Articles

News, tutorials and photography tips from The Photographer's Ephemeris

Moon at Extreme Northerly Declination with the Aurora of May 11 2024

Extreme Moon

The photo above shows a rather unusual combination of subjects for southern Wyoming. This was taken during last month’s famous G5 solar storm, where the Aurora Borealis…

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April 8 Eclipse - Chromosphere Composite

April 8 Eclipse In Review

So, it finally happened. After months of prep and work to add solar eclipse features in Photo Ephemeris, we finally got to see the April 8 total eclipse! We traveled on a no-frills tour to a location near Torreón in northern Mexico.

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Cloudy partial eclipse, March 2015

What if it’s cloudy?

A lot of eclipse chasers are rightly concerned by the weather forecast for April 8. It’s looking to be cloudy or partially cloudy over some fairly large areas of the path. You’ll likely to fall into one of two groups: you’re mobile or you’re not.

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Countdown to April 8th

Staying in focus on April 8th

Photographers of the upcoming April 8 total eclipse have much at stake. I was trying to think of an analogy for people who haven’t photographed a total eclipse previously. The closest I came up with was to imagine you’re charged with shooting the1500m Olympic final. It only lasts a handful of minutes.

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Total Solar Eclipse, 2017

A Solar Eclipse Glossary of Terms

With April 8 fast approaching, levels of interest in the last total solar eclipse to cross North America in the next 20 years are skyrocketing. There’s a lot of terminology that gets bandied around relating to eclipses, so here’s our guide to some of the main terms you’ll likely encounter.

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Screenshot showing sightline analysis tool

Sightline Analysis comes to Photo Ephemeris Web

We’ll be launching a new PRO feature in Photo Ephemeris Web later this week: sightline analysis. Sightline analysis starts by giving you an elevation profile between two points, but then goes much further to offer an invaluable tool for landscape and night photoraphy planning.

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Baily's beads seen 2 July 2019 from CTIO. Credit: CTIO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/D. Munizaga

Searching for the Double Diamond Ring

In certain circumstances, during a solar eclipse, instead of the light of the Sun diminishing to a single point - the classic “ Diamond Ring ” - it lingers in two places giving the elusive “ Double Diamond Ring ” effect.

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What did Francis Baily see?

What did Francis Baily see at Inchbonny?

In May 1836, astronomer Francis Baily travelled north in the UK to observe an annular solar eclipse. What he saw that day inspired him to write a paper which has made his name, peculiar spelling and all, part of astronomical history.

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