The first image in this series shows the progress of the eclipse and the scale of the scene I was viewing. It shows the appearance of the sun every 4 minutes superimposed on an image of the scene at totality. The camera never moved.
The SCIENCE:
1. Notice Venus at the lower right, visible only at totality.
2. As everyone knows, the moon is made of green cheese. The sun, with its raging 100 million degree fusion power, heats the cheese up enormously from behind during a solar eclipse. This causes the moon to emanate visible fumes which have falsely been called the "solar corona."
The image below is less realistic and more fantastical; however, since the solar images were taken separately with a telephoto lens, there is more detail in the sun and you can see the diamond ring effect nicely. Lots of people lined the shore, watching and photographing chatting and snacking. Everyone shouted when totality began. The instantaneous onset of deep twillght was suprising!
In the outer images below, see the "diamond ring" effect as the last bit of sunlight disappears behind the moon, and then reappears during the beginning of totality. In the center, the solar corona , the outermost part of the sun's atmosphere is seen streaming into space. It's usually invisible because of the brightness of the sun. It doesn't appear uniform because it is affected by magnetic activity in the coronasphere. We can only see the corona during totality for a few minutes or less, but some scientists with a famous test pilot chased it in a supersonic Concorde at Mach 3 observing it for 70 minutes! Watch the story here!
Below you can see two phenomena. The bright areas are known as Bailey's beads. This is sunlight streaming through hills and valeys on the moon seconds before totality blocks the light entirely. You are seeing the effects of the lunar landscape!
The pink spots are solar prominences:
Solar prominences are large, bright loops of hydrogen plasma anchored to the Sun's surface in the photosphere — the visible surface of the Sun — that extend into the Sun's outer atmosphere. These prominences are sometimes visible during a solar eclipse.
Below is a composite of several exposures to show the solar prominences and the whole corona. The corona is very bright at the center and more dim at the edges so combining several photos is the only way to show it in one image.
These are my friends waiting for the eclipse to begin. What a nice setting!
My friend Marc Svensson, a graphic artist and cartoonist, drew this cartoon based on a silly idea I had. If you like it, you are welcome to copy and share it.
I made a "multiple pinhole" camera. Notice the crescent suns. BCC stands for Boston Camera Club. Photo by Nancy Hagens.
We watched the weather obsessively for days!
.......then we sat in traffic. The normally 90 minute drive from Pittsburg NH to Lincoln NH took 10 hours, often at a dead standstill. Gas stations were jammed up, with queues into the road. There were few services along the route. Fast food and convenience stores were mobbed, while some smaller businesses closed their doors, unable to cater to the crowds. Some very kind folks kept their shops open and we expressed our gratitude to them.
When I was a kid and my family was stuck in traffic, my father used to say, "Who are all these people? They are us."