I am locked and loaded and ready to go! Solar eclipse, here I come!
LOL… no, not locked and loaded as in guns, rather photography. This evening, right before sunset is an annular eclipse. Lucky me… Albuquerque is the spot to be! Here are some of the details….
• Sun will be low on the horizon for the event.
• The centerline for the event passes nearly through the Albuquerque International Airport. Any location in the metro area will provide an excellent view of the eclipse.
• The viewing area must be high enough to see Mt. Taylor, which is 60 miles (100 km) west of Albuquerque.
• 1st contact is at 6:28pm (MDT) when the moon first begins to cover the sun.
• 2nd contact at 7:33pm (MDT) when the moon is completely within the disk of the sun. The totality of the annular portion of the eclipse is 4 minutes and 26 seconds.
• 3rd contact at 7:38pm (MDT) a when the moon touches the edge of the disk of the sun on its way out of the sun’s disk. The sun sets at 8:20pm before the eclipse is over.
And I have a perfect spot all staked out very near the airport. I’m sure there will be some other locals there, but it’s not very well known. The city has been advertising the Balloon Fiesta Park and a few other places around the city for viewing. So long as we can see Mt Taylor (an extinct volcano) on the western mesa, then we will be able to see the eclipse. There are thousands who have come to Albuquerque from all over the country and world to view this eclipse. This is an “annular eclipse.”
On Sunday, May 20, 2012 there is an unusual solar event called an “annular eclipse.” During an annular eclipse, the moon covers most of the sun’s disk leaving a thin ring of light around the edge. Albuquerque is one of only a few places to see it, and is the most convenient viewing location to travel to.
I have the proper filters for both my Canon Rebel t2i, which is what I’m using for still shots, as well as my Canon camcorder. I have tested them both out on the sun a while ago and they work perfectly. LOL… wasn’t easy either. I didn’t know about the eclipse until a few days ago so when I went by a local camera store for the proper filters, they told me they’d been sold out for over a week. It was too late to order anything online, too. Yesterday a friend of mine told me she had bought some strips of mylar, the proper color for this, which is welding color #13, and she had an extra for me. So I rather “jimmy-rigged” it by cutting circular shapes to cover the lens on both. On my Rebel, I’m using the UV filter to hold it in place. LOL… on the camcorder, I had to tape it. Hey, it works, though. Tested and passed. I also picked up a nice tri-pod which I have been meaning to get for a while now.
Chairs, water, snacks are all loaded. Batteries charged… I am ready to go! I will see you on the other side of the moon… photos to come (I hope… ).
Toodles!
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Sounds like fun! I hope you get some good shots.
Oh, I did. At least I think I did. I still need to upload from the camera. It was a wonderful evening.
I can hardly wait to see the pics!
Working on one for the parting shot. Then more tomorrow. Hobs… it really felt so good to be out there, talking to people, and basically just feeling alive and like I was a normal human being.
I don’t think the view will be so good here in Ohio, but I have http://events.slooh.com/ open in another tab! 😀
Expecting cloud cover here 😦
How was it? Did the clouds clear away?
That other link didn’t pan out, but you can see it progressing nicely at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/scottys-sky
Oh, Izzy… it was an incredible night. It’s been a long long time since I have enjoyed myself that much. it felt good to feel alive again. It really did. (sigh)
I’m so glad you enjoyed yourself. I was able to get a fairly decent look at it using the two streaming sites I mentioned. And they even took a couple of breaks to show it happening in the skies above LA during the baseball game I was watching. But nothing compares to seeing it live. I am literally green with envy, and can’t wait to see your pics!
It was wonderful. And I am not meaning to rub it in, especially for spite, “look at me everyone! I saw the eclipse! neener neener neener!!!” I just really had a great time. It was so magical. And after this past year, especially this past winter, it was just so special to me. I felt alive again, which I have not felt in a long long time. Working on the pix… will post one for the parting shot tonight, then more tomorrow. Takes a while since I have to use Photoshop – but that’s what I prefer doing.
Fantastic! Looking forward to seeing your pics, and hope you protected your eyes…
Oh, it was wonderful!!!! I’ll post about it shortly and throw up a few pictures. I have a ton to upload to my computer, and I shoot in raw format so I have to drop each one in photoshop to tweak and convert to jpg. It really was a great time! People from all over the country. And I found an excellent spot that wasn’t “advertised” so there were only about 20 cars there. Telescopes, all kinds of stuff. And yes, I protected my eyes. I watched it all through my camera which I had the proper filter on it.