Eclipse Viewing - DEFCON 5 Defender

[SAustin16]

Hello All,

I headed to Missouri yesterday to watch the Total Eclipse, and wanted to take some photographs. I needed to protect my lens and camara from the intense sunlight.

I built my "DEFCON 5 Lens Defender" out of Baader Solar Film and cardstock, modeled in 3D software. It slides over the front of the lens, and was sized so that it would not fall off my 200mm lens. The Baader Film allowed 1/100,000 of the sunlight through the lens, and reflected IR and UV rays. The film is a bit "wavey", which did not affect the photos. Stretching the film causes a significant loss of solar protection, as it reduces the density of the film. Overall, the device worked better than I expected.

I hope those of you in the US were able to get a glimpse of the eclipse.

[Vermin_King]

Very nice. I hope you went to a place in Missouri that didn't have the storms before and after

[SAustin16]

Hello Vermin,

Thank you, Sir. Hope you got to see it.

Due to time constraints and weather, my brother and I found a secluded farm road with a good view just south of Sedalia. This was apparently right on the border of the Totality. Clouds were forming over Sedalia, so this was the best we could do. We'd planned to get to Marshall.

During about a minute of Totality all of the insects, frogs, and birds became alarmed, and it became VERY loud. It was about 90 degrees and very humid when we arrived. During Totality, the temp dropped about 10 degrees and the humidity disappeared. Within a minute or two, it was hot and humid again. It was a fascinating experience.

Thankfully, we made it back to the south before the storms arrived. My brother is a professional pilot, so he was watching the weather carefully. Just as we left, he mentioned that it looked like Kansas City was getting hammered. It all worked out very well for us, and we got some pretty good pictures.

[Vermin_King]

Actually, I took most of the day off and watched it with my folks at the Trails End monument on the State Fairgrounds. If you were on US 65 coming up from the south, you drove between my folks' farm and Windsor where my son lives.

Did you take time to see any of the local sites while there?

[airdave]

During the eclipse, I glanced upwards through my closed glass sunroof...
caught an instant view of the partial eclipse, just for a millisecond...
and then closed my eyes.
Enjoyed a wonderful ghost image on the inside of my eyelids,
which I watched for about 10 seconds,
until the girl at the McDonalds window brought me my Sundae.
Then I drove home listening to Rammstein while my ice cream melted in its cup.
I never looked up again.



FYI
It was 30 degrees celsius...clear sky blue sky...
and the sky did not darken.
In southern Ontario, we only got a 76% coverage eclipse.
And my Blueberry Sundae was yummy.

[beckychestney]

I walked out under our maple tree and looked at all the little crescents on the ground. We were at about 80% yesterday but we're on the line next time around. I may have to try something like this with my telescope.

[obwand10]

I went out to St. Louis and rigged together a camera set up in the hotel parking lot. The total eclipse was something that I can't even put into words.

[Vermin_King]

You won't have as far to drive on April 8, 2024, and the totality on the 2024 will be almost five minutes. I can see why so many people travel to see these.

[Darwin]

I was fortunate enough to just walk out to the back yard, flop down in my favorite lawn chair, and watch a total eclipse without a cloud in the sky, no wind, temp in high 70s, and only a small amount of smoke from the fires in Montana. Seeing the 'diamond ring' was indescribable. This marks the third total I've seen, and probably the last one.

[Vermin_King]

You don't think you will want to travel for the next one?