I'm Steve, and this blog is about what I'm working on or thinking about right now. At least it was when I wrote it. I'm guessing I've already moved on to something else. ;)
If you know me, or have read through some of my posts here, you’d know I wouldn’t have missed this eclipse. After all, its totality covered my own back yard near Austin, Texas for 3 minutes. However, my family and I didn’t see it at home. Instead, we traveled to South Texas see it with friends: A good bunch of my friends who were there with me on the two-week journey to the tip of Baja for the 1991 total solar eclipse.
This time, we mutually chose the Eagle Pass, TX area. It was in the US, along the center line, and would very likely have clear skies at that time of year. We started planning over a year in advance of the eclipse, primarily to secure our lodging. A lot of hotels were not taking reservations that far in advance. We did find open advance reservations in nearby Del Rio.
Of our original 1991 group, Richard, Bob, Vince, Melissa, and I were in attendance. We also brought a small portion of the ashes of our departed friend and brother Greg.
Vince (in exile), in-crowd L-R: Phil, Marsha, Bob, Darlene, Jamie, Melissa, and a person we met there at the Del Rio Inn.
In addition to the ’91 alumni, we were joined by friends: Louis, Michael, Marsha, Phil, Darlene, Jamie, as well as my own eclipsolunatic family: Shelia and Ryan.
Steve, Shelia, and Ryan
In the days leading up to the eclipse, the weather forecast was firming up to be pretty poor conditions along the path of totality. We had lots of Pacific moisture flowing into the area with high and low clouds. Still, the area we’d picked ahead of time looked like it was going to be drier than the rest of South Texas.
The morning of the eclipse, the previously clear-ish skies were gone. Gloomy low clouds had built up overnight. We sat tight at our hotels in Del Rio, looked closely at the radar and satellite loops, and tried to figure out what to do.
Two kinds of eclipse “nuts”. La Quinta was stocked with the right fuel.
Eagle Pass looked to be a little more socked-in, so staying in Del Rio appeared to be the right thing to do. We gathered at the Del Rio Inn to see if conditions would improve anywhere around us.
A few holes in the cloud cover here at the Del Rio Inn
Richard was still headed in from San Antonio along US90 and had been reporting relatively better skies near Uvalde. With that info, Vince and my family decided to move to meet Richard somewher near the centerline on US90 between Del Rio and Uvalde. The rest of the gang stayed at the Del Rio Inn, hanging out around the pool.
At our viewing spot along US90E
Our team ended up stopping at 29°19’35.0″N 100°28’54.6″W a spot 20 miles west of the eclipse centerline on US90E on the west side of Brackettville, TX. Richard met up with us there.
The eclipse has started, and this is one of those times where we could see through the clouds and cast shadows.
I took some overview video on my GoPro Hero4, and I’ve posted that to YouTube.
During the eclipse, I pulled a fast one on my friends. I launched an audio track containing a bunch of exclamations by our departed friend Greg that were recorded at the 1991 eclipse. The idea was to make it seem like he was there with us. I’m sure everyone would agree he was really there in spirit.
I took still photos during the eclipse, but no other video. My telescope setup procedures require more time and clearer skies than I had available. The stills of the partials look pretty good, but I didn’t set up the tripod for the totality (doh!), so the handheld shots of that were not so good.
Handheld shot with my D7100 and a 300mm lens using my hand made filter.When the clouds were thick enough, I went ahead and grabbed some shots of the partial phases without the filter.Almost there! I think you can see a little hydrogen alpha pink mixing in here.A wider crop of the previous picture. There’s a neat angel shape in the cloud hole there.Still a sliver!Well, you really don’t want to shot totality handheld. Next time, set up the tripod first.The hot pink prominences left nice trails in my shaky shot.Well, that might have been a diamond ring shot, but again, the tripod wasn’t used.
I am really happy that so many other people in the US were able to see this one and experience the wonder. I look forward to seeing more of what others have experienced and recorded.
