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2006 Total Solar Eclipse
A composite image reveals subtle structure in the outer corona.
The total solar eclipse of 2006 crossed northern Africa and central Asia. Among the many countries in the path, Libya, Egypt and Turkey attracted most eclipse chasers because of their favorable weather prospects and long duration of totality. NASA's 2006 total eclipse website has detailed predictions and maps of this remarkable event.
Gary Spears (Spears Travel) and I led an expedition to the northern desert of Libya for the eclipse. Our March 29th rendezvous with the Moon's shadow took place about 300 kilometers (200 miles) south of the Mediterranean coast, near a small city called Jalu. There in the desert, Nasser Edeeb and other Libyans had erected an amazing text city to accommodate several thousand eclipse observers.
Arriving less that 24 hours before totality, I had little time to explore our surroundings since I had much equipment to unpack, assemble and test. My primary telescopes were a Vixen 90mm f/9 fluorite refractor (fl=810mm) and a TeleVue Ranger 70mm f/6.8 (fl=480mm). Nikon D200 10.2 megapixel DSLR's were attached to each of these instruments. The telescopes were bolted in tandem on a Celestron Super Polaris equatorial mount.I also had four Nikon SLR's with programmable backs and three video cameras.
Below is a small selection of photos obtained from the Libyan desert. For more 2006 eclipse images, visit all five photo galleries:
A - Overview | B - Diamond Ring | C - Inner Corona | D - Outer Corona | E - Sequences |
Click on each image below to see a larger photo.
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Far Outer Corona and Moon (T06-2040+41w) Long streamers can be seen in a long exposure (2 seconds) of the corona. As a consequence, the inner and middle corona are completely overexposed.Also visible are the Moon's dark mare and rayed craters which are illuminated in bright earthshine (sunlight reflected from Earth). Total Solar Eclipse of 2006 March 29 (Jalu, LIBYA) |
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Corona's Structure (T06-R05twosub-1w) Image processing with Adobe Photoshop CS2 was was used to reveal the wealth of subtle detail in the solar corona. This image was produced from 26 individual exposures obtained with two separate telescopes (to cover wide and narrow fields). Total Solar Eclipse of 2006 March 29 (Jalu, LIBYA) |
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Composite Corona 205a (T06-cmp205aw) A composite image using Adobe Photoshop CS2 was produced from 26 individual exposures obtained with two separate telescopes (to cover wide and narrow fields). Composite version 205a features subtle structure using a narrow digital radial filter. Total Solar Eclipse of 2006 March 29 (Jalu, LIBYA) |
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Composite Corona 205b (T06-cmp205bw) A composite image using Adobe Photoshop CS2 was produced from 26 individual exposures obtained with two separate telescopes (to cover wide and narrow fields). Composite version 205b features moderate structure using a narrow digital radial filter. Total Solar Eclipse of 2006 March 29 (Jalu, LIBYA) |
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Composite Corona 205c (T06-cmp205cw) A composite image using Adobe Photoshop CS2 was produced from 26 individual exposures obtained with two separate telescopes (to cover wide and narrow fields). Composite version 205a features exaggerated structure using a narrow digital radial filter. Total Solar Eclipse of 2006 March 29 (Jalu, LIBYA) |
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Composite Corona 207m [with Moon] (T06-cmp207mw) A composite image using Adobe Photoshop CS2 was produced from 26 individual exposures obtained with two separate telescopes (to cover wide and narrow fields). Composite version 207m features exaggerated structure using a intermediate width digital radial filter.The dark side of the Moon (illuminated by reflected Earthshine) has been enhanced to reveal lunar surface features (mare, craters, & rays). Total Solar Eclipse of 2006 March 29 (Jalu, LIBYA) |
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Composite Corona 210a (T06-cmp210aw) A composite image using Adobe Photoshop CS2 was produced from 26 individual exposures obtained with two separate telescopes (to cover wide and narrow fields). Composite version 210a features subtle structure using a broad digital radial filter. Total Solar Eclipse of 2006 March 29 (Jalu, LIBYA) |
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Composite Corona 210b (T06-cmp210bw) A composite image using Adobe Photoshop CS2 was produced from 26 individual exposures obtained with two separate telescopes (to cover wide and narrow fields). Composite version 210b features moderate structure using a broad digital radial filter. Total Solar Eclipse of 2006 March 29 (Jalu, LIBYA) |
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Composite Corona 210c (T06-cmp210cw) A composite image using Adobe Photoshop CS2 was produced from 26 individual exposures obtained with two separate telescopes (to cover wide and narrow fields). Composite version 210c features exaggerated structure using a broad digital radial filter. Total Solar Eclipse of 2006 March 29 (Jalu, LIBYA) |
All photographs, text and web pages are © Copyright 2006 by Fred Espenak, unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. They may not be reproduced, published, copied or transmitted in any form, including electronically on the Internet or WWW, without written permission of the author. The photos have been digitally watermarked.
The photographs may be licensed for commercial, editorial, and educational use. Contact Espenak (at MrEclipse) for photo use in print, web, video, CD and all other media.
WebMaster: MrEclipse
Last revised: 2007 Jan 21
