solar eclipse | ExeterAstro

There are a lot of sites out there to help you get going with eclipse planning this time around. This will give you a lot of links and go-to sites for that information. Happy eclipse viewing!

NASA Eclipse 8 April 2024 Map of Globe — Courtesy NASA

Rule one about solar eclipses is SAFE OBSERVING. Some of the sites on this list will have their own statements. Mine is here. It is important to know that solar observing at ANY time can cause irreversible damage to you and your equipment. Read statement here.
NASA’s high level eclipse site with information about the April event: https://science.nasa.gov/eclipses
The American Astronomical Society’s eclipse information page. Here you will find links to apps, and more. https://eclipse.aas.org/resources/apps-software
The Sky & Telescope April Eclipse website: even more information here about the event, how to view it safely and more. https://skyandtelescope.org/total-solar-eclipse-2024/
The NSO’s interactive eclipse map. Get data about the eclipse start and end times along with percentages of totality here: https://nso.edu/for-public/eclipse-map-2024/

Planning: at this time, getting to and from remote locations is going to be challenging at best. Most flights around the eclipse date are filled. Hotels are also booked. If you are within driving range, be very aware that your drive times will be greatly increased traffic congestion. Our experience has been that getting to a site one or two days early is the easy part if you drive in. Driving out is next to impossible: again, wait a day or two to leave. People will try to part anywhere they can, from shopping center lots to the side of the highway. Be safe. Be kind to people. Crowds are challenging.

From NH this was a partial eclipse, but we had good weather and the opportunity to watch the sunrise with the eclipse already in progress. The choice location was one of many spots along the NH seacoast. We chose North Beach in Hampton which had easy to reach parking and plenty of locations to settle a tripod, telescope and camera.

Brought to the event was a Questar 3.5″ telescope with full aperture solar filter for visual use and a Nikon D810, 500mm telephoto and full aperture solar filter for video and images.

We arrived just after 4:15am EDT: nobody was there! Just us, the stars and the eerie red glow to the northeast. Jupiter and Saturn gave us wonderful pre-sunrise views through the telescope as we waited for the sun to get above the horizon. People started to arrive at about 5:00am. By 5:15am the lot was full. Clouds? Oh yes, there were clouds throughout the entire event, but we still had great chances to see and photograph the event. Here are some to enjoy: