Friday's rig

[Paul]

As I shall be at work when the partial eclipse happens on Friday Morning I have put together a very portable rig - see pic below. You see, all that time spent watching Blue Peter as a child wasn't wasted after all :-)

[brianb]

When I was trapped in school during a partial eclipse (May 1966) I rigged a small mirror by the window that projected a pinhole type image onto the opposite wall where I (and the rest of the class) could see it. I don't think the teacher cottoned on.

[Roman White]

Very good looking equipment, Paul.
I will observe through my 700/76mm reflector after I try to use my new solar filter in a few next days.

[Steveo74]

Great set up Paul! Hope all goes well and you get lots of images to share with us. 

[Paul]

Here's a test shot - there's nothing to see on the Sun today! This is cropped and recoloured in PSE5, otherwise untouched.

Just to remind those who may have forgotten what it looks like - this is in fact the Sun!



We'll just have to keep our fingers crossed on the weather front!

P.

[martinastro]

Paul, that image says one thing to me....you are a prepared man!. Looks like the perfect set-up for a partial solar eclipse - nice and portable to. All you need now is the clear skies. Fingers crossed everyone.

For the partial solar eclipse of 1999 I told my boss (a foreman) that I wouldn't be comming in on that day because I was going to watch the eclipse (I'm too honest for my own good - should have took a sickie). He said I couldn't do that, and I said I will be watching the eclipse from home no matter what. I got to see it and still had the job the next day  A day's wages meant nothing compared to the excitement of a special eclispe..even if it was a partial.

I only have a 300mm lens and baader filter and a 90mm ETX. Will try my best to get a few disk images. I was hoping there would be patchy cloud to filter out the Sun's intensity so I could get some wide disk shots with the bite over the trees.

[Paul]

Fortunately I have a very good boss who will probably want a peek through the eyepiece himself 

[Roman White]

I agree with Martin. There could be nothing more important to do on the solar eclipse day. On the October 3rd, 2005 I hadn't visited the school for the same reason.

It is also important to involve all the people you know (not only astronomers) into the solar eclipse observation. I will observe at home with my family and I'll try to make a phone call to most of my friends to inform them.

[dogstar]

Cool looking set up Paul  I hope the weather plays ball I'm really looking foward to seeing it and maybe getting a couple of shots myself

[John9929]

Here's a test shot I took this afternoon using the ETX90 at prime focus, (straight through as a tele lens of 1250mm).
TO type 2+ glass filter, ISO 100 1/50 sec. Maybe a tad off focus but should be OK for an eclipse.
Now all we need are clear skies!

[Steveo74]

Look forward to seeing your shots John! 

[Paul]

You'll get great shots with that setup John. Is that an unadjusted colour through your filter? I change mine as I find the colour rendition through Baader film totally inaccurate - a sort of purplish white.

[John9929]

Yeah it's close enough Paul, the camera maybe makes it a bit more yellow from the eye view which is an orange, but it depends on your exposure as well. I have a Baader filter as well but as you say it takes more work to get the finished image. Although in saying that, you can change to colour to whatever, pink even with today's tech.

[martinastro]

Very good test shot John. If eclipse day was anything like today we will be in for a treat. I must make a baader filter for my camera, now that I remember!

[John9929]

If it's anyway clear on eclipse day this is roughly what I expect to see at mid eclipse. My SNP is set
for Maghaberry but the % shouldn't change much for the rest of NI. Folk in ROI will probably see a wee
bit less.