Solar Eclipse 2017

We had the good luck of being in Iowa for our granddaughter's second birthday and able to also take in a total eclipse of the sun. On the morning of the eclipse we packed up family members and started heading for an area of Nebraska where we could see the total eclipse of the Sun. We weren't sure of our finial destination since we were working around changing cloud cover, but it helps to have two meteorologists in the family. We found other eclipse watchers in parking lots at Walmart, gas stations, cemeteries and our choice, a church parking lot near Crete, Nebraska.



The clouds moved in and out of the Sun's path as the eclipse started.



As we neared the moment of eclipse totality most of the heavy clouds cleared and we had some thin high level clouds but were able to get some photos and experience the sight of totality. Here's one of my photos of totality.



A close-up view of my photo shows I was able to capture some solar prominences, the bright orange, gaseous features extending outward from the Sun's surface.



Soon after totality the clouds started to return.



My photographic setup. A Meade ETX80 telescope with a Canon G1X camera. I taped some #12 shade welding glass to the telescope.



The welding glass caused my images to have a green tint.



Our son taking photos with his camera.



Traffic jams all over Nebraska after the eclipse.



We took several secondary roads to circumvent the traffic jams.