June 10’s sunrise solar eclipse in pictures

June 11, 2021June 13, 2021 James Guilford 2021, Cleveland, eclipse, Medina County Park System, member photo, member photographs, Moon, partial solar eclipse, photograph, solar eclipse, sun

Members of the Cuyahoga Astronomical Association (CAA) rose early June 10 to view, photograph, and promote the (locally) partial solar eclipse. Already in progress as Sun rose above the horizon, the annular eclipse or “ring of fire” could not be seen but decent coverage of the solar disk did result in some impressive views.

In addition to watching the eclipse members, led by special events director Jay Reynolds, hosted members of the public at Cleveland’s Edgewater Park. The view from Edgewater’s lakefront location included the rising partly-eclipsed Sun with the lakeshore and Cleveland’s skyline.

Other members took up station at Avon Lake, Bay Village, and even inland at a Medina County location. Here, in mixed order, is a sampling of member photographs:

Eclipse Sunrise by Jeff Lewis — Jeff Lewis, in Bay Village, captured this view of the eclipsed sun as it rose above the Lake Erie horizon.

Dave Nuti Eclipsed Sun and Cleveland skyline — Dave Nuti captured this view of the rising eclipsed Sun and the Cleveland, Ohio skyline as seen from Edgewater Park.

Jay Reynolds -- Early risers viewing sunrise and Cleveland Skyline — Jay Reynolds made this photograph of early risers viewing the eclipse from Edgewater Park with the “photo op” Cleveland sign in the foreground.

CAA member Nora Mishey, CAA’s Education Director, discusses the science of eclipses with members of the public at Edgewater Park in this photo by Anita Kazarian.

A horn of the eclipsed Sun become visible as it rises from the Lake Erie horizon. Viewed from Bay Village.

Eclipsed Sun rising through morning fog in rural Medina County. by James Guilford — James Guilford captured this view from far inland — rural Medina County — where ground fog created interesting lighting effects.

Joe Hamlin, in Avon Lake, produced this colorful capture of the eclipse over Lake Erie.

Photographing the eclipse from Edgewater Park, the photographer was photographed by Anita Kazarian.

Matt Franduto shot this photo of the cloud-obscured eclipse through his telescope.

Jeff Lewis, from Bay Village, shared this view of the rising eclipse as it clears some low clouds.

Rising from a nest of clouds, the red eclipsed Sun was imaged by Timothy Campbell from Edgewater Park.

Chris Elder was in Hampton Beach, New Hampshire, for the eclipse. Patchy clouds blocked the view at dawn, but they broke up about 20 minutes in revealing some of the best eclipse views available in the country.

Meanwhile, closer to Earth …

July 17, 2020 James Guilford Alan Studt, member photo, member photographs, Moon, Venus

Studt_Crescent Moon — Our Moon. Day 27 of the Lunar cycle – 10% illumination. Photo by Alan Studt.

The eyes of stargazers have largely been focused on comet C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) of late but there are other dazzling sights the cosmos offers; among them is Earth’s Moon.

CAA member Alan Studt has been pursuing a project to photograph — as possible — Moon every day through its cycle of phases. He has captured most phases thus far. At the time of this writing, Luna was in her waning crescent phase with the sliver of lighted disk growing slimmer by the day. The crescent phases offer dramatic views of Moon due to low-angle sunlight casting longer shadows from lunar surface features.

Above is our Moon seen the morning of July 17, 2020, day 27 of the Lunar cycle – 10% illumination – 394,051.09 km away. Studt’s technicals: Four shots stitched, Nikon D850, 4400mm, f/20, ISO 2000, 1/80th sec.

Below is Moon accompanied by planet Venus, accentuated by sunrise-tinted thin clouds. Settings: Nikon D850, 350mm, F/5.6, ISO 250, 1/100th sec.

Studt Crescent Moon & Venus — The 27-day-old Moon and planet Venus float in sunrise-tinted clouds. Photo by Alan Studt.

Venus transits the Pleiades

April 4, 2020May 5, 2020 James Guilford member photo, member photographs, Pleiades, Pleiades star cluster, Venus

Once every eight years, as dictated by orbital mechanics, planet Venus crosses the Pleiades star cluster. The star cluster is one of those nearest Earth and easy to spot: to the right and running ahead of the great Orion constellation. It’s an open cluster consisting of about 1,000 gravitationally-bound stars though only a few of them are visible to the unaided eye. Longer camera exposures reveal more and more stars in the group. The before, during, and after-transit conjunction positions of Venus and the Pleiades make for a lovely sight by eye, telescope, and a favorite target for astrophotographers. Shown below are some of the images CAA members have made of the April 2020 Venus/Pleiades combinations.