Stay Safe, And Simply Take In The Spectacle

Sunspots!

I followed 2 sunspots as they were “eaten” by the Moon.  I took this at 2:15:50 pm.  Sunspots happen all the time, appearing as darker areas of solar activity caused by twisting magnetic fields within the Sun’s Convective Zone.  Without getting too technical, the Convective Zone is equivalent to the layer that land occupies on Earth. 

Sunspots are darker than the orange Sun, because they’re thousands of degrees cooler than the rest of the Sun— 7,592 degrees Fahrenheit (F) vs. 10,832 degrees F.  They’re actually erupting above the rest of the Sun.  Most of them are at least the size of Earth!

Sunspots last from weeks to years, and even drift.  I often see sunspots when shooting sunsets or sunrises.  The Eclipse happened during Solar Maximum— the most active part of the 11-year sunspot cycle.  The darker/bigger sunspot is easy to spot almost in the center of the Sun.  The second, more faint sunspot is at about 10:00 on the Sun.  

Totality!

Here’s Totality (2nd Contact) at 3:03:26 pm!  First Contact happens the moment the Moon begins to creep in front of the Sun.   I caught 1st Contact earlier at 1:54:26 pm.  While the Sun is about 400 times larger than the Moon, the Moon is about 400 times closer to Earth than the Sun.  It was a New Moon on April 8.  Factor in the Moon’s 5 degree angled orbit, and Total Solar Eclipses are rare— with most happening over our many oceans.  But April 8 was precious, because the Eclipse loomed over 15 states.

The Sun’s magnetic field creates a solar wind, which projects plasma out into space at more than 1 Million miles per hour (MPH)!  Totality gives us a glimpse at the Sun’s corona, so we can see this violent wind dispersing.  With the Moon blocking the rest of the Sun, the solar wind dominates. 

While the corona is about 1.8 Million degrees F, the solar wind leaving the Corona is even hotter— 3.5 Million degrees F.  The Sun is made up of so much powerful gas that it takes about 100,000 years for a single photon to leave the Sun as light.  It starts as an X-Ray, and is transformed into plasma.  It takes 8 minutes for sunlight to reach Earth. 

When Totality hit, the 50,000 people around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway roared!  But far more impactful was what followed— everyone fell silent for the next 4 minutes as they marveled at the spectacle.  An orange glow appeared above the horizon.  The sky became totally dark.  And at 3:03 in the afternoon, not only did I see stars, but I saw Jupiter!  Over the entire Eclipse process, the temperature dropped 33 degrees, and slowly warmed back up after Totality!

Solar Prominences!

I never expected to capture Solar Prominences erupting from the Sun during Totality.  These are arcs of plasma emerging from the Sun’s Photosphere (the layer between the Sun’s interior and its atmosphere).  Magnetic fields hoist cooler plasma above the Sun’s corona— reaching hundreds of thousands of miles!  

That’s why my camera was able to capture them at 3:09:00 pm from 93 Million miles away!  Over just seconds, I saw these Solar Prominences grow.  Solar Prominences take days to form, and can last for months.

Scientists disagree over whether or not these Solar Prominences loop back down to the Sun.  While Solar Prominences (89,540 degrees F) are cooler than the corona (1.8 Million degrees F), it’s incredibly powerful to see what look like orange flames emanating beyond the corona!  From second to second, I watched these Solar Prominences grow more pronounced as they went farther from the Sun!

The next day when I looked at the USA Today, the photo on the cover wasn’t as good as what I got.  It didn’t show Solar Prominences!  The photographer used too wide an aperture, which overexposed the Eclipse— leaving out the Solar Prominences.  My camera and settings captured more detail.  That made me smile!

Baily's Beads!

In 1836, Francis Baily confirmed a phenomenon discovered by Sir Edmond Halley in 1715, which came to be known as Baily’s Beads.  Evidently, the Astronomy World didn’t want to credit Halley for 2 discoveries— his comet and the Beads.  I believe Halley should get the credit.  So I call them Halley’s Beads.

We're lucky the Moon is not totally round.  Its cracks and crevices mean the Sun shines through them at the beginning and conclusion of Totality.  Here at 3:09:42 pm, near the conclusion of Totality, I captured Baily’s (Halley's) Beads— bright beads of light seemingly bubbling from the edge of the Moon. 

Diamond Ring!

Taken just 2 seconds later at 3:09:44 pm, I captured another phenomenon which occurs at the beginning and conclusion of Totality: the Diamond Ring.  As Baily’s (Halley’s) Beads transform into blasts of sunlight, this burst— when seen together with the corona encircling the Sun and Moon— resembles a Diamond Ring.

Of course, this burst of light meant I quickly had to put my Solar Filter back in front of my lens to photograph the subsequent Partial Eclipse of the retreating Moon.  Third Contact is the moment the first sliver of Sun is seen after Totality.

Both Baily’s (Halley’s) Beads and the Diamond Ring were on my wish list of shots to get.  Missions Accomplished!

Partial Eclipse After Totality

Taken at 3:59:03 pm, the big sunspot is clearly in view, though it moved since I last saw it.  I later saw the other sunspot reappear once the Moon flew by.   Here are some mind-blowing factoids about speed.   The Indycar 4-lap qualifying average around the 2.5 mile Brickyard oval in 2024 was over 234 MPH.  During the Eclipse, the Moon’s shadow moved by at 1,500 MPH.  The Moon orbits Earth at about 2,288 MPH.  Earth orbits the Sun at 67,000 MPH.

The Eclipse event at the Brickyard was amazing.  NASA, Perdue U., and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway were wonderful hosts.  Many astronauts and Indycar drivers were onhand.  Indycar driver Ed Carpenter drove several laps in his Eclipse-liveried Indycar.   There were a bunch of discussions and STEM exhibits, plus NASA exhibited models and artifacts, including an RS-25 engine from the Artemis Rocket.  It was also incredible to be at the Racing Capital Of The World, and to walk on the World famous yard of bricks!

Full Sun Following The Eclipse

Taken at 4:28:13 pm after the Total Solar Eclipse concluded (known as 4th Contact), this shot shows the entire Sun— complete with sunspots.  Harder to see near the smaller sunspot is a Solar Prominence (also known as a filament when viewed from overhead compared to from the outer edge of the corona during Totality).  

It’s astonishing what I was able to capture with my camera from 93 Million miles away!  It took all of my photo know-how to accomplish, and was worth the effort.  I worked my plan, made the most of my camera system, and used the safest equipment to preserve a once-in-a-lifetime event!