Journey
to the Antumbra III:
The Annular Solar Eclipse of
October 14, 2023
Being an eclipsomaniac, I never miss an opportunity to observe an eclipse. Lunar, solar, partial, total annular or even transits, I always at least make an attempt to observe it. The annular eclipse of October 14, 2023 came into my sights as an opportunity to see a central eclipse from a location not too far from my home in Las Cruces, New Mexico, USA.
The Moon was near aphelion, its furthest distance from the Earth. This made the lunar disc quite a bit smaller than the Sun, 59.1 seconds-of-arc smaller at maximum eclipse. The width of the remaing sunlit ring would then be 29.5 seonds-of-arc.
This annular started at sunrise in the eastern Pacific Ocean and rapidly crossed into Oregon, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico, Texas and out into the Gulf of Mexico. The path continued over parts of southeast Mexico, Central America, Coulmbia and Brazil, ending at sunset in the Atlantic Ocean. The path of the eclipse was about 121 miles across in Texas.
 The path of the annular eclipse through New Mexico and Texas. As the shadow moved southeast, it slowed and became larger, increasing the length of annularity and moving the Sun higher in the sky.
The central line went through Chaco Canyon, New Mexico, Albuquerque, Roswell, Hobbs and on to Midland, Texas. This was the maximum distance that I was willing to drive for an annular. It would be my third annular, after the 1994 annular observed from Rantoul, Illinois, and the 2012 annular observed in Albuquerque, NM.
The climatological prospects along this section of the eclipse were good, but as the old saying goes, “Climate is what you expect, weather is what you get”. Some days cirrus clouds come out of the Gulf of California and/or the Pacific Ocean, covering the southern third of the path, while other times clouds moving down from the north can sabotage the northern section of the path.
As is always the mantra for you-only-get-one-chance observations like eclipses is “stay mobile”. I started surveying possible hotels near the centerline along the path. I found one in Albuquerque on the centerline. When I went to make a reservation, I found the hotel was completely booked. Then the lightbulb lit up and I realized it was the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta weekend. That city would be completely booked on eclipse day.
The closest point to Las Cruces was a ghost town called Acme, NM, only 197 miles away, but the eclipse circumstances improved as you moved southeast along the path, so I decided to establish my base of operations in Hobbs, NM, about fifty miles further away.
Starting about ten days before the eclipse, I checked the weather forecast for Hobbs on eclipse day. The forecasts looked good, but there were ominous cirrus clouds just west and northwest of Hobbs. The closer to eclipse day, the worse the clouds looked. During the 2017 total solar eclipse in Casper, Wyoming, a band a cirrus moved south during the eclipse, spoiling the view of the second half of the eclipse. I did not want to repeat that fiasco.
As eclipse day approached, the forecast continued to deteriorate for Hobbs. The day before the eclipse, I decided to go further southeast along the path to Midland, Texas, where the forecast was for clear skies all during the eclipse. I packed up all the equipment for this eclipse and headed for Midland, a three-hundred-fifty-five-mile trip. I arrived at the hotel in Midland around 8:00 PM and checked-in. I was committed to that location.
Annularity in Midland was predicted to by 4 minute and 55 seconds, with the hotel being 4.5 miles northeast of the centerline. This was only four percent of the annularity path width, so the Moon would still appear centered on the Sun. Mid eclipse would be forty-two degrees above the horizon in the southeastern sky. With everything looking good, I got some sleep.
Next morning dawned sunny and clear. I had breakfast at the hotel and then went out to get gas so I could leave right after the eclipse. When I returned, I pulled into the back parking lot of the hotel and was surprised to discover other amateur astronomers were setting up there as well. I parked on the southeast edge of the parking lot, overlooking a grassy area. I realized there was a moderate wind blowing in from the northeast. I positioned the car to block the wind and started setting up the equipment.
My main instrument was a Meade ETX-125EC (128 mm aperture with a 1900 mm focal length) attached to a Canon 6D camera outfitted with a Thousand Oaks Type 3 glass solar filter (ND: 4.0). I set up a Coronado Personal Solar Telescope (PST) for visual observing. My backup camera, an older Canon Rebel XT, with a 400 mm telephoto with 2x telextender, giving 800 mm focal length with a Draco Products Baader solar filter.
I set the timer on the 6D’s electronic cable release to take an image every 2 minutes. Since the Rebel was not clock-driven, I did not set a timer. I opened the Eclipse 2.0 on my phone, set my location and set the countdown option and monitored the Sun and the time as first contact approached. The sky was still clear and stayed clear throughout the eclipse.
As first contact time passed, the Moon’s dark edge slid onto the disc of the Sun. The months of planning and preparation were finally over as the Moon slowly covered the Sun. The Moon covering the few large sunspots visible that day punctuated the seemingly endless hour and a half to annularity.
Finally, the Moon had almost reached annularity. Being near apogee, it was smaller than the Sun and the two arms of the Sun’s cusps closed around the Moon. The mountains and valleys on the Moon’s limb provided a great display of Baily’s Beads as annularity began.
The Moon slid across the Sun causing the newly united northwestern sliver of the Sun’s surface to slowly enlarge as the southeastern arc shrank. For a few brief seconds, the Sun was a perfect ring hanging in the sky. I adjusted the ETX’s the recenter the Sun. I accidentally opened my left eye. I was amazed to see this brilliant ring hanging in the sky. After looking through solar filters all the time at the Sun, the vision of the ring of fire actually hanging in the sky was a shock. Realizing I was looking at the Sun unprotected, I immediately close my eye again.
The Moon’s southeastern limb finally reached the Sun’s southeastern limb and that edge of the ring broke up into Bailey’s beads. Each winked out as the Moon completely covered the Sun’s southeast limb.
The Moon sailed southeastward, uncovering the Sun and exposing the sunspots that it had previously covered. Finally, the Moon cleared the Sun as the last little bite out of the Sun came back into view. The Moon had completed its transit of the Sun and was now in the evening sky. I packed up the remaining equipment and headed home after a successful observation of the October 14, 2023 Annular Eclipse.
Observing Location: 102° 09′ 03″.1 West, 32° 01′ 16″.7 North, 865.8 meters WGS-84
Here is a mosaic of images from this eclipse. Click on the image for a larger version:
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