Total Solar Eclipse, Waco Texas

8 April 2024

First Contact:  1220 hours local    ---    Totality:  1338 - 1343 hours local   ---    Fourth Contact:  1500 hours local

Camera: Nikon D1000, ICE 77mm ND10000 filter for non-totality images.


(Click any thumbnail image below to see a full-size image.)

Video created from still frames. 1 second intervals for non-totality images, 5 second intervals for totality images.

Right before eclipse. Note sunspots

Note twisted prominence. Caused by magnetic fields I believe.

Right after end of totality.

Notes:

  1. We shot from the east side of the hotel we were staying in. Only four people there. Two of us on a sidewalk attached to the building and two people in lawn chairs 200 feet away on the grass.
  2. When the eclipse started, we had variable cloudiness where the sun was frequently not visible.
  3. Occasional breaks in the clouds made it possible to shoot through the clouds.
  4. I had originally meant to take shots equally spaced every 5 minutes but the clouds made that impossible. Had to shoot whenever it became clear enough.
  5. The Nikon D1000 did a great job through partial clouds. You can see the clouds in some of the images.
  6. Just before totality, the clouds cleared COMPLETELY which was a big surprise to me! The sky stayed clear for the next several hours!
  7. I thought I had experienced a new phenomena which I should report!
  8. Then my sister used ChatGPT to find this: "During a solar eclipse, the temperature of the Earth's surface can drop, causing the air to cool and the atmosphere to become more stable. As the temperature decreases, the air near the ground becomes cooler than the air above it, creating an inversion layer. This inversion layer can prevent warm air near the ground from rising and mixing with the cooler air above, leading to a decrease in convection and cloud formation. This can result in clouds dissipating or 'opening up' during an eclipse."
  9. Immediately after the beginning of totality, my camera battery failed! Camera shut down with no warning!
  10. I scrambled around and changed the battery quickly enough to shoot a few images during the totality. Thank God I had 4 minutes!
  11. I was astounded by the total eclipse shot where a looped-prominence was captured. Twisting magnetic field lines led to this I think.
  12. Continued shootiing during the rest of the eclipse to show the moon retreating.
  13. I was extremely happy to have gotten the images I got!



How I looked while photographing the eclipse. Photo by Joanne...

Traveling companion, Joanne, and I. This was her first eclipse and she was thrilled by it!

Copyright 2010 Howard C. Anderson
RETURN TO HOME PAGE