The Sun, the Moon, and the Earth lined up on August 21st, 2017. We did our best to be lined up too. We traveled to St. Joseph, MO to be along the center-line of the swath of totality that crossed the United States.
The back-dated posts below detail the running log of our preparations and journey that I had incrementally posted to Facebook in the summer of 2017.
There are a few things to note before we start. At first, I did not know if we would be able leave town to see the total eclipse. My wife and I were both looking for work and money was a concern. I might be satisfied with just viewing the partial eclipse from Austin, TX, so at first started getting ready for the partial here in Austin. I wanted to use equipment that I already had, with a minimum of extra expenditure. We also had a probable summer trip to see relatives near Wichita, KS in the back of our minds. Eventually we combined that trip with an extra jaunt to the north to put us on the centerline.
The eclipsolunatics arose before the Sun, dressed, and descended to the feeding area. In case you didn’t notice, we added a fourth while we were in Wichita. Our niece/cousin (in pink) who had some free time to spend with us before school started.
My white version of the eclipsolunatic shirt touts the 7/11/1991 eclipse
When we stepped out of the hotel at the crack of dawn, the worry seemed to drain away. You could see an eclipse in this weather.
It wasn’t perfectly clear, maybe a little hazy, but not bad at all Eclipse day
We were on the road from Kansas City, MO to St. Joseph, MO as the Sun came up. A trek of 30 miles. More signs heralded the event.
St. Joseph is only a few exits away. You could walk to the centerline from here The journey is almost over! I hope the spot we picked is still available No traffic! That’s a relief! It sure does look cloudy up here N39.780147° W94.786578°
By 7:00AM, we’d made it to the viewing site. No crowds. No traffic jams. The sun is shining. Why are we here so early?
The spot I’d picked was the parking lot of Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church. I’d e-mailed ahead to ask permission to use a few slots. I’d received the green light from Steve K. (facilities) and Fr. Christian.
We found a Red Cross trailer on the lot and used it as one of the walls for our shelter
I heard later, the trailer was a pre-staged advance preparation in case there was a disaster in the area during the time frame of the eclipse.
We started setting up, and then I realized the church patrons were arriving for daily 8AM Mass. I’m not sure how I missed the timing of that on the website, but I started to realize we had the time to attend, and it was the right thing to do. There was still a go/no-go decision to be made about staying at this spot, but it was too early to make the decision. 10:00 was the right time. We paused our set up and went in.
9:30AM
When we came back out, we realized it had rained. Nothing but the tent and the vehicles got wet. The sun continued to shine, and we decided to continue our set up.
10:00AM. I set up the telescope and attached the camera
I connected the inverter to the car battery and set up the 24” computer monitor and hood. The family devoured “eclipse nuts”. Those are annular dough cakes covered with powdered sugar or chocolate icing. You can get them in packs of 6 at the gas station. If you take a bite out of one it looks like an eclipse. You see, there is more than one kind of eclipse nut. Our boy kept himself entertained with a little Hot Wheels track fun. He took the time to video his setup and luckily got this shot of the nearly completed observatory.
8/21/2017 11:50AM N39.514919° W94.787881° Near Dearborn, MO
Hey, wait! This isn’t where where were at 10:00AM. What happened?
Well, at 10:15 as I was completing the last steps of the set up, I looked to the South West, and saw rain heading our way. Looking at the radar, I realized we were in the path for an extended shower that might soak our plans. We decided to pack all the eclipse gear in the SUV, all the other stuff in the car, and try to scoot out from under the downpour in the SUV, leaving the car. We were packed in about 20 minutes and nothing was damaged by the rain that started.
We needed two adults in the SUV. One to drive and one to navigate away from the clouds. We found a hole in the clouds and pulled off the highway. A commuter lot just happened to be at the exit we tried, and there were still parking spots available. Everyone else that was there was doing the same thing.
