View the upcoming eclipses in The Photographer's Ephemeris
The annular eclipse is coming up this weekend, on Saturday Oct 14, in fact. We know many of you are planning to photograph it. And if not this eclipse, then definitely the next total eclipse on April 8 2024.
Last minute eclipse planning
If you're looking for guidance on how execute your eclipse shot, our webinar replay "14 Oct 2023 Annular Eclipse: Last Minute Planning for Photographers" gives you everything you need - it's not too late to make a plan to shoot this rare opportunity. The next annular eclispe over this part of the world doesn't come around until the 2040s!
With six days to go, the weather forecasts are starting firm up. Checking the various weather models and comparing their predictions should be part of your morning routing this week - ECMWF and GFS are both forecasting out until eclipse day: it's a mixed picture in terms of clouds, so keep track of how things develop! Windy.com is a great source.
If you end up needing to modify your location plans, it's important to stay aware of exactly how the eclipse timings and circumstances will change: if you need to move from the central line towards the limits, then you'll lose the symmetrical 'ring of fire', and some duration, but you may gain the opportunity to view Baily's Beads for longer.
On the Central Path
On the central path, you'll enjoy the longest duration of annularity - nearly five whole minutes in some locations - plus a nice symmetrical 'ring of fire':
Near the limits
If you move farther north, you're trading off symmetry and duration for 'edge phenomena', in particular Baily's Beads:
The duration of annularity decreases rapidly as you approach the limits, falling quickly to zero at the limit lines. You shoudl plan to stay a few miles within the path to be sure of seeing annularity - you'll still have a good chance of seeing Baily's Beads too
At the southern limit, it's a similar story, but the view is slightly different:
Eclipse info on your phone or tablet
Be sure to update your version of TPE for iOS this week. The latest update includes maps for both upcoming eclipses, showing not only the central paths, but also the partial magnitude lines and limits.
In addition, you can view our detailed eclipse simulator to understand exactly what you'll see and when you'll see it from any given location:
- Play back the eclipse in real time or sped up, or manually control the selected time using the slider
- Single tap to navigate to key moments, such as contact times, the 'diamond ring', or maximum eclipse
- Moment by moment display of magnitude and obscuration
The same information is also available in our web app, giving you all the tools you need to plan your eclipse shot location!
Explore eclipses past, present, and future
Photo Ephemeris Web PRO users can explore any eclipse from the years 1500-2500. Perhaps you want to explore the May 1836 annular eclipse, where Francis Baily first documented 'Baily's Beads':
This annular eclipse has an almost identical 'obscuration' percentage as the upcoming 14 Oct event, making for a fascinating comparison between Baily's own experience nearly 200 hundred years ago and our own.
If you're not able to travel to the 2023 or 2024 eclipses, perhaps you're looking forward to the long duration total eclipse of Aug 2027 that passes over north Africa, and directly over Luxor, Egypt:
With long durations come high Sun altitudes, so you need to plan your shots and equipment accordingly.
There's much to explore for eclipse lovers in The Photographer's Ephemeris - and we have more planned. Drop us a line with your eclipse questions and suggestions.