arkansas.
Telescope/mount: Celestron Super C8+ with Celestron f/6.3 focal reducer/corrector.
Camera: Canon EOS mirrorless R8. Multiple exposures ranging from 1/2000 second to 1/8 second at ISO 100.
This is a composite image of multiple different exposures of the corona during totality combined to approximate what the human eye sees using a slightly different image processing technique.
Location: Hot Springs, Arkansas.
Telescope/mount: Celestron Super C8+ with Celestron f/6.3 focal reducer/corrector and Thousand Oaks glass solar filter.
Camera: Canon EOS mirrorless R8. Multiple exposures ranging from 1/2000 second to 1/8 second at ISO 100.
Just before the end of totality, the sun’s red chromosphere, a layer of atmosphere just above the bright photosphere, becomes visible along the western limb of the sun. It had a very bright arching prominence projecting from it. Another large prominence was visible farther up along the western limb. The prominences previously visible on the eastern limb of the sun had been covered up by the advancing edge of the moon.
Location: Hot Springs, Arkansas.
Telescope/mount: Celestron Super C8+ with Celestron f/6.3 focal reducer/corrector.
Camera: Canon EOS mirrorless R8. 1/2000 second exposure at ISO 100.
As totality ends, the events that led up to totality play out in reverse. Here we see the second instance of Baily’s beads, bits of uncovered sun shining through valleys between mountains on the edge of the moon, appear along the western limb of the moon. These are named after British astronomer Francis Baily who described them during the annular eclipse of 1836.
Location: Hot Springs, Arkansas.
Telescope/mount: Celestron Super C8+ with Celestron f/6.3 focal reducer/corrector.
Camera: Canon EOS mirrorless R8. 1/2000 second exposure at ISO 100.
After the second Baily’s beads, the second diamond ring effect appears. The first bit of uncovered sun appears on one side of the moon while the sky remains dark enough for the inner corona, the sun’s atmosphere, to shine around the rest of the moon. This creates the illusion of a brilliant diamond ring in the sky. As soon as this effect has been photographed, the solar filter has to be replaced on the telescope lest the bright sun damage the telescope and camera.
Location: Hot Springs, Arkansas.
Telescope/mount: Celestron Super C8+ with Celestron f/6.3 focal reducer/corrector.
Camera: Canon EOS mirrorless R8. 1/2000 second exposure at ISO 100.
After the second diamond ring effect the moon reveals another thin crescent of the sun.
Location: Hot Springs, Arkansas.
Telescope/mount: Celestron Super C8+ with Celestron f/6.3 focal reducer/corrector and Thousand Oaks glass solar filter.
Camera: Canon EOS mirrorless R8. 1/1000 second exposure at ISO 800.
A little more than half way through the second partial phases of the total solar eclipse, the moon uncovered the large sunspot group near the middle of the sun’s disk. This sunspot is larger than the earth.
Location: Hot Springs, Arkansas.
Telescope/mount: Celestron Super C8+ with Celestron f/6.3 focal reducer/corrector and Thousand Oaks glass solar filter.
Camera: Canon EOS mirrorless R8. 1/1000 second exposure at ISO 800.
A short while before last contact, when the moon no longer covers any of the sun, another small sunspot group was uncovered.
Location: Hot Springs, Arkansas.
Telescope/mount: Celestron Super C8+ with Celestron f/6.3 focal reducer/corrector and Thousand Oaks glass solar filter.
Camera: Canon EOS mirrorless R8. 1/1000 second exposure at ISO 800.
This montage of images shows the entire eclipse with partial phases, both diamond ring effects, both sets of Baily’s beads, and totality with the middle corona.
Location: Hot Springs, Arkansas.
Telescope/mount: Celestron Super C8+ with Celestron f/6.3 focal reducer/corrector and Thousand Oaks glass solar filter.
Camera: Canon EOS mirrorless R8. Partial phases with solar filter are 1/1000 second exposure at ISO 800. Diamond rings and Baily’s beads are 1/2000 second exposure at ISO 100. Corona is 1/15 second at ISO 100