Did our plans change? You bet they did. Plan B was in place. The continuous chance for rain meant that we wouldn’t risk setting up the scope or shade tent for the rest of the day. We had to stay agile and mobile chasing the holes in the clouds.
This shot was taken from some accidental video and shows the rain falling right across I-29
We got to see the first of the partial phases here. We missed first contact (C1) by just a few minutes. We did get to see a small bite here. The sunspots were evident in the binocular image.
The hole we were under closed just a few minutes later. We were the first to abandon this spot, and we moved on, following the hole to the north east.
The cloud cover was not easy to predict. There were two layers moving in different directions. Following one hole didn’t always result in a clearer sky.
8/21/2017 12:55PM N39.571806° W94.684278° Near Faucett, MO
With plan B still under way, we chased the holes in the clouds. Two layers of clouds made it impossible to use the news radar for anything but avoiding the huge cells. We sought out light spots and chased them down the back roads. We moved East on State Route [H] to the intersection of [H], [Z], and [Y]. North on [Y] to (116). (116) to [E]. Man oh man. It’s getting dark. It’s only 15 minutes to totality. We need to stop. Every place around has the purple fencepost markings indicating no trespassing. Don’t park there. OK, right here. We have a triangle between the roads. The middle must be county property. Stop here. Draw the line in the sand, and hope the clouds give us a hole.
We were at the South side of the triangle at [E] and [DD].
Have you seen this fellow? Stay well clear of him. That’s an eclipsolunatic. Do not get between him and his prey.
N39.571806° W94.684278° Near Faucett, MO We’re all here in the SUV. We’re playing the waiting game.
When the rain stops, we can get out and use our glasses, binoculars, and cameras. When it’s raining we can look through the windows and stay dry.
A bright boy realizes we can use the sunroof to look at the eclipse: “That’s why they call them sunroofs!”
A smile? Eclipse chasing might be fun.
The guy in the front seat is too busy to notice. At least we have snacks.
There are alpacas watching us from the fence line back there.
Are we going to see anything other than it just getting dark? Partial phases? Totality? Corona? Prominences? What about all that other cool stuff I told everyone about? I just don’t know.
Camera Model: NIKON D7100 Original Date/Time: 2017-08-21T12:45:28.1 Exposure Time: 1/3200 Shutter Speed: 1/3200.00 Aperture: 6.00 F-stop: f/8.0 ISO Speed: 1000 Lens: 70.0-300.0 mm f/4.0-5.6 Focal Length: 250.00
Once we were parked, and a hole “opened” (I use the term loosely), I was able to take a few shots through the windshield with the D7100. The filter was cutting out too much light, so I did the unthinkable. Don’t look! Too late. Eclipsolunatics are fast and loose. I wanted closer (300mm) and tighter (focus) on this one. Totality is about 20 minutes away. Hand held.
Camera Model: NIKON D7100 Original Date/Time: 2017-08-21T12:58:44.4 Exposure Time: 1/20 Shutter Speed: 1/20.00 Aperture: 4.53 F-stop: f/4.8 ISO Speed: 1000 Lens: 70.0-300.0 mm f/4.0-5.6 Focal Length: 210.00
The next hole that opened let more sunlight through. I used the DIY filter with the Thousand Oaks Black-Silver Polymer here. I was also able to stand outside the SUV. Less than 10 minutes to go. Hand held, leaning against the SUV.
The rain let up! Just a few minutes left. The clouds have cleared. Everybody out! (still frame from GoPro video) Another eclipse chaser arrives behind us (still frame from GoPro video) Look! a hole in clouds! (still frame from GoPro video) Look! a hole in clouds! (still frame from GoPro video) It’s starting to get dark! The clouds were pretty thick. We didn’t need the glasses at this point. (still frame from GoPro video)
These three photos are the money shots. They’re still frames from the GoPro video. I can’t even believe we could see it. The clouds parted just enough. It was still amazing. In the video you can hear us say so.
This one is the diamond ring Mid eclipse. You can discern the corona through the clouds. Maybe the diamond ring, maybe just a hole to let more of the corona light through.
