Tootfinder

Happy outcome of the #SolarEclipse 2026 dress rehearsal at the #planetarium in #Bochum, Germany, today: the whole event from beginning 14° high through maximum eclipse in 6° elevation down to 3° can be folllowed without obstruction from a specific - and covenient - zone on the premises. This picture was taken at the very 'moment' of maximum eclipse with the Sun in my back: whereever it's shining here, it could be seen. Not ideal for telescopes or big tripods, but many people with eclipse glasses and handheld cameras could be served. Only the weather on 12 August has to be as gorgeous as today ...

The total #SolarEclipse on 12 August will be a low affair both for totality watchers in Spain (let alone Mallorca) and for maximum partiality watchers in Central Europe, so making sure you'll have a free horizon for solar elevations below 10° in the right azimuth is essential. And now is the time to test the location you have in mind as on the evening of 12 August the declination of the Sun will be 14°47' while on April 29 and 30 it will be 14°38' and 14°56', respectively, i.e. 9 arc minutes or 1/3 solar diameter lower or higher. So if you see the low Sun both today and tomorrow (and don't expect any more vegetation or buildings to materialize in the next 3 1/2 months) you can be sure that you can also see the totally or maximally eclipsed Sun on 12 August. (This dress rehearsal idea has already been promoted - e.g. in https://www.rac1.cat/meteo/20260428/341109/dimecres-pots-anticipar-gran-eclipsi-agost-lloc-veura-dia.html - in Spain.)

The only genuine image of the 2026 annular #SolarEclipse I've seen so far - and at an extremely short wavelength of only 17 nanometers, from the Proba 2 satellite: https://proba2.sidc.be/Eclipse17February2026 (which sees the solar corona in emission, so the Sun doesn't have a sharply defined edge).

An animation of the antumbra from space during yesterday's #SolarEclipse: https://scicomm.xyz/@AstroDave/116087138815117726 - see also https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=881466661392738 and https://bsky.app/profile/youstorm.bsky.social/post/3mf4vgedthc2p for animations from another position.

The #SolarEclipse today from space: https://mastodon.social/@PlanetariumBochum/116087072853257668 - images of the ring from the ground aren't in yet; I've heard that Mirny was clouded out but that they wanted to get someting at Concordia.

RE: #SolarEclipse!

The end of the #SolarEclipse for #ArtemisII with probably some K #corona streamers becoming visible against the diffuse F corona: https://images.nasa.gov/details/art002e009299 - more processing (like with a traditional corona image from a TSE on Earth) will be required.

And here the crappy external camera with the low data rate actually delivered: the #ZodiacalLight pyramid at the beginning of the #SolarEclipse for #ArtemisII - it stayed visible in the live feed for 10 minutes! Contrary to the NASA commentary this was not the first time such an observation had been made by humans in the vicinity of the Moon - the Apollo 11 crew made it on 19 July 1969: https://www.facebook.com/dan.fischer.393/posts/pfbid02mf6UK3L2j5SgPiQsJk9JVYmo6XvZwDDZ23BYpXwJPDszaSpUYzuinkMyHzh9RF8Rl -> https://skyweek.wordpress.com/2024/07/25/allgemeines-live-blog-ab-dem-25-juli-2024/#Jul26