The August 21, 2017 Total Solar Eclipse
Primary Observing Site
Our original destination was Stapleton, Nebraska, but by Sunday, August 20, the cloud forecast for that portion of the state during the eclipse had become rather dismal. As a result, the advance party of the Mankato delegation pressed westward into Wyoming and secured an observing site in a privately owned field in Orin, Wyoming — which is essentially a truck stop on Interstate 25.
The site gave us unobstructed views of the sky in all directions, and the clear skies promised excellent eclipse viewing. Several other groups joined us in the field for a total of two or three dozen people.
The panoramic view: clockwise from east. (All images on this page by jpierce, unless otherwise noted.)
Although our local observing site was not particularly scenic, one did not have to go far to find some good Wyoming vistas:
Instrumentation
Our equipment was fairly minimal: a few cameras, a Sunspotter telescope, and a refurbished 6-inch Criterion Dynascope. And numerous pairs of hands.
The Hands:
The Sunspotter:
The Criterion Dynascope RV-6:
Sunspotter Eclipse Images
Sunspotter Countdown to Totality!
— TOTALITY! —
Criterion Dynascope RV-6 Eclipse Images
— TOTALITY! —
Fujifilm Finepix S1800 Eclipse Images
This is a fairly simple digital camera with an 18x zoom; the solar filter for it was made from one half of a pair of eclipse glasses. Settings for most of the partial phases were full zoom, autofocus, ISO 3200, f/11, and 1/1000s. All shots were handheld; exposures were kept short to minimize human motion effects. In about half of all attempts, the camera failed to achieve a good focus.
Both sequences were made by combining selected images from the partial phases and/or totality. Exposures for totality were 1/1000, 1/500, 1/320, and 1/160s for the diamond ring.
Other Eclipse Images
Inside the Umbra!
While it did get darker during totality, it was not as dark as night. The horizon was illuminated while the sky overhead was dark. A few stars and planets were visible, but most of us did not spend much time looking at them. There were chickens nearby in the neighboring farmyard, but no one noticed what they did.
The following two panoramas together provide a 360-degree view of the horizon during totality.
Eclipse People (and Eclipse Dogs)
