StarWatch for the greater Lehigh Valley
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MAY  2024

MAY STAR MAP | MOON PHASE CALENDAR | STARWATCH INDEX | NIGHT SKY NOTEBOOK

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1446    MAY 5, 2024:   Double Diamond, Double Corona
Digital photography and the magic an older version of Paint Shop Pro, with the most recent edition of Adobe Photoshop, allowed me to composite into one image the ingress and egress diamond rings from the April 8 total solar eclipse seen from Derby, VT. Looking to either side of the diamonds, the sun's light coming from its photosphere becomes rough and blotchy. Those are Baily's beads, the last glimmer of light before totality (upper left) or the first vestiges of daylight streaming from the valleys between lunar mountain ranges found along the moon's limb (lower right). This signals the end of totality. * Then there are the prominences, the pinkish-hued features, leaping from the chromosphere, the middle layer of the sun's three atmospheric layers. They are composed of fluorescing (glowing) hydrogen gas at approximately 18,000 degrees F. trapped in a magnetic bubble. The prominences project into the sun's corona, the wispy region surrounding the sun's limb, where the temperature is at least ten times higher. Astronomers are still debating how these two thermal regions can exist side by side. Finally, the blue area, best seen near the upper left diamond, was fashioned from the diffraction and scattering of light around tiny ice particles contained in a thin veil of cirrus clouds in front of the eclipsed sun. It is also called a corona. So not only are there two diamond rings in this photo, but there are also two coronas. More pictures are below. Ad Astra!

[Double Diamond, Double Corona]
This composite image of the April 8, 2024 total solar eclipse shows the two diamond rings, Baily's beads, prominences, as well as two coronas. Read the description above. Photography by Gary A. Becker...

[Sun's Corona]
For an eclipse occurring at solar maximum, the corona was less spectacular than expected. Fine detail in the sun's outermost atmosphere was most likely veiled by a very thin cirrus cloud deck. Regardless, all of the spectacular lighting effects produced by the approach and departure of totality were witnessed. Photography by Gary A. Becker...

[Sun's Prominences]
If the corona was less spectacular than expected, the sun's prominences stole the show. The one near the bottom of the disk was easily seen with the unaided eye during totality. Prominences originate in the chromosphere, the middle layer of the sun's three atmospheric tiers. They project into the corona where temperatures are about 10 to 30 times higher. Photography by Gary A. Becker...

[Mid-Totality]
This wide field image taken by my teaching assistant, Anthony Sparrow, provides an excellent example of the diminished lighting that occurs during central totality. The reddened horizons are locations just outside the boundaries of total eclipse where a very narrow crescent of the sun is still visible to observers. The limb temperature of the sun in this region is about 3000 degrees F. (1500 K) cooler than the sun's average temperature, hence producing the warmer hues. Photography by Anthony Sparrow...

[One Minute Prior to Totality]
Anthony Sparrow captured beautifully the lighting condition happening about 60 seconds before totality. Note the warmer hues in the scene created by the lower temperature of the sun's light coming from its limb. Photography by Anthony Sparrow...

1447    MAY 12, 2024:   

1448    MAY 19, 2024:   

1449    MAY 26, 2024:   

[May Star Map]

[May Moon Phase Calendar]

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