Tony's Takes Photography

Wildlife, landscape and weather photography

Planetary interception as Mercury transits the sun

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Planetary interception as Mercury transits the sun
The planet Mercury transits in front of the sun. (© Tony’s Takes)

They call it a twice-in-a-lifetime event so I figured I better give it shot.

This morning, the planet Mercury passed between the Earth and the sun giving us a look at the closest planet to the sun. My problem – clouds! While our latest storm system here in Colorado was in the process of moving out, I was worried I wouldn’t get to see it.

Thankfully, not long before the event was over, skies cleared and I got my shot. Yes, it is just a little black dot on an orange ball but the geek in me was excited. 😀

The planet Mercury is 38% the size of our home planet and averages 48 million miles from us.

Did you miss the event? The next Mercury transit visible across all of North America doesn’t occur until May 7, 2049!

The planet Mercury transits in front of the sun. (© Tony’s Takes)
The planet Mercury transits in front of the sun. (© Tony’s Takes)
The planet Mercury transits in front of the sun. (© Tony’s Takes)
The planet Mercury transits in front of the sun. (© Tony’s Takes)

The red sun of Krypton

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Fans of Superman will get the reference there. 😉

As I mentioned yesterday, the last few days have seen our normally clear, blue Colorado skies obscured with smoke from wildfires in Oregon and Montana. Yesterday morning as I arrived at my photo destination right at sunrise, I couldn’t help but take note of the rather odd coloring of the sun.

The smoke gave it distinctive red coloring and the light was so filtered, I was able to shoot directly at it without any sort of filter. There were even a few sunspots easily visible. Kind of cool but also kind of eerie.

Haze and smoke from wildfires in the western United States colors the rising sun in red. (© Tony’s Takes)
Haze and smoke from wildfires in the western United States colors the rising sun in red. (© Tony’s Takes)

Panorama of the stages of Eclipse 2017

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Stepping outside my comfort zone here and piggybacking on some ideas for collages I saw online. This one takes 11 images of the various stages of the solar eclipse from start to finish as seen from Goshen County, Wyoming. I am far from a Photoshop pro as I rarely need to use it for most of my work but this one came out pretty good I think.

All images taken with my Canon 7D Mark II and a Sigma 150-600 Sports.

Panorama of the stages of Eclipse 2017
A collage of images of the various stages of the Great American Eclipse. (© Tony’s Takes)

Partial phases of Eclipse 2017

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Three years ago my brother mentioned the eclipse to me and we said then we were going to go and I am so thankful that I did. For the photography I did a lot of reading, planning and practicing and it panned out. I captured the event from start to finish and overall think the pics came out quite well.

Here is a series of eight images together – the top four showing the eclipse beginning and the bottom four showing it ending. Me thinks a trip to Texas in 2024 may be in order! 😉

Partial phases of Eclipse 2017
Various stages of the partially eclipsed sun during the Great American Eclipse. (© Tony’s Takes)

The diamond ring

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Oh my. I cannot begin to describe what I experienced yesterday. Eclipse 2017 was everything I had hoped it would be. Breathtaking would be a good word for it.

Here you see the ‘diamond ring effect’ – the few seconds right before the eclipse enters totality. Nothing short of amazing!

I had planned on driving home right afterwards but unfortunately traffic kept me in place. I did actually start to head for home and didn’t make it two miles before hitting a monster traffic jam on this little highway in southeastern Wyoming. Rather than fight it, I turned around and spent another night up here. More pictures to come!

The diamond ring
The diamond ring effect of the 2017 total solar eclipse. (© Tony’s Takes)

Practicing for the 2017 Great American Eclipse

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I received my solar filter and we finally had some sun this afternoon so I got out and there and started getting things nailed down. Not too bad for my first attempt, even got a little sunspot on there. Focusing just perfect will be a challenge but the exposure part is figured out I think. Totally forgot to turn off image stabilization which I need to remember to do. Going to have to come up with a checklist to have with me. Can’t wait!

Full view of the sun using a solar filter. Note the small sunspot toward the bottom right. (© Tony’s Takes)
Full view of the sun using a solar filter. Note the small sunspot toward the bottom right. (© Tony’s Takes)