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2005 Total Solar Eclipse

Photo Gallery B

Photographs by Fred Espenak

2005 Apr 08 Total Solar Eclipse
Composite of the Solar Corona
Total Solar Eclipse of 2005 April 08 (Pacific Ocean)

The total phase of the 2005 hybrid solar eclipse was probably seen by fewer than 1500 people world wide. This was a consequence of the extremely narrow path which crossed the South Pacific with no landfall. NASA's 2005 hybrid eclipse website has detailed predictions and maps of this remarkable event.

I was an expedition leader with Astronomical Tours aboard the M/V Galapagos Legend. Our April 8th rendezvous with the Moon's shadow took place about 2100 kilometers (1300 miles) west of the Galapagos just one degree south of the Equator. The ship carried approximately 81 passengers and 62 crew.

Bad weather plagued the expedition during the 24 hour period preceeeding the eclipse, but a great captain, excellent satellite data and good fortune brought us into clear skies just ten minutes before totality.

The 10 to 15 degree rocking of the ship made photography a great challenge during totality. In fact, it was difficult to keep the Sun within the field of view of a Canon 500mm f/4 image stablized lens. There was no hope of centering the Sun in the viewfinder during the 30 short seconds of totality.I just shot each frame if it appeared that I had enough of the Sun so as not to clip the corona. Another plus was that I was using a (borrowed) Canon 1Ds Mark II 16.7 megapixel digital camera. It has a full 35-mm film size chip so I was working with the entire field of the 500 mm lens - no 1.6x factor here. Otherwise I would have lost the Sun for sure.

One other thing I should mention. I was only able to get detail in the outer corona because I was shooting wide open at f/4 and at ISO 400. That way I was able to go fairly deep at a relatively fast shutter speed of 1/15 second. And then there's just plain good luck, which is the best thing you can have!

All of this meant that I didn't dare take my eye from the camera's viewfinder during totality for fear of loosing the Sun. Thus, I had no chance to see totality with my naked eyes. This was a first for me in the nineteen total eclipse expeditions I have participated in. Nevertheless, I was rewarded with a set of photographs including the chromosphere, inner and outer corona.

This served as the raw material to generate a composite photo of the corona using all the images made during totality. The big advantage of a composite image is that it is possible to capture the entire range of brightness from the inner corona and chromosphere to the faint outer corona and streamers.The final results below come close as possible to capturing the actual appearance of the corona as seen by the naked eye.

For more 2005 eclipse images, visit both photo galleries: Gallery A and Gallery B

Special thanks to Russell Brown (Adobe) for the loan of some superb Canon equipment to shoot this eclipse.

Blue Bar

Click on each image to see a larger photo.

TSE2005-218n
Wide Angle View
(TSE2005-218w)

Wide Angle View (TSE2005-218w)

This wide angle view captures Espenak photographing totality from the rear deck of the M/V Galapagos Legend. Venus is directly above the Sun.

Total Solar Eclipse of 2005 April 08 (Pacific Ocean)
Nikon 8008, Nikkor 16mm Fisheye, f/5.6 on Kodak Royal Gold 200
Photo ©2005 by Fred Espenak

TSE2005-128n
Middle Corona
(TSE2005-128w)

Middle Corona (TSE2005-128w)

This image (1/250 second) shows how a single exposure cannot capture the large dynamic range of the corona. A series of exposures must be combine to record the bright inner corona and chromosphere as well as faint streamers in the outer corona (see previous images).

Total Solar Eclipse of 2005 April 08 (Pacific Ocean)
Canon 1Ds Mark II and Canon 500mm f/4 IS lens, 1/250 second
Photo ©2005 by Fred Espenak

TSE2005subsum1n
Coronal Detail
(TSE2005subsum1w)

Coronal Detail (TSE2005subsum1w)

An intermediate stage in the production of a digital composite shows a tremendous amout of structure throughout the corona. Bright prominences in the inner corona can be seen as well as faint streamers in the outer corona.

