Solar [Partial] Eclipse ASE2021 Post Review
Whitefish Bay, Lake Superior, Michigan
The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down of the big lake they called Gitche Gumee. The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead, when the skies of “June” turns gloomy? June? The month in the song is November. But that is how the song goes but June granted us no favor either. Having expected clear skies with an unobstructed horizon along Lake Superior on the morning of June 10th, we instead got one fat cloud blocking the Sun as we anxiously waited for the eclipsed Sun to rise above it. It did, finally, giving my son, Thomas J. Haeberle and I and a few other resolute eclipse chasers a photo opportunity.
Our original plan would have been to go to Ontario, Canada to get in the path of Annularity but our neighbors up north would have none of it. Instead we opted for Michigan’s Upper Peninsula or “UP” as Michiganders like to call it. So we located ourselves at Whitefish Bay, south of the town of Paradise, to be in the path of Negative Annularity!
This is a term coined by weatherman/eclipse chaser Joe Rao in his Sky & Telescope magazine article (June 2021 issue). This is an imaginary extension below the sunrise contact line areas where maximum eclipse occurs around civil twilight. This could produce a noticeable diminution of the skylight prior to the rising of the Sun. But I personally did not notice any appreciable dimming from our observation site.
I would argue that this Negative Annularity zone could also be extended outside along the true path of Annularity were the obscuration percentage is the same as it would be inside the path. As an example, maximum obscuration for this eclipse was 87.90% within the disk of the Sun. The difference between being in or just outside the path would be the obscuration caused by the Moon within the solar disk is called Central and would present the Ring of Fire, whereas the one partially lying just outside the solar disk with the same surface area of the Sun being blocked by the Moon, would be a partial. Perhaps this extended Negative Annularity can be viewed and verified during the next Annular Eclipse in 2023.
So without further ado, here are some other Eclipse observations being reported by our other intrepid club members from around New York City with their respective photos.
Randall’s Island, Queens, NY Partial Solar Eclipse
David Shepard reported he observed the partial eclipse using his 12×36 IS binoculars with a solar filter for viewing. He was interviewed by Channel 7 Eyewitness news and one other news outlet. He graciously passed his binoculars around to a few people that came to Randell’s Island. Thank You David!
More from Queens
This Morning’s annular eclipse (partial here) started off with a Sun Pillar, that bright bar of light above the Sun. As you can see I was competing with clouds. I was out there right after five o’clock to get setup. Sunrise was at 5:23 a.m. EDT here in Rego Park, NY, so the eclipse was already in progress. Eventually, I was clouded out. I used a Canon PowerShot G3X camera, no filter.
Julien Parks
I joined AAA as a retirement, hobby/present to myself, and been having a great time learning astronomy. Setting up I was completely unorganized and frazzled. I was very excited to see this eclipse and it made me a bit anxious. When I took this photo of the eclipse, I was disappointed that the Kennedy airport control tower got in the picture. When I got home I realized that I had a cross in front of the devils eclipse! Like many things in life, the tower was a great accident.
Bill Magnus
The Bronx
John Benfatti captured this photo of the eclipse from his terrace at 5700 Arlington Avenue, Bronx, NY at 5:41 am with his Nikon D60, Shutter speed 1/250″ f10, focal length 200mm; 55~200 zoom lens.
New York City
In the Summit One Vanderbilt observatory in Midtown, nearly 1,400 feet up, Katherine Troche of the Amateur Astronomers Association of New York and some friends watched the first 20 minutes of the eclipse before a thick fleet of clouds overtook the sky… Ms. Troche, who lives in Elmhurst, Queens, [touted] her group caught the best part of the eclipse: the devil’s horns effect. When the red horns appeared in the sky, some of her fellow eclipse-watchers yelled in wonder and excitement. While some went vertical in Manhattan, others left the city in the hopes of getting a better view.
NY Times
