About the App

Overview

This program is based on my 20+ years and 16 experiences of totality (+ 2 annular) chasing the moons shadow . In that time I have learned that capturing totality is hard. I have also learned that, with the proper tools and absolute familiarity with the tools, you can do it and still enjoy the show. As you can see from my eclipse page I have had some good results over the years. Good enough that prior to the 2017 eclipse in the US most of the local astronomy clubs asked me to share my experience. This program is only one part of the overall equation. I cover the rest of what you need to know in my video series Photographing Solar Eclipses which I have updated as a part of this work. This program was written since one of the tools that I used in 2017 and 2019, Solar Eclipse Maestro, does not currently run on modern MacOS^®s (or hardware). Since I was stuck in the house thanks to COVID I decided to provide a solution.

In 2017 millions of people watched the Total Eclipse and at least thousands tried to photograph it. While the 2012 Annular was not as speculator, every parking spot in the remote view site I chose was full. This program will allow the user to enjoy the eclipse instead of fussing with a camera.

This software proved itself in Australia and Albuquerque in 2023 .

Before we go any further I must state what I do in all of the talks I have given and heard from all of the responsible lecturers on my trips

If this is your first eclipse, watch do not photograph

Don't want to be left out? No Problem. You can still set up a camera and capture a wide angle view of the eclipse experience. That way you can focus on the show instead of your camera!

This discussion assumes you are familiar with the basics of solar eclipses. Otherwise you are likely in the set of people who should be enjoying their first and using something like a GoPro instead of a telescope. But in case you need a refresher on terminology this should help^[1].

I also suggest you take the following pledges

If something goes wrong during totality I only try once to fix it (<10 seconds)
I will practice and practice some more until operating my mount, telescope (lens), camera, and this program are second nature

Remember only you can tell if your camera and your computer have the battery life and performance to succeed. The eclipse site is not the place to learn. If you have a solid plan that is well drilled you can spend totality looking through binoculars and let your hardware do the work.

These pages are organized as a progressive lesson. While I believe this program is easy to learn, you do not want to teach yourself while C2 is approaching. I tell the people listening to my lectures to imagine they are sitting down to run the program after running a mile. That will put your adrenaline level at the same point it will be as the shadows sharpen and then fade.

Before we go further let's describe what hardware is required

MacOS^® Sonoma or Ventura {will also support 12.6 (Monterey)}.
Any Mac^® that supports those versions. The binary will support Apple^® Silicon (Mx) natively. Best pick one with enough battery life.
One of the Canon Cameras on this list. This program has been tested with a EOS 60D and EOS 80D. Support for EOS SDK 13.17.10
The program will support either the camera being connected to a Canon lens (I recommend the Canon 300mm 1:4 IS) or a telescope such as a Televue TV-76. The program will automatically adapt to the presence or absence of a camera controlled lens. Please review some of the operating details in Camera before using in the field.
{Optionally}A GPS receiver using the u-blox 7 chip such as Stemedu VK172 USB GPS Dongle. A GPS dongle is not required, but review the material under Time and Ship to determine whether it will be required in your particular circumstance.

In April 2024 the moon's shadow will again cross the US as it did in 2017. Here is a preview of what is coming in the next 5 years

Anything boxed like this is something you need to pay attention to such as:

Images that have blue or red borders can be clicked for a larger image. You can click the image again in the overlay for a full size image. Items bordered in red are movies

Anything boxed like this is something that is dangerous such as:

Photographing or even looking at any uneclipsed part of the sun is dangerous. While during totality the corona is no brighter than the full moon when any part of the Photosphere is visible it is not safe to look. Read the safety instructions to keep yourself safe.

Quick Start

Since many will not want to read many pages of detailed instruction nor wish to use an actual camera or GPS before starting to use the program here is a quick walkthrough that will allow you to get a feel on how it works. Many other examples are included in the Learning section

Texas 2024 with Simulated Camera

2024 is the next time the US will experience a total eclipse. To make this easy let's use one of the canned eclipses provided and a simulated camera

Start the App

Splash Screen

If this is the first time you have started the app take a moment to read the reminders. This same information will appear in the master help menu. By hitting "I Agree" you are agreeing to the EULA.

