The June 2021 Solar Eclipse in Video

Description:

The weather forecast was not encouraging for the morning of June 10, 2021. The annular eclipse was visible from only the extreme north of Canada and, from the Montreal region, only the partial phase was visible while the eclipse began even before local sunrise. The challenge was therefore to find a place with a completely clear horizon to the east, where the sun was rising. Second challenge, point our instruments in the right direction to capture the Sun as soon as it rises, in advance. Third challenge: that the sky be clear on the eastern horizon at this time.

I was accompanied by my good friend Jean Legros who found us an incomparable spot on the slopes of an orchard in St-Joseph-du-Lac. The sky was clear until the time of sunrise as the distant clouds came to spoil our view on the horizon, just to taunt us, then the sky gradually cleared to let us see the end of the event.

Technical details:

Telescope: William Optics GT81 and 0.8x focal reducer (focal length: 384mm).
Orion solar filter in front of the objective lens
Mount: iOptron CEM26EC
Camera: Canon 6D MarkII
Exposure: 282 frames preprogrammed with an intervalometer with exposures varying from 16 seconds to 1/1250 sec at ISO 125. Motorized tracking to keep the sun centered during its trajectory.
Duration of the event: 1 hour. Individual frames assembled for a video montage with Time-lapse Tool.
Place: Lafrance orchard, Saint-Joseph-du-Lac, Qc
Date: June 10, 2021