Total Solar Eclipse

April 8, 2024

onboard HAL Zaandam in the Mexican Riviera

 

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...click here to go back to the previous page on AstroStop. Photography by Dave and Robin Schmahl
   
My equipment:  Canon 70D with a Tamron 500mm mirror-lens and camera tripod;
Aluminized mylar solar filter for partial phase.

We setup on Deck 9, starboard side, mid ship, at sunrise on Eclipse Day to be the first ones there. 
The ship would be on a NE'ly heading, which would put the Sun on the starboard side of the ship. 
I wanted this spot so nobody could walk in front of me and interfere with my photography!

During a presentation to explain his plans for positioning the ship on Eclipse Day, the Captain explained
that he may have to sail farther out to sea than planned in order to escape the clouds.  He ended up doing just that,
so we watched as the ship first sailed SW'ly far enough to find clear skies, then turned 180 degrees to head NE'ly,
along the centerline of the eclipse path.

The above photo was taken while we were still heading SW'ly. 
After the captain found clear skies, he did a U-turn, and we had to turn our equipment around.  See the photo below.

The gentleman to my left in the above photo is RL, who is using film, not digital photography.
The above image was copied from the video shown below taken by the ship's photographer as he walked around the ship on Eclipse Day morning.
 
 
1st Contact, the Moon is beginning to cover the Sun.  There were one large and two smaller Sunspots that day. Getting closer to the start of Totality.  Notice that small Sunspot in the lower left is about to be covered by the Moon.
   
The gaps in the fabric of our chairs acted like pin-hole-cameras
creating images of the crescent-shaped Sun.		 Using a small mirror, someone projected the crescent Sun on the ship's stack.
   
The last part of the Sun's bright surface is being covered by the Moon, known as The Diamond Ring and Baily's Beads effects, at 2nd Contact.
   
The outer Corona.  We saw much more than this with the naked eye!
   
Jupiter and Venus were easy to spot during Totality. 
Jupiter on the left, Venus on the right.
   
The 3rd Contact Diamond Ring and large, bright prominences.  What a surprise they were!
   
Tom Vassos, from the University of Toronto, was hired by HAL to give eclipse related presentations during our cruise. This is an image taken from a video of his last presentation, where he showed pictures of the eclipse taken by the passengers.
This one is mine!
 

Captain Ane Smit takes a victory lap around the ship after navigating to this spot on the Pacific Ocean where everyone could see this
Total Solar Eclipse!

 Robin meets Captain Smit !
A few minutes after 3rd Contact. The Moon continues to uncover the Sun and reveal those Sunspots.
 
While everyone else had left after 3rd Contact, we stayed to watch this eclipse right to the bitter end at 4th Contact.
 
 
The above video was purchased onboard HAL Zaandam at the close of our cruise.  It's a summary of all of the ports that the ship visited.  Enjoy!
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