Eclipse Chasing....

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Carbon60
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Eclipse Chasing....

Post by Carbon60 »

What a day. Out at 7:00 am and 130 miles (210 km) later I was still under cloud despite the Met Office weather report suggesting that I would be under brilliant skies with wall to wall sunshine (not their words, but their icons on their weather forecast suggested this would be the case). Grimsby, in the East of England, which is where I ended up is not the prettiest of places around the various chemical plants out that way, but given the forecast I thought it might give me an excellent chance of seeing something of the partial eclipse getting almost as far east as I could get.

It was never going to be spectacular (unlike Brian's image), but under thick cloud it was my worst nightmare. I'd set up my mount in a disused layby around the corner from a security block serving as a gate guardian for one of the chemical facilities. I was half expecting to be pulled up for 'loitering in a suspicious manner', but thankfully no one came to inspect my rocket launcher disguised as a Lunt 60 solar scope. Constantly I was checking my iPhone for the latest cloud movements (and hoping the weather back home wasn't better than the crud I was under). SAT24 showed yet more cloud building in from the west, although there was a slight chance of hitting a gap with a developing rift over the Pennine hills that separate east and west along the 'spine' of England. Now 10:00 am local time and with first contact imminent, I decided that I had to get moving a little further west and north to intercept the gaps. They were drifting my way, but very, very slowly!

I ended up at a place called Scunthorpe. I could see one or two gaps heading my way, so I pulled over as soon as I could onto what turned out to be an industrial estate and set up with my laptop in the boot (trunk) of my car and my mount/scope just out of reach...doh. That meant that I couldn't focus/tune and see the screen at the same time. Oh...and those gaps had now merged into one gap and this was closing fast. This was my ONE and ONLY chance of capturing anything of the eclipse as it was now 11:50 am local and other than this diminishing gap the cloud was continuous as far as I could see. This gives you and idea of the conditions.....
Cloud Cover.JPG
Cloud Cover.JPG (555.04 KiB) Viewed 570 times
It was all very much of a rush/half panic with the gap closing fast and with wisps of cloud scudding through the scene.
So here is the result. It must be my worst Ha image ever, but at least I got an image of the partial eclipse which makes the round trip worth while.

Image20210610_Partial_Eclipse. by Stuart Green, on Flickr


Thanks for looking.

Stu.


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Re: Eclipse Chasing....

Post by H-Alpha »

What an adventure while chasing the sun Stu!!!
And you got it! I cn imagine your satisfaction after all...
Excellent eclipsed H-alpha!
thanks for sharing both photos and the story.
Best wishes,
Alexandros


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Re: Eclipse Chasing....

Post by MAURITS »

A really nice Ha image Stu.


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Re: Eclipse Chasing....

Post by ffellah »

It was an adventure, Stu, but with a nice ending. You got a very nice Ha image of the eclipse and a bonus image of the clouds...

Franco


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Re: Eclipse Chasing....

Post by pedro »

a real adventure Stu, nice image though


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Re: Eclipse Chasing....

Post by arnedanielsen »

Sorry to hear of your challenging weather conditions, but your perseverance paid off!

Thanks for sharing your story and pictures!

Best regards,
Arne


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Re: Eclipse Chasing....

Post by MapleRidge »

Great to see your Ha eclipse pic Stuart...and based on the cloud cover you did well to get it :bow

I'd hate to think you would have travelled as much as you did if you had no images at all, so you can be very glad for the fact you got at least one!

Brian


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Re: Eclipse Chasing....

Post by Tigger »

Hi Stu,

I also went 'gap' chasing, but further south in deepest darkest Kent. Parked up in a country lane and hopped over the gate into a field. Surrounded by wild flowers and Skylarks. I got really lucky and saw first contact, most of the eclipse until the cloud gods decided I had seen enough. They closed my curtain just before last contact. I did not mind though. This was my first eclipse with a solar scope and I was a very happy bunny with what I saw.

I could not believe it when I saw the outline of some of the moons craters against the backdrop of the Sun. This was completely unexpected.

John


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Re: Eclipse Chasing....

Post by EGRAY_OBSERVATORY »

Well done both you guys on your efforts to see this event so early in the morning.
Stu, extra-well done on the capture.

Terry


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Re: Eclipse Chasing....

Post by JochenM »

That's rough, Stu...

At least you got something to show for your efforts.


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Re: Eclipse Chasing....

