The total solar eclipse of April 8, 2024 as taken at Vermilion, OH.  The front moved out of the area but left behind some high, thin clouds, which did not prevent the viewing of this fantastic eclipse, but did prevent me from capturing the full span of the sun's corona. This composite photo shows the eclipse at mid-eclipse (center). The top left image shows the lunar limb just after 2nd contact with the bottom right showing the other side just before 3rd contact. The view with the naked eye was awesome. I did not see the solar prominences with the eye during the 2017 eclipse. The southern prominence in this display was outstanding - looking to the eye as an electrical storm blasting out from the sun. Photos just don't do justice to the sharpness and clarity that was evident while enjoying this celestial event.

Photos were taken with my William Optics GT102 and Canon 50D body mounted on an iOptron iEQ30 mount. Everything was checked out the Sunday before the event. I had created a script (or plan as APT calls it) to run the sequence of exposures bracketing up to 3 stops either side of nominal exposure. I wanted to spend most of my time observing the eclipse with photography a second priority. I missed capturing the diamond ring during the 2017 event when I forgot to remove the solar filter. I missed it this year since I didn't start the plan on time. Everything was ready to go, I had worked out the specific times for each exposure provided I started the plan 30 seconds before 2nd contact. At precisely 15:12:15 I pressed the 'start' button and ... nothing. Tried again - nothing. Finally I realized that I still had the camera set for live view (as I was using that to capture the partial phases and make sure focus was maintained). Argh, I quickly turned live view off and started the plan. But now the sequence was late by about 30 seconds or so. Next time (if I'm still around for next time) I'll have multiple plans that can be started at later times in the event that the first one fails.

This was a real joy to experience and I was very happy with the results. A total eclipse is one of those astronomical events that simply can't be missed if at all possible.

Details on the image capture:
HDR Combination of 1/30, 1/60 and 1/125 seconds with ISO400.
Top Left:  3:13:34 EDT
Center:  3:15:04 EDT
Bottom Right:  3:16:32 EDT