I didn’t have the D7100 or telescope out on a tripod due to the nearby rain. The GoPro video is what we ended up with.
Looking North to the rain that passed us. Looking NW at rain and the day rushing in.
Our son took these three stills of totality on or Samsung Tab-E. I cropped them to 16:9.
Looking at the exiting partial phases. Back to the “weeny sliver”. That’s a technical term used by eclipsolunatics. A post totality panorama of the site
The photo is blown out some. The white is not blue sky. Just lighter grey. He’s playing with a fallen sign that said “Backwoods ->”.
New family tradition? Eclipsewiches. We were starving after that chase. It’s raining.
We ended our chase of holes in the cloud cover and headed back north to St. Joseph to get the car. Lots of traffic was going South to Kansas City. The flow leaving the centerline went on for hours.
The second leg of the journey was the 200 mile hop from Wichita, Kansas to Kansas City, Missouri where we’d reserved a hotel room. The hotel was inside the totality band, but far enough away from the centerline that we were able to find a room due to the number of hotels in the area.
These signs along the way were a frequent reminder that many other people were also excited about the eclipse.
After checking in, we moved North for a scouting mission to the centerline at St. Joseph, MO. We looked at the site I’d selected and then we had some time to kill. No one had a MO geocache yet, so that’s what we did. Well, after eating ice cream anyway. We picked a good one and converted another muggle.
That was one fancy geocache container! The end of the day on the 20th gave us a nice sunset
The sunset worried me.
The clouds were starting to build, and the NOAA forecasts were calling for 60% cloud coverage in our area on the 21st. The forecasts showed clouds for a two state radius around us. There were only two directions to go for clear skies along the totality path. East to Kentucky, or West to Wyoming. We were already exhausted. We decided to stay, wait, and see.
Today we started the first leg of our road trip to the eclipse site. Tonight we’re two thirds of the way there! We’ve traveled 540 miles from Austin, TX to Wichita, KS where we’ll spend a few days with family before moving North another 200 miles to Kansas City, MO on August 20. The plan is to travel the remaining 55 miles to St. Joseph, MO on the day of the eclipse. Our son took this cool shot of our prey as we passed a wind farm at sunset. I think it was in Kansas. Two and a half days to go!
As the rest of the world does their morning routine…
I’m pondering what everyone else is doing this beautiful Thursday morning. The eclipsolunatic is poring through all the checklists he’s been building these last few months.
Yes, I’m packing for departure to-mor-row mor-ning! But first, I’m starting off with a cup of Joe in my spiffy new mug.
The ordinary people idea is a nod to character Sheldon Cooper’s visit to the grocery store:
Sheldon: This is great. Look at me, out in the real world of ordinary people, just living their ordinary, colorless, workaday lives.
Penny: Thank you.
Sheldon: No, thank you. And thank you, ordinary person.
“The Luminous Fish Effect”, S1E4, The Big Bang Theory
One of these days I’ll drone on about my frustration with the show making fun of scientists and engineers, but today I’ve got a lot of things to do.
Yesterday, our Cub Scout pack turned out a week in advance of the solar eclipse to learn about science and safety. We also worked on requirements for their 2017 eclipse patch.
BSA Solar Eclipse Patch
The lesson was structured as a “reverse quiz”. The attendees asked canned questions found on randomly drawn slips of paper. Our eccentric instructor answered as best he could. I think he might have been sneaking peeks at his notes. Nobody can keep that much eclipse info in their head at once.
These pictures were frame captures from video taken by the scouts.
These binocular solar filters have been given “professional” facings. Looking for sunspots. One scout’s design adds extra solar shielding from a box making it cooler and removing some internal reflections on the inside of the glasses. Looking for sunspots. Demonstrating a pinhole box viewer. Demonstrating an pinhole box viewer made from paper tubes. What it looks like during totality. Who will be able to see the eclipse on August 21st? What is the pinhole effect? Put on your solar helmet, Box Man! What is the diamond ring effect? There’s a DIY solar filter made from the Silver-Black polymer film from Thousand Oaks Optical on the front end of the telescope. Hopefully the number answering yes will increase this year. Checking out the sunspots. There’s still a sliver! Approaching totality in this video from 1991. Get ready to try something like this during the eclipse!
