Monday (21-August-2017) — New Jersey

Backyard Astronomy in New Jersey. Partial Solar Eclipse.

Happy Eclipse Day! Some home renovation issues kept me in New Jersey for the eclipse. I set up a Nikon D810a camera with 45 mm f/2.8 lens and a 20 stop neutral density filter to take images every 4 minutes from just before the eclipse started. Unfortunately, clouds moved in just before the maximum (~78% coverage). The sun and moon reappeared shortly thereafter. The following image is a composite over the 160 minute period of the eclipse. The eclipse also reduced the amount of electricity produced by my solar panels. The two graphs show the hourly production of electricity for the day before the eclipse and during the eclipse. You can see a significant drop when the moon was blocking the sun. My brother Hans was in Tennessee with his family to observe the total eclipse. He sent me an image that he took with a Nikon D3 camera and a 200-400 mm f/4 lens and TC-E II 2.0 teleconverter at totality.

Partial Solar Eclipse in New Jersey. Composite of forty images taken with a Nikon D810A camera and 45 mm f/2.8 PC-E lens (ISO 200, 45 mm, f/16, 1/250 sec) and a 20-stop neutral density filter. (David J Mathre)
Partial Solar Eclipse in New Jersey. Composite of forty images taken with a Nikon D810A camera and 45 mm f/2.8 PC-E lens (ISO 200, 45 mm, f/16, 1/250 sec) and a 20-stop neutral density filter. (David J Mathre)

 

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Total Solar Eclipse in Tennessee. Image taken with a Nikon D3 camera and 200-400 f/4 telephoto zoom lens with a TC-E II 2.0 teleconverter (ISO 200, 800 mm, f/8, 1/100 sec). (Hans K. Mathre, Hans K. Mathre)
Total Solar Eclipse in Tennessee. Image taken with a Nikon D3 camera and 200-400 f/4 telephoto zoom lens with a TC-E II 2.0 teleconverter (ISO 200, 800 mm, f/8, 1/100 sec). (Hans K. Mathre)

Author: David Mathre

I am a scientist by training (Eckerd College, BSc; Caltech, Ph.D.). I worked for 27 years as a Chemist in the Pharmaceutical Industry developing processes to manufacture medicines for human and animal health. I now spend my time as a photographer and world traveler. My interests include the natural world, wildlife, landscapes, sky, and seascapes, travel, and astrophotography. I look for unique ways of viewing the world and presenting my images. I have traveled to over 55 countries in six continents, often on Semester at Sea voyages. While at home in New Jersey, I spend time on home renovation and expansion of a wildflower garden/meadow.

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