T Minus One Month to the Great American Eclipse!

In one month, a total solar eclipse will occur exclusively in the United States, cutting across the continental US from west coast to east coast. It's the first time totality has touched continental US soil since 1979. If you live in the US, I strongly recommend making your way to the path of totality in one month, on August 21st, 2017.

This interactive map will not only show you where totality will occur, it will show you the timing of totality in universal time by clicking the location within totality where you plan to be.
[link to xjubier.free.fr]

This eclipse has of course long been predicted by astronomers, and you can find maps showing the path of totality in books published well over a hundred years ago.



I'm currently preparing my gear for a road trip to see and photograph totality. One tool you might find useful if you plan to take pictures of the eclipse is Moonglow Technologies' Eclipse Orchestrator:
[link to www.moonglowtechnologies.com]

Full disclosure, I am not associated with or paid by Moonglow Technologies in any way, nor am I getting any kickbacks from this. They do have a free version of their software. If you enter the location you plan to view the eclipse from, or connect it to your GPS, it will show you all the eclipse timings from 1st to 4th contact. You can script it to control your SLR camera via USB to automatically take picture of the eclipse at the settings you specify and at the moment in time you've pre-scripted it to fire the shutter. If you opt to buy the pro version, you can even control multiple cameras simultaneously and use third party serial shutter cables which significantly reduces the lag between the program issuing the command and the camera firing. You can also view simulated views of the eclipse and "Baily's Beads," the moments when the sun is just peaking through valleys at the edge of the moon, producing a brilliant beaded appearance of the sunlight.

Here's another similar program, I might actually use this one instead but I'm still evaluating. Other similar options are listed on the site though, so it's a nice overview of what's available:
[link to robertnufer.ch]

A much simpler app that almost anyone can use is the Eclipse Megamovie mobile app. Scientists are seeking data from everyone they can to create a time-registered series of images of the eclipse, from the moment when totality first reaches the west coast, to the moment it leaves the east coast about an hour and a half later. The plan is to use images from a large number of cameras and observers to make a movie of the changes in the sun's corona over the course of the eclipse.

Whether you plan to take pictures or just observe totality with your naked eye, be careful to use safe solar filters for all non-total portions of the eclipse, and get your ass to the path of totality!

Last Edited by Astromut on 07/24/2017 01:44 PM