The annular solar eclipse
An annular solar eclipse occurred on 21 June and people were able to witness it from different parts of the country. With some advance preparation, I was able to capture the whole sequence of the annular solar eclipse in the sky above the Himalayan Chandra Telescope at the Indian Astronomical Observatory in Hanle, eastern Ladakh.
Top photograph: A close up of the annular solar eclipse taken by the 40 cm DFM telescope at National Large Solar Telescope site in Merak, eastern Ladakh.
For this shot, I used a Sony A7s2 Rokinon 14mm @f/4 shutter speed of 1/4000s x 80 subs with an ISO setting of 400 for the eclipse timeline. The foreground was photographed without a filter at 1/40sec shutter speed and an ISO setting of 200. Each exposure was timed at an interval of 150 seconds A few passing clouds did dim the eclipse after the peak of the eclipse.
It is good to see a growing interest in astronomy. I base this observation on the fact that the Indian Astronomical Observatory had broadcast the annular solar eclipse live over YouTube. This broadcast attracted several thousand people who tuned in to watch the solar eclipse with a peak of 4,500 viewers at one point.
By Dorje Angchuk
Dorje Angchuk is an engineer and astro-photographer