Annular Solar Eclipse: October 14, 2023

Chiloquin, OR

Early morning was promising: 8:02am through a solar filter

After an hour of nothing: 9:15am, filtered only by clouds from here until 10:08am

9:17:16am

9:17:30am - Predicted beginning of annularity

9:17:32am

9:17:38am

9:17:56am

9:17:56am: The color remix

9:18:37am: A pseudo-total eclipse

9:19:58am: "Ring of Fire" in subtle color

9:19:58am: "Ring of Fire" with saturation and contrast dialed up

9:20:38am

9:45am

10:08am with no clouds through a solar filter


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Major Meteor Showers in 2024

Image
  A bright Geminid from the evening of December 14, 2023 This is still in DRAFT status. Check back soon if links or formatting are wonky. -WS Jump to Quadrantids , Lyrids , Eta Aquariids , Southern Delta Aquariids , PERSEIDS , Orionids , Leonids , Geminids It seems that fewer amateur astronomers are actively watching meteors/meteor showers these days. Meanwhile, there is still a lot of public interest, some from folks in rural areas who have a longstanding but casual relationship to the night sky and like to watch the Perseids or Geminids, and some from people who have never seen a meteor shower before but have seen something about an upcoming meteor shower in their news feed. My aim with this meteor shower outlook each year is to pinpoint the best times (if any) to watch the major meteor showers, and also to provide pointers about what to look for and how to increase the number of meteors you see and hopefully the satisfaction you receive from being out under the stars watching fo...
Read more

Omega Centauri, a Couple of Comets, and a Slew of Galaxies

Image
 2024 March 16 (a.m.): Omega Centauri, a Couple of Comets, and a Slew of Galaxies What do I do when it’s a weekend with good weather for deep-sky observing, but the First Quarter Moon is washing out the evening sky? Well, if I’m up for it, I just observe during the morning instead.  Just after midnight on the morning of March 16th, I drove out to a dark site at Willow Valley Reservoir, in eastern Klamath County on the Oregon-California border. There is a light dome from Klamath Falls to the west, and a tiny light dome from Lakeview to the east, but overall this is a great site with wide-open horizons. The reservoir itself was full. Google Earth has a satellite image from 2017 that shows it flooding the access road. It wasn’t that high this time, but as I turned in to the parking area I stopped to make sure I wouldn’t be driving into the water. The Moon wouldn’t set until 2:18am, so I left my scope out for a while to cool down while I rested in the car. It wasn’t that cold, abo...
Read more

Major Meteor Showers in 2023

Image
NOW AVAILABLE: Major Meteor Showers in 2024 Jump to: Quadrantids , Lyrids , Eta Aquariids , Southern Delta Aquariids , PERSEIDS , Orionids , Leonids , GEMINIDS , Ursids I had an active 2022, and got in at least one observing session for each of the major showers, even though the timing and moonlight conditions weren’t favorable for most. I didn’t have any exceptional meteor observing sessions; the best was probably for the Tau Herculids, which fell far short of the hyped possible storm but were still a very enjoyable shower.  In 2023, the Moon will be much less of a problem for the Perseids and Geminids, so these should be considered can’t-miss shower peaks. Moonlight casualties are the Quadrantids and the Eta Aquariids. This page gives observing prospects for the 9 most dependable and prolific meteor showers for Northern Hemisphere observers (descriptions will be most accurate for mid-Northern observers in North America–East Asian observers especially will want to check their loca...
Read more