Total Solar Eclipse of 2005 April 08 (Pacific Ocean)
Canon 1Ds Mark II and Canon 500mm f/4 IS lens
Photo ©2005 by Fred Espenak

TSE2005cmp2b-1n
Totality
Wide View
(TSE2005cmp2b-1w)

Totality - Wide View (TSE2005cmp2b-1w)

Seven digital exposures over a range of shutter speeds (1/15 through 1/2000) were combined in Photoshop to produce a photograph capturing the naked eye appearance of the corona during totality.

Total Solar Eclipse of 2005 April 08 (Pacific Ocean)
Canon 1Ds Mark II and Canon 500mm f/4 IS lens
Photo ©2005 by Fred Espenak

TSE2005cmp2b-3n
Totality
Medium View
(TSE2005cmp2b-3w)

Totality - Medium View (TSE2005cmp2b-3w)

Seven digital exposures over a range of shutter speeds (1/15 through 1/2000) were combined in Photoshop to produce a photograph capturing the naked eye appearance of the corona during totality.

Total Solar Eclipse of 2005 April 08 (Pacific Ocean)
Canon 1Ds Mark II and Canon 500mm f/4 IS lens
Photo ©2005 by Fred Espenak

TSE2005cmp2b-5n
Totality
Close View
(TSE2005cmp2b-5w)

Totality - Close View (TSE2005cmp2b-5w)

Seven digital exposures over a range of shutter speeds (1/15 through 1/2000) were combined in Photoshop to produce a photograph capturing the naked eye appearance of the corona during totality.

Total Solar Eclipse of 2005 April 08 (Pacific Ocean)
Canon 1Ds Mark II and Canon 500mm f/4 IS lens
Photo ©2005 by Fred Espenak

TSE2005seq3n
Eclipse Sequence 3
(TSE2005seq3w)

Eclipse Sequence 3 (TSE2005seq3w)

This sequence combines six photos of the partial phases (shot through a solar filter) with a digital composite image produced from a series of seven exposures of the corona made during totality.This procedure allows one to capture the bright inner corona and chromosphere along with faint streamers in the outer corona (see previous images).

Total Solar Eclipse of 2005 April 08 (Pacific Ocean)
Canon 1Ds Mark II and Canon 500mm f/4 IS lens
Photo ©2005 by Fred Espenak

TSE2005seq5n
Eclipse Sequence 5
(TSE2005seq5w)

Eclipse Sequence 5 (TSE2005seq5w)

This sequence combines six photos of the partial phases (shot through a solar filter) with a digital composite image produced from a series of seven exposures of the corona made during totality.This procedure allows one to capture the bright inner corona and chromosphere along with faint streamers in the outer corona (see previous images).

Total Solar Eclipse of 2005 April 08 (Pacific Ocean)
Canon 1Ds Mark II and Canon 500mm f/4 IS lens
Photo ©2005 by Fred Espenak

TSE2005seq21Rn
Eclipse Sequence 6
(TSE2005seq21Rw)

Eclipse Sequence 6 (TSE2005seq21Rw)

This sequence combines twenty-one photos of the partial phases (shot through a solar filter) with a digital composite image produced from a series of seven exposures of the corona made during totality.The sequence captures the entire eclipse from start to finish.

Total Solar Eclipse of 2005 April 08 (Pacific Ocean)
Canon 1Ds Mark II and Canon 500mm f/4 IS lens
Photo ©2005 by Fred Espenak



2005 Total Solar Eclipse - More Photos and Reports

Solar Eclipse Photographs

Copyright Notice

All photographs, text and web pages are © Copyright 2005 by Fred Espenak, unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. They may not be reproduced, published, copied or transmitted in any form, including electronically on the Internet or WWW, without written permission of the author. The photos have been digitally watermarked.

The photographs may be licensed for commercial, editorial, and educational use. Contact Espenak (at MrEclipse) for photo use in print, web, video, CD and all other media.

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Last revised: 2006 Oct 26