The solar eclipse is just a week away and Rick Murray is busy practicing. Seven years ago he found himself in the path of totality, the best place to be during an eclipse. Using a telescope connected to a DSLR camera, he captured one of the best images you’ll ever see of a solar eclipse.
His photos, shared to his Facebook page, showed in detail what appeared to be flames from the sun peaking out from the moon. “They’re huge explosions on the surface of the sun”, Murray explained.
He also captured stunning images of Bailey’s Beads. “That’s basically where the sunlight is coming over the mountains of the moon. It’s beautiful,” said Murray.
He’ll try to do the same this time around. But with better, and easier-to-use telescopes with cameras built-in. The telescope he used in 2017 required a separate camera and a large solar filter to protect the camera’s sensors. It also required a computer and software so the telescope could find the sun and keep it in the frame.
First, a $500 telescope and camera system called the Dwarf 2 from the company Dwarf Labs. It’s a small camera with two lenses. “All you do is open him up, point him toward the sky and say ‘sun, go find it. That’s it,” he said with a smile.
The Dwarf 2 locks onto the sun and follows by rotating on a tripod sending hundreds of photos to Rick’s smartphone. Combining only the best images to create the best shot using a method called “stacking”.
In about 25 minutes of being locked onto the sun, Rick looked at the data displayed on his smartphone. “It’s taking image after image. So far there are 339 images and it’s stacked 92. 93 of them”.
Murray’s other recommendation is the $500 Seestar S50 telescope camera. It captures celestial images with more detail and colors, such as the Orion Nebula from a few weeks ago.
“By the second frame, I’m seeing colors in the nebula,” Murray said. “Within 10 frames I’m seeing stars after stars, you can’t even imagine.”
Sometimes he edits the photos himself, but most are straight from the cameras to his iPhone and shared on his Facebook page. The night I watched Rick shooting the sun with the cameras he captured stunning clips of the moon just as a jetliner passed. Captured from the Seestar camera.
In 2017, Murray says he was too busy ensuring everything was running like they were supposed to and couldn’t enjoy much of the eclipse. The new telescopes with cameras taking photos automatically will make it easier for him to see the eclipse like the rest of us.
“I’m going to leave them on automatic and let them do their thing, and I’m just going to look at it.”
You can see some of Rick’s astrophotography on his Facebook page.
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