Define Eclipse Dialog

Again if this is the first time you have run the application then you will be presented with the Define Eclipse Dialog.

Select 2024 Test Case

Click on the "2024 USA Total" Test Case button. The program will fill in the circumstances for Dallas, TX on April 8, 2024. Press Save.

Select Camera

The program will then automatically attempt to select a camera. If you have a real camera you will get a different dialog shown in Learning. Since no camera is connected you get the "Did not Find" dialog. Normally this means your camera might be off. In this case we want to use a simulated camera so we press the appropriate button

Camera Parameters

Since we are assuming this is your first use of the program the Camera Preferences Dialog will appear. This dialog contains some important information on how you want to control your camera. For now we will just accept the defaults and move on. We come back to this dialog in Learning

Scenario Parameters

The last dialog is to configure how you want to capture this particular eclipse. The phenomena of the eclipse are listed along with how many exposures you want to take. Not all eclipses will allow you to take a full set of photos (I picked the Texas eclipse for a reason). In general the defaults are fine except for the corona exposures and earthshine. Depending on your mount settings from the previous dialog and the eclipse duration you may have to make some decisions. This dialog lets you test your decision to make sure that the camera and moon will cooperate to give you what you want.

Note also that the Texas 24 eclipse is a total eclipse. When you go through the the Albuquerque Oct 23 test case in Learning you will notice a different dialog. That is because Oct 23 is an annular eclipse. Different phenomena will be captured.

Ready to Run

After you push "Save" the task list will appear in Monitor Window. This is the main window of the application so let's spend some time talking about the parts.

The site information is on the upper left
The current camera state is to the right of the site
Below the site are two time displays. The display labeled "Run Time" is what time the program thinks it is. In what we are about to do it shows a simulated offset. In one of the operational time modes Time this will show a correction to a poorly sync'd system clock (or a correct system clock if you have properly synced the time).
Moving to the upper right is the big Run button. It is big and obvious since when you are on site the last thing you want is to be searching for it. If you have a touchbar equipped Mac^® then the button will also be in the touchbar.
Below the Run button is the event list. This provides the actual times when the events will occur. These will agree with the "Run Time" time. The column to the right is the time in "Adjusted Time". This can be safely ignored.
Last but not least is the task list. This is a time ordered set of tasks. This should be fairly obvious, but if you want more information see Details

Use Simulated Time
You could press Run at this point and take a generous coffee break. If you wanted to proceed with a test now you can use one of the simulated time modes.
Under the Time->Practice menu select C2. Note that the run time has changed to be a little over 15 minutes before C2.
Now we are ready to hit run and watch what happens.

The Capture Eclipse Folder
When CaptureEclipse runs it creates a special folder (marked with its icon) in the Documents directory. Within this folder are all of the user visible files.

Files from this run
Now let's expand the folder. Within is a log file created for the run. That file is described more in Details
Next is a directory of files for this run. For each of the images your script "took", a file is created with the simulated time and with an image that corresponds to the type of exposure you scripted. If we were using a real camera then the images would still be in the camera. This program does not down load them.

This is an example of the file recorded as a C2 (or C3) burst

Run another Day
What happens when you close the app down and come back another day? The app remembers whatever state is unchanged. From now you you will not see the splash screen. Instead of the Define Eclipse dialog you will have the Open dialog.
This is mostly a convenience when you are back home. Unless you are shooting from a friend's backyard you will rarely have good lat/long. No problem hit cancel and select Site->New.

From here you will get the camera dialog above. The Camera Preferences is not necessary so that will be skipped ( you can edit the preferences from the camera menu). Finally the scenario menu will appear defaulted with the last values.

So that is your introductory tour. You can continue the tutorial on the Learn pages (or just start using it). Do take the time to learn about Burst Mode and take the time to read the Time page. If you have not done so you might also want to review Photographing Solar Eclipses to learn about the rest of the process.

FootNotes

[1] And in case you are not familiar with the Cx terminology, Cx refers to the xth Contact as described in the reference