Solar eclipse from the air and from space

Photo: Pavel Alekseev.

While most people in Russia ripped up the last floppy disks and showed their fluorography to the sky, I rushed over the Norwegian Sea at an altitude of 11 km at a speed of 750 km / h and tried to hold in my hands all the photo equipment I had rashly picked up. In the Mordovian village of Ruzayevka, a radio amateur R4uab directed the antenna from its garage to the Roskosms' Meteor-M No. 2 satellite. Astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti hovered in the weightlessness of the International Space Station, trying to capture a rare astronomical phenomenon. And all just so that we can see the eclipse other than just a bright month in the sky.

I was frankly lucky to be on board the aircraft of the company Nordavia, performing the flight Murmansk-solar eclipse-Murmansk. Just the initiator and organizer of this flight was my friend Stas Korotky, an amateur astronomer, a popularizer of high-tech observations among astronomy fans, the admin group Vkontakte " Observational astronomy ". He first offered the best places in the portholes to professional astronomers and experienced amateur astronomers, and then officially announced the flight being prepared. Says dismantled all the tickets in 12 hours.


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The full eclipse phase could only be seen from the Faroe Islands, Svalbard, or the water / ice of the Arctic Ocean. Or from the air. Flying is also convenient because it leaves cloudy below, and nothing prevents observation ... In theory.

I must honestly admit that I took advantage of the opportunity. Pictures made the sea, but all as one - dregs. It turned out that shooting through a multi-layered, frosty glazed window of the porthole is a difficult task that is difficult to solve in 2 minutes of observing an eclipse. Fortunately, there were more experienced photographers on board who took quality photos that convey the spectacle.

Still flying to Murmansk on the night before, he tried to shoot auroras, but it turned out badly.



In general, the trip suggested that it was time to update their photo equipment, it turned out that the most successful shots were made on a smartphone.

On board were many familiar faces, known for their networking activities. In the red jacket - Igor Tirsky, administrator of the Live stile Astronomy , behind him you can see the bright, literally and figuratively, head of Alexander Smirnov, the administrator of the Astro Channel group and the video blog . Right from the back, Stas the Short himself is seen, sleepy, unkempt and tortured.

The plane was packed to capacity with photo and video equipment, photographers and videographers.



The eclipse was expected at about 13:20, but took off at 10:30. We had to go to the starting point, so that everything went as planned. The flight was painted almost per second, to give everyone the opportunity to see the heavenly spectacle, and not just the lucky ones at the portholes from the starboard.



The gaps in the clouds inspired optimism that Murmansk is rare in the clearing, yet to give an opportunity to those who remained on earth to see the eclipse. Passengers were increasingly disturbed by the frost streaks forming on the windows. And, as it turned out, it was no coincidence.



I have done my best to prepare for observation.



But the first test on the wingtip of a 500 mm telephoto lens showed that it was practically useless for shooting from an airplane. Too strong "soap".



In the cabin, the aircraft commander Boris Zotov appeared. And journalists immediately attacked him. FAC said that the aircraft can fly without GPS, which in the circumpolar region does not work well, and about the inertial orientation system.



Following the journalists, boys and girls who wanted to get his autograph attacked the FAC. According to the captain, this is with him for the first time.



The first phases of the eclipse went to the left side, I only managed to take a few shots on the smartphone through the glasses borrowed from someone with a special film.



The first test showed a problem with frost on the glass.

And the people in the cabin prepared to the fullest.



The plane took a turn and the flawed sun first glanced through the portholes of the starboard. It seemed that the horizon had darkened in the distance - it looked like a moon shadow appeared.



Test "camera obscura" - in the sheet of cardboard made a hole and projected a beam on the back of the chair. The little bunny showed an eclipse phase.



The shadow of the moon on the clouds all the more clearly. Soon catch up.



Photo by smartphone through welding mask. Again, frost ruins everything.



The shadow is coming.



One more turn and now the sun is looking exactly in the portholes of the starboard.



Despite the fact that the Moon has already covered more than half of the sun, it’s impossible to determine with your own eyes even a drop in brightness, not something to consider a phase. You can see well through the welding mask, but the attempt to photograph again is unsuccessful.



The only, more or less, good shot on a camera with a telephoto lens. At other moments, a multi-layered glass unit gives many, many months, spread over the frame.



The sun is 90% closed, but shooting without protection does not show differences from the usual daylight, only the clouds under the plane become brownish.



Finally it happened! The eyes see the solar crown, but the automation of the smartphone does not cope with the task, and overexposure.



Spot metering gives a more acceptable picture, which is a pitiful likeness of what the eyes have seen.



Attempting to remove the solar crown on the TV set is expected to fail:



Fortunately, there were more experienced and prepared photographers on board, so we can see what happened with them. Photo by Pavel Alekseev , with his consent, can be seen in the title of the post.

Stas shared his catch:
Perhaps this frame is closest to what the eyes have seen. Without a lens, I threw just a couple of views out the window, and it turned out to be the most vivid impressions of a two-minute eclipse.


Big size.

Solar crown. It is a gorgeous photo, but, in comparison with the ground ones, it is noticeable how much the glass of the porthole and the small vibration of the aircraft reduces the sharpness of the shooting.



Here, to compare photos from the ground.


Photo: hu Huiwei

And we come out of the twilight



Finally, experimenting with a smartphone, to which a disk from a floppy disk is attached to the camera, and shooting through a welding mask. The phase is visible better, but no sharpness.



I borrowed a 100-300 mm lens for several frames from my neighbors. I realized that you need to take something similar.



The organizers gave everyone T-shirts as a souvenir.



Fall and admire the snow-covered hills.



Murmansk meets.



And treats.





In general, everything was incredibly cool. Both Stas and Nordavia employees tried (other airlines broke some incredible prices, and only Nordavia realized that this flight would not only pay off, but also bring powerful public relations), and other participants of the event, which I don’t even know about.

Well, and do not forget the main motive, for which Stas started this whole campaign.



How can an astronomer get on the main strip of Komsomolskaya Pravda? Discover 50 asteroids, several comets and supernova flashes for this little. We must do something more outstanding! For example:



In general: advice and love, yes new accomplishments in heaven and on earth!

Meanwhile, far from Murmansk, and heavenly romance, a ham radio from Mordovia, Dmitry Pashkov , using a home-made antenna and self-prepared equipment, was able to download the eclipse photos from the Roskosmos meteorological satellite. The spacecraft "Meteor-M №2" takes with a resolution of 100 meters from a height of 650 kilometers. In its frame we see the coast of Greenland on the left, above the left of the center - the island of Svalbard, and Norway at the bottom of the right. The entire Barents Sea between Spitsbergen, Kanin Peninsula and Novaya Zemlya covered the shadow of a natural satellite of the Earth. Somewhere in the photo and we are flying, but it is impossible to look at the aircraft in such a permit.



At first I thought, “Damn it, the guy hacked Roscosmos!”. But then Dmitry himself explained that there was nothing criminal in his actions, and receiving personnel from the satellite is a laborious, but real process, which is described in detail on his website.

From space, the eclipse was shot and Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti. She posted a few shots on her Twitter :

Sunrise eclipse.



Private phase:



"Progress" and the shadow of an eclipse.



It is possible that one of the condensation trails of the aircraft going into the shade is the trace of our aircraft.
More frames from other flight participants can be found on the #eclipseFlight hashtag on various social networks.

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