N 34°45’22.22″ W 83°30’0.76″ Google Earth location
Okay, sure, this is the sun and the moon, together again, and can be seen from any location on Earth, more or less. Only not simultaneously in this way, which normally takes place in a narrow path, and so the location plotted is within this narrow path for the total solar eclipse that was visible from North America on August 21st, 2017 – six years ago tomorrow. I chose this spot because I was familiar with it, thought that perhaps some foreground elements might be able to be used (I was wrong, it occurred way too high in the sky,) and there were other things to see in the immediate area if the conditions failed to pan out. Lake Rabun in northern Georgia (the state) is not only scenic in itself, but hosts a handful of waterfalls feeding it, including Minnehaha Falls, one of the easier cascades to reach and quite photogenic. Along the drive here, taken traveling south from Asheville, NC, we stopped at Looking Glass Falls, allowing me to get a shot that presently sits over my desk (seen opening the first link above) in Walkabout Studios, and passed a lot of places on the twisty mountainous route that offered eclipse parking for ridiculous fees, as well as a church that advertised an eclipse sermon – I’ll leave you to ponder what that might have entailed, since we didn’t check it out. Crass opportunism? Of course! But it was so prevalent that we were resigning ourselves to getting robbed just to have a place to park, and then after skirting the lake on the local roads cut into the steep valley sides (an experience The Girlfriend does not want to repeat,) arrived at Nacoochee Park on the tip of the lake and found not only free parking, but surprisingly few people. Alright then.
This image has been enhanced slightly in that I brought the lower registers up a little higher, making more of the corona visible, but other than that it’s as captured in the camera. The experience, which I was willing to forego if it appeared it was going to be a major hassle, was actually quite cool, and I plan to do it again next April 8th when another passes over the US. I was prepared for this one but realized I could have caught more, and so will be more prepared for the next, possibly including having a camera mounted on a tracking motor for longer exposures. This will allow capture of more of the corona, and since the sun will be nearing maximum solar activity then, potentially some significant solar prominences as well – I caught a couple faintly in this attempt, visible as the pinkish blobs on the edges. As I often say, we’ll see what happens.