TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSE AT SMITH’S FERRY,
IDAHO USA 2017-08-21
Göte Flodqvist, Sweden

Totality at the banks of river Payette North Fork. The centerline was just across the river. Perfect weather throughout. Packed with people.

Totality with a special All Sky Camera. A fullspectrum Canon 350D, equipped with a near IR-filter, took pictures (unattended) every 10 sec. Automatic exposure-mode. The initiative to use IR came from a Swedish astronomer to check this spectral part at the TSE 1980 in Kenya, with a telescope. The observation yielded nothing significant then, due to coming and going thin clouds during totality, thus obscuring any weak IR structures. A similar telescopic setup, at the TSE 2017 event, was not an option.

Temperaturegraph (Celsius) the entire day. Datacollecting every 10 sec. The morning cold is due to the site's 1388 m above sea level.

The time relation of lightintensity (blue) and temperature (red). Notice the temperatureminimum lag. A typical feature at solar eclipses. Up to 20 minutes, depending of the totality depth. The lightmeasuring device (covering a cone of 60 degrees at zenith) was programmed to collect data every 10 sec. Linear arbitrary scale. Lightdynamic was nine exposure steps (EV) according to the All Sky Camera´s EXIF.

The author and his equipment, after the Big Event! The All Sky Camera on top of the phototripod. The measuring devices of temperature and light, fixed to the tripod on the upper latches.