Starstruck

A total eclipse is something to be seen to be believed. I've been completely gobsmacked by the experience. It's definitely a worthwhile and amazing event WORTH going out of one's way for. It's taken me a while to write about it, because I've been trying to process the awe and magnificence of being present for such an amazing spectacle.

The photo that follows was taken at the beginning of the eclipse, with just a small segment obscured by the moon. We used binoculars to project the image onto the deck.

We also made a few pinhole projectors (using different sized holes) to view the eclipse, some of which were more effective than others.

  

Though we had special glasses to view the event, it wasn't easy to capture the eclipse directly with a cell phone camera, and without filters. So what I captured was mostly the effects of the eclipse, or what I could capture whilst placing the glasses in front of my camera - without blinding myself in the process.

Here is our 'crowd', oohing and aahing

The clarity of shadows was intense, and distinctly sharp

The flare in my camera lens at the bottom of the pic is projecting the stage of the eclipse (not deliberate).

When darkness descended, we could clearly see Venus' light shining brightly to the bottom right of the sun and moon.

Of special note, was the incredibly obvious solar prominence that we were able to see with the naked eye and which consistently glowed a pink/red color in contrast to the gold light of the corona. They were red plumes of plasma arching in a loop from the corona, like a ruby on a gold ring.

I wasn't able to capture the phenomenon myself, but have included this photo from this site, Solar prominence, which shows it clearly - the plumes appeared in a different location from our viewing spot.

Credit: Andy Kastrup, ProTronics Technologies, Inc.

It was an incredible experience to have witnessed - I'm definitely cosmically mindblown.

Highly recommended!