This was Mary's and my first total solar eclipse. We spent two days scouting locations in Nebraska before deciding that Wyoming was the place to be. We left Grand Island at 1 a.m. central time and drove 350 miles including 240 miles of fog between Cozad and the Wyoming border arriving around 8:00 a.m mountain time. Just past Torrington we discovered Deidre's 360 view with facilities! It was a perfect location not only for viewing and imaging the eclipse, but to watch the Moon's shadow approach across the landscape.

The diamond ring effect, solar flares, and chromosphere right after 3rd contact. Taken from Deidre's 360 view near Torrington, Wyoming on 2017-08-21 17:48 UT. Sony a6300 with Vivitar 200 mm prime lens with 2x teleconverter. Single image exposed for 1/100 sec at ISO 100 at f 11.2.

Sony a6300 with Vivitar 200 mm prime lens with 2x teleconverter mounted on a Vixen Polarie tracker. Single image exposed for 1/100 sec at ISO 100 at f 11.2. Deconvolved in Lynkeos with exposure adjustment and final crop in Photoshop.

My setup for this telephoto image is shown below. The 200mm vintage Vivitar prime lens and teleconverter used with the Sony a6300 cost only $50.

Thanks to our viewing buddies AJ and Kimberly from Colorado and from the UK Graham and Joanna and their friends for great company and Deidre's for her well prepared location.

This image picked up a few friends along the way and ended up as part of a composite of 40 images taken just before and after 3rd contact.

2017 Great American Eclipse Revisited, put a ring on it The Solar Eclipse at third contact: the corona, chromosphere. prominences, earthshine, and then the diamond ring. The star Regulus is at the upper left. I incorporated the deep blue sky that is an important part of my visual memory with Regulus and the corona from just before 3rd contact. The chromosphere, prominences, and fist glimpse of the diamond ring are from the moment of third contact. Taken from Deidre's 360 view near Torrington, Wyoming on 2017-08-21 17:48 UT. Forty-six images HDR composited from 3 stacks for the corona, earthshine, and diamond ring. Images exposed for from 1/1000 sec to 5 sec at ISO 100 at f 11.2 using a Vivitar 200 mm prime telephoto lens with 2X teleconverter and Sony a6300 camera on a Vixen Polarie mount. Questar 1350/89mm telescope, f15, (for earthshine) with a Sony NECX-5N camera at prime focus. This image was a Flickr Explore Selection (500 most interesting images of the day out of roughly 2,000,000) for Sept 12, 2017.