Post by DeepSolar64 »

Very nice pic Stu! I missed it entirely. :-(


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Re: Eclipse Chasing....

Post by Carbon60 »

Many thanks, everyone.

Stu.


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Re: Eclipse Chasing....

Post by Carbon60 »

Tigger wrote: Thu Jun 10, 2021 11:13 pm Hi Stu,

I also went 'gap' chasing, but further south in deepest darkest Kent. Parked up in a country lane and hopped over the gate into a field. Surrounded by wild flowers and Skylarks. I got really lucky and saw first contact, most of the eclipse until the cloud gods decided I had seen enough. They closed my curtain just before last contact. I did not mind though. This was my first eclipse with a solar scope and I was a very happy bunny with what I saw.

I could not believe it when I saw the outline of some of the moons craters against the backdrop of the Sun. This was completely unexpected.

John
You certainly did get lucky, John. Glad you found a large enough gap. There’s nothing quite like seeing your first (partial) eclipse.

Stu.


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Fluxgate Magnetometers (1s and 150s Cadence).
Radio meteor detector.
More images at http://www.flickr.com/photos/solarcarbon60/
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Re: Eclipse Chasing....

Post by Carbon60 »

DeepSolar64 wrote: Fri Jun 11, 2021 4:32 am Very nice pic Stu! I missed it entirely. :-(
Sorry to hear that, James.

Stu.


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More images at http://www.flickr.com/photos/solarcarbon60/
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Re: Eclipse Chasing....

Post by Montana »

Oh Stuart!! if I had known you could have dropped by here and got a similar view but with a gin and tonic too :lol:

Sorry, I couldn't help myself :) I was thinking of inviting you but the weather here was so cloudy it was probably better at your house. Sat24 was lying yesterday, it was showing the north east to be completely clear. It was also showing a big clear region of broken cloud coming across Cheshire and so I should have seen sunshine but yet it was thick cloud. I've never shouted so loud at Sat24 before because it was not showing what was seen on the ground.

At least you saw a glimpse though, I was happy with that :hamster:

Alexandra


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Re: Eclipse Chasing....

Post by Ivan »

Hello Stu

In one breath, I read a thrilling novel about your pursuit of an eclipse. You did the impossible, you took a great picture in such conditions, where many (including myself) would simply say "I've had enough, apparently this is not my day", but you did it. Taking off my hat.

Ivan


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Re: Eclipse Chasing....

Post by Carbon60 »

Montana wrote: Fri Jun 11, 2021 11:43 am Oh Stuart!! if I had known you could have dropped by here and got a similar view but with a gin and tonic too :lol:

Sorry, I couldn't help myself :) I was thinking of inviting you but the weather here was so cloudy it was probably better at your house. Sat24 was lying yesterday, it was showing the north east to be completely clear. It was also showing a big clear region of broken cloud coming across Cheshire and so I should have seen sunshine but yet it was thick cloud. I've never shouted so loud at Sat24 before because it was not showing what was seen on the ground.

At least you saw a glimpse though, I was happy with that :hamster:

Alexandra
He...he... a G&T in the garden certainly would have been a better proposition than driving for hours on end to and from Grimsby under cloud! I was just glad I managed to capture at least something of the eclipse and that the weather wasn't better at home.
Thanks for thinking of me anyhow :)

Stu.


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Re: Eclipse Chasing....

Post by Carbon60 »

Ivan wrote: Fri Jun 11, 2021 7:09 pm Hello Stu

In one breath, I read a thrilling novel about your pursuit of an eclipse. You did the impossible, you took a great picture in such conditions, where many (including myself) would simply say "I've had enough, apparently this is not my day", but you did it. Taking off my hat.

Ivan
Many thanks, Ivan.

I very nearly did get to the point of despair and thought of 'throwing in the towel', as they say, but when I saw the oasis of blue I just had to try my luck and it paid off.... a bit, anyhow.

Cheers

Stu.


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Re: Eclipse Chasing....

Post by MapleRidge »

Stuart...

Certainly top marks for holding on and not giving up. After tall the chasing for clear skies one image is better than none!

Brian


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Re: Eclipse Chasing....

Post by Carbon60 »

Many thanks, Brian.

Stu.


H-alpha, WL and Ca II K imaging kit for various image scales.
Fluxgate Magnetometers (1s and 150s Cadence).
Radio meteor detector.
More images at http://www.flickr.com/photos/solarcarbon60/
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