2017 Solar Eclipse: Full Disk with Prominences

2017 Solar Eclipse: Prominences II

Three sets of prominences were visible during the 2017 solar ecliopse.

  • Telescope: Stellarvue SVA130T-IS
  • Mount: Losmandy G-11 with Gemini 2 controller
  • Autoguiding: No
  • Optical Configuration: 0.72x field flattener & reducer (f/5); no solar filter during totality
  • Camera: Canon 60Da
  • Light Frame(s): Single, 1/500-sec exposure
  • Calibration: None (no darks, no flats, no biases)
  • Exposure Time: 1/500 sec
  • ISO: 100
  • Processing: Photoshop CC
  • Imaging Location: Prairie City, Ore.

During the totality phase of a total solar eclipse, prominences sometimes can be seen along the limb of the sun. The image above shows three such prominences that appeared during the 2017 solar eclipse (The Great American Eclipse).

Prominences consist of a hot, dense plasma that typically follows magnetic field lines, arcing thousands of miles above the sun’s surface (photosphere).

2017 Solar Eclipse Coronal Study II

Enhanced Coronal Study (HDR)

An enhanced image of the solar corona shows detailed structure.

  • Telescope: Stellarvue SVA130T-IS
  • Mount: Losmandy G-11 with Gemini 2 controller
  • Autoguiding: No
  • Optical Configuration: 0.72x field flattener & reducer (f/5); no solar filter during totality
  • Camera: Canon 60Da
  • Light Frame(s): 6 frames from 1/500 sec to 1 sec
  • Calibration: None (no darks, no flats, no biases)
  • Exposure Time(s): 1/500, 1/250, 1/125, 1/60, 1/30 sec, and 1 sec
  • ISO: 100
  • Processing: Photoshop CC using HDR Pro
  • Imaging Location: Prairie City, Ore.

This high-dynamic-range, high-contrast image, taken at totality during the 2017 solar eclipse, shows how the magnetic field of the sun becomes complex where there are local eruptions on the surface. Note the field loops on the left- and right-hand limbs, especially around the large prominence on the right. The magnetic field is little disturbed at the poles, though.

2017 Solar Eclipse: The Solar Corona

High-Dynamic-Range Image of Solar Corona

A high-dynamic-range image showcases the solar corona and the Moon during The Great American Eclipse of 2017.

  • Telescope: Stellarvue SVA130T-IS
  • Mount: Losmandy G-11 with Gemini 2 controller
  • Autoguiding: No
  • Optical Configuration: 0.72x field flattener & reducer (f/5); no solar filter during totality
  • Camera: Canon 60Da
  • Light Frame(s): 6 frames from 1/500 sec to 1 sec
  • Calibration: None (no darks, no flats, no biases)
  • Exposure Time(s): 1/500, 1/250, 1/125, 1/60, 1/30 sec, and 1 sec
  • ISO: 100
  • Processing: Photoshop CC using HDR Pro
  • Imaging Location: Prairie City, Ore.

This high-dynamic-range image reveals many lunar features along with the detailed structure of the solar corona during The Great American Eclipse of 2017. Super-heated plasma escaping from the sun creates the solar corona and becomes the solar wind that blows through our solar system at a million miles per hour. The charged particles that make up the coronal plasma follow the magnetic field lines of the sun and form streamers in the corona, like iron filings around a magnet. In this image, north is up, south is down, east is left, and west is right.

Sunlight reflecting from our Earth during the eclipse illuminates the Moon and bounces back to Earth as “earthshine.” Because of this earthshine, lunar features such as the “seas” and several large craters (Tycho, Copernicus, etc.) can be imaged during totality. The blue color of the Moon comes from our blue sky.

2017 Solar Eclipse Coronal Study I

Coronal Study, 2017 Solar Eclipse

High-contrast study highlights the sun's coronal structure during the 2017 total eclipse.

  • Telescope: Stellarvue SVA130T-IS
  • Mount: Losmandy G-11 with Gemini 2 controller
  • Autoguiding: No
  • Optical Configuration: 0.72x field flattener & reducer (f/5); no solar filter during totality
  • Camera: Canon 60Da
  • Light Frame(s): 13 full-stop, bracketed exposures from 1/2000 to 2 sec
  • Calibration: None (no darks, no flats, no biases)
  • Exposure Time(s): 1/2000 to 2 sec in full-stop increments
  • ISO: 100
  • Processing: Photoshop CC using the Pellett method
  • Imaging Location: Prairie City, Ore.

This image uses the Pellett method to create a high-contrast study of the sun’s coronal structure during the 2017 solar eclipse. Note how the plasma streamers of the corona trace the magnetic field lines of the sun, like iron filings around a magnet.

2017 Solar Eclipse: The Moon and the Solar Corona

Solar Corona & Moon

Eclipsing Moon reveals the solar corona during The Great American Eclipse, 2017

  • Telescope: Stellarvue SVA130T-IS
  • Mount: Losmandy G-11 with Gemini 2 controller
  • Autoguiding: No
  • Optical Configuration: 0.72x field flattener & reducer (f/5); no solar filter during totality
  • Camera: Canon 60Da
  • Light Frame(s): Two-image composite of 1/30-sec and 1-sec exposures
  • Calibration: None (no darks, no flats, no biases)
  • Exposure Time: 1/30 sec + 1 sec
  • ISO: 100
  • Processing: Photoshop CC
  • Imaging Location: Prairie City, Ore.

This composite image reveals many lunar features and the solar corona during The Great American Eclipse of 2017. Super-heated plasma escaping from the sun creates the solar corona and becomes the solar wind that blows through our solar system at a million miles per hour. The charged particles that make up the coronal plasma follow the magnetic field lines of the sun and form streamers in the corona, like iron filings around a magnet. In this image, north is up, south is down, east is left, and west is right.

Sunlight reflecting from our Earth during the eclipse illuminates the Moon and bounces back to Earth as “earthshine.” Because of this earthshine, lunar features such as the “seas” and several large craters (Tycho, Copernicus, etc.) can be imaged during totality. The blue color of the Moon comes from our blue sky.