Click on pictures for a larger view – point at picture for description

 

21 June 2001 – Eclipse Day

 

With the usual excitement growing, we got up early for a great breakfast.  Then, several of us took the opportunity to go on an hour-long game run in the reserve adjacent to the safari lodge.  We saw a few animals including Water Buck, Tsessebee, Hardibeast, and Zebra.  We finished up at the lion enclosure where they have four lions in a chain link enclosure.

 

The rest of the group showed up from the Pamodzi Hotel at 9:30 AM to set up. The weather was clear from horizon to horizon with a perfect 5 mph breeze.  It was 70 degrees at 11:00 AM.

 

We had a great luncheon banquet late in the morning before the partial phases started.  We knew there would be great sunspot groups during the partial phases from images taken in the days before.  The temperature dropped approximately 15 degrees during the partial phases.  I started hearing birds and Tree Frogs in the minutes leading up to the eclipse.

As usual with any astrophotography endeavor, something always goes wrong in the minutes leading up the eclipse.  This time I was using a new camera – a Minolta Maxium 7.  I got it to take advantage of its seven exposure program sequences.  However, when I put it on the ETX, it would not take any pictures, saying that no lens was attached.  Fortunately, I brought the manual, and looked up the offending feature that had apparently gotten switched off since I had tried it at home.  Hint: always test new equipment at home, in exactly the configuration you plan to use it.

 

 

 

Wide Angle picture of eclipse and crowd

Alson Wong

Nikon 20mm lens at f/8.  4-second exposure on E200 pushed one stop.

 

 

 

Bailey’s Beads @ 2nd Contact

Robert D. Stephens

1/2000th second
Meade ETX

Solar Prominences

Robert D. Stephens

Meade ETX

2nd Contact

Alson Wong

Vixen 102-ED (665mm at f/6.5).  1/2000 second exposure on E200.

 

Solar Corona

Composite of 12 pictures from 1/125th
second to 1 second

Robert D. Stephens

Meade ETX

 

Bailey’s Beads @ 2nd Contact

Alson Wong

Vixen 102-ED (665mm at f/6.5).  1/2000 second exposure on E200.

 

Composite Solar Corona

Alson Wong

Vixen 102-ED (665mm at f/6.5)
Composite of 11 pictures from 1/1,000th second to 1 second

 

 


Johannesburg    Chisamba          Eclipse Day       Victoria Falls     Shindi   Kwara   Machaba

 

 

Didn’t get enough?  Visit David Speltz’s web site at http://www.skybones.com/Africa2001/africa2001.htm for plenty of pictures of animals and a great written description.

 

You can contact me at:

 

Bob Stephens

8300 Utica Avenue, Suite 105

Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91730

rstphens@foxandstephens.com