In November 2012, I was part of a small team that travelled to Cairns, Australia, on an expedition funded by the National Science Foundation and the National Geographic Society to image the total solar eclipse. I was invited by Dr. Jay Pasachoff, an expert in solar eclipses at Williams College, through Mr. Ron Dantowitz, my mentor/teacher at the Dexter Southfield School in Brookline, MA, and a leading expert in high-resolution video astronomy.
My role was to capture photographs and video images of the eclipse using high-resolution cameras and to capture spectrographic images and data to analyze the gasses visible during the eclipse. I had done similar work on stars at the Clay Center Observatory at my school, but Mr. Dantowitz and Dr. Pasachoff gave me the responsibility to not only to operate the equipment, but to also design our research plan and the methods we would use to collect the required data, determine the equipment needed to fulfill our portion of the expedition, and design and create a customized ABS grism holder. To prepare for the expedition, I spent roughly 17 hours a week for 15 weeks learning about solar physics and eclipses, spectroscopy and spectrographs, optical systems design, and designing and producing the grism holder using a 3-D printer.
The images on this page are a sample of what we captured. These have appeared on Dr. Pasachoff’s website and are slated to be published in an upcoming textbook, and at least one study of the data is expected to be published in late 2014. On image, which was processed by noted eclipse imager Wendy Carlos, was published in the 2014 Peterson's Field Guide to Astronomy.
Technical Information:
Spatial Imaging:
Sensor: Red EPIC 5k (5.4 micron pixels CMOS Sensor with full-color High Dynamic Range)
Optics: Takahashi 530mm f/5.0 telescope
Spectroscopy:
Sensor: Red EPIC 5K with a 600-line/mm BK-7 grism
Optics: Canon L-series 100 f/2.8 prime
Mounting:
Losmandy G11 motorized GEM mount
Losmandy mounting plates (aluminum)
Custom-printed ABS grism holders (designed by Nick Weber)
My role was to capture photographs and video images of the eclipse using high-resolution cameras and to capture spectrographic images and data to analyze the gasses visible during the eclipse. I had done similar work on stars at the Clay Center Observatory at my school, but Mr. Dantowitz and Dr. Pasachoff gave me the responsibility to not only to operate the equipment, but to also design our research plan and the methods we would use to collect the required data, determine the equipment needed to fulfill our portion of the expedition, and design and create a customized ABS grism holder. To prepare for the expedition, I spent roughly 17 hours a week for 15 weeks learning about solar physics and eclipses, spectroscopy and spectrographs, optical systems design, and designing and producing the grism holder using a 3-D printer.
The images on this page are a sample of what we captured. These have appeared on Dr. Pasachoff’s website and are slated to be published in an upcoming textbook, and at least one study of the data is expected to be published in late 2014. On image, which was processed by noted eclipse imager Wendy Carlos, was published in the 2014 Peterson's Field Guide to Astronomy.
Technical Information:
Spatial Imaging:
Sensor: Red EPIC 5k (5.4 micron pixels CMOS Sensor with full-color High Dynamic Range)
Optics: Takahashi 530mm f/5.0 telescope
Spectroscopy:
Sensor: Red EPIC 5K with a 600-line/mm BK-7 grism
Optics: Canon L-series 100 f/2.8 prime
Mounting:
Losmandy G11 motorized GEM mount
Losmandy mounting plates (aluminum)
Custom-printed ABS grism holders (designed by Nick Weber)
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Results
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