29 March 2006: The Sun turns black over Egypt! (part 2)

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As expected, at about 11.20 am local time (or 9.20 UT) the Sun's disk sports a tiny dent: the eclipse has begun!!

This page contains a selection of my best pictures. All of them were taken at the prime focus of an ED80 semiapo refractor (80 mm aperture f/7.5) with a Canon EOS 300D DSLR at 100 ISO.

15-frame composite with exposure times from 1/4000s to 4s (in 1-stop increments) during the totality phase: the composite was processed to highlight the delicate streamers in the Sun's corona. There's also a Javascript overlay (it's strongly advisable to turn JS support on in your browser!): when hovering with the mouse pointer over the composite, the earthshine-lit moon disk from the 4 s exposure will automagically appear.

"One-shot" eclipse sequence. The only image from this eclipse taken with non-digital media (i.e. plain, ol' film )

Some shots from the partial phase before totality (times in UT): exposure times from 1/500 to 1/320s

Diamond ring before second contact: 1/1000s

The solar corona during totality: exposure time 1/125s

Diamond ring after third contact: exposure time 1/2500 s

Come pics of the partial phase after third contact (times are in UT)): exposure times from 1/500 to 1/320s

So, as quickly as it began, the totality phase comes to an end. It took our breath away for almost four minutes, which are now gone and can be brought back only through our recollection and our pictures; for four minutes we stood in awe contemplating one of the most incredible natural phenomena. No description on earth, no picture, not even any recording whatsoever can convey the same excitement and emotion as a total solar eclipse!

Furthermore, a solar eclipse does not mean only the totality phase, but there are also a host of collateral effects to it: from the very elusive shadows, which I never managed to see, to the well-known sickle-like shapes that can easily be spotted when the sunshine peeps through a holed surface or a tree's foliage. I must admit this time I didn't prepare to image or observe any such side phenomenon: during totality, I spent the first two minutes in a shooting frenzy; then, I just had some rest and watched the eclipse. Our attention is too often drawn by high-tech gizmos, and it's time to get back to using our naked eye as the main instrument to admire either the shining beauty of Venus or the strange color of the horizon, which appears reddish no matter where we look at...

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