Upcoming Eclipses
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2023, 2024 eclipses
There will be an annual and total solar eclipse in the United State this fall and next spring, respectively. (Above is a picture I took in 2017 during a total solar eclipse.)
Where to go
For a total solar eclipse, you should try to be in the path of totality. This will sweep across the United States. For any specific location, totality will last only a few minutes. However, the partial phases before and after the eclipse last quite a bit longer.
If you aren't able to make it to the path of totality, most of the United State will get a nice partial solar eclipse.
Equipment
Warning: NEVER look at sun without eye glasses.
Depending on your comfort and experience level, you don't need much to enjoy a solar eclipse.
If you have a cheap telescope, you can project the image of the sun on a piece of white board. (Be extremely careful not to look through the telescope, or allow anyone else to look through it.)
A fairly inexpensive solution is to get a solar filter. These include solar glasses. These can be purchased for a less than a dollar if you get several of them, and they allow you to safely look directly at the sun. (The sun is approximately the same size in the sky as the moon. Since these don't magnify, the sun won't be any larger.)
Paper solar glasses (Paid Link)
If you want to take a photo of the sun, you'll need a telescope or a big lens. You'll also need a solar filter before totality. (You can remove the filter during totality, but only during totality. If you're not careful, you can permanently damage your vision.) Since the partial phases of the eclipse can take a couple of hours, a star tracker can be helpful. These can cost from a few hundred to over a thousand dollars for a good astronomical tripod.
If you're not familiar with how to operate either of those, make sure you get it ahead of time and practice! You don't want to do that during the eclipse! The moon makes a reasonable stand-in, both in size an ease of testing. (Not to mention you don't risk blinding yourself.)
For nice tight photos of the sun, you'll want the equivalent of less than 2600 mm for the partial phases, and no more than 1500 mm during totality. (Since the solar corona is much larger than the sun itself.)
The photo at the start of this article was taken with a Sigma 150-600mm with EF mount. It's a full frame lens, but since I used it on a crop sensor body, it was effectively 960mm. During totality, I was zoomed out to around effectively 500mm.
Sigma 150-600mm EF (Paid Link)
Things to look for
- leaves
- darkening of sky