I used holes from a push pin. You might try something bigger. Maybe a bunch of different sizes to see what works best
They say you should use the full moon to get your initial exposure settings for the totality phase of a solar eclipse. I guess the settings for my setup will be like the ones I used on this picture from last night.
1/100s and 100 ISO Nikon D7100 on the back of a Celestron 90GT 910mm Telescope
The video tests were similar. I liked 1080p30, 1/125s, and 100 ISO.
We’ve been having a lot of rain, clouds, and haze lately. Last night was my best night for the full moon trials. Today, I moved on with the sun trials.
1/125s at ISO 100 Nikon D7100 on the back of a Celestron 90GT 910mm Telescope Thousand Oaks Optical Silver-Black Polymer Filter
Wow. How boring is this? One teeny sunspot? Hmm.. I’m not getting great focus today. Moist atmosphere I think. I did get rid of the light leak by covering the viewfinder. The contrast is great! I also worked to shield the monitor so I could focus without glare in the daylight.
Getting things in focus. Well, technically, I’m centering.
My son took that one. There’s an HDMI port on the camera. I ran it to a 24″ monitor and put that in a box with a black cloth hood. Works for my old eyes.
The monitor in the box
There’s a reticle taped to the frame of the monitor. It helps me keep the sun/moon image centered when there is drift in the tracking. When I see error, I can adjust with the slewing controls on the telescope. The image is a composite of several reticle types I found on the internet. I wanted concentric circles, a cross in the center and a ring with degrees for noting the position of sunspots. I used a similar reticle for the July 11, 1991 eclipse.
Closeup of the reticle. Remember making overhead projector transparencies for presentations? That was before PowerPoint and cheap video projectors. This is pretty much one of those. Who still has the plastic? I didn’t. 5 sheets for $6 on Amazon! This time I used my inkjet printer to add the text and lines. Last time I copied the reticle from a book onto the transparency sheet using the copier at work.
Well, it was bound to happen. He’s been watching me build solar contraptions for quite a while now, and he had his own idea. The idea was to block out as much extraneous light as possible by making a sort of helmet with eclipse goggles to filter the sun. The BM stands for Box Man. You know I’m proud!
How about this one:
Another eclipse viewer
It’s an indirect eclipse viewer: our own collaborative design. We started with ideas gleaned from a Boy’s Life article. There’s a pinhole in aluminum foil at the top of a stack of two paper towel tubes. That puts a ¼” image onto white cardboard at the bottom of this half oatmeal container. The eyepiece is a toilet paper tube pointed at the image. He built it and tested it with some guidance. You aim it by minimizing the shadow of the tall tube on the oatmeal box end.
Selfie showing the DIY filters I made for my binoculars. Of course I can’t see anything dimmer than the Sun though them. 🙂 I used the same construction technique as I did for the telescope filters. The cool eclipse mirror is the one that hangs in the art niche in our hallway.
When I showed these filters to my dear son, he commented that he didn’t think they looked very professional. At that moment I had a very “professional” idea…
8/5/17 Update
Some “Sun Shades” for the binocular eclipse filters!
When you are facing the sun for long periods of time, you might benefit from an extra bit of shade. Hence, the shielding disks I added. As I manipulated the binoculars to adjust for eye distance, I realized the disks were kind of “eclipsey”, so I decided to put sun and moon images on them. Well, that simply wasn’t enough drama, so I added faces. The sunglasses idea just tries to bring some sanity back to the whole thing. Totally professional! I can not wait until I whip these out in public! I might need a piece of white “tape” to hide that crack between the glasses halves.
The Front Burner 