Setting the Scene

During the time of the Solar Eclipse, we were in our Catalan location. I analysed a topographic map to find a possible place within 20km of where we lived that had an unimpeded view towards the north-west. I settled on the Arrossars de Pals, the network of Pals rice fields in the Girona province. I sought Gemini’s opinion and asked for the exact GPS coordinates and times of the eclipse. We then scouted the sight during the evening of 10 August and found it perfect. We located the place to park the car and where we would set up the tripod.

The exact coordinates were 42.000300, 3.169100, and the timings were:

• 19:34:00 CEST – First Contact: The Moon first touches the edge of the Sun. The Sun is at 13.3° altitude in the west (278° azimuth).
• 20:28:10 CEST – Maximum Eclipse: The moment of deepest coverage. The Sun will be 98.8% obscured, hanging just 3.7° above the horizon at a 287° West-Northwest azimuth.
• 20:53:23 CEST – Solar Sunset: The Sun sets below the horizon while still partially eclipsed. The final phase happens below the horizon at 21:19 CEST.

What Happens During a Solar Eclipse?

A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon, in its monthly orbit around Earth, aligns perfectly with the path of the Sun from our perspective. Even though the Sun is roughly 400 times larger than the Moon, it also happens to be about 400 times farther away. This cosmic coincidence means both bodies appear nearly identical in size in our sky.

When they overlap perfectly, the Moon casts two distinct types of shadows onto the surface of the Earth:

• The Umbra: The dark, inner core of the shadow. Observers standing within the path of the umbra witness a total solar eclipse, where the sun is completely blocked out, exposing the ghostly white solar corona.
• The Penumbra: The lighter, outer gradient of the shadow. Observers located here see a partial solar eclipse, where the Moon appears to take a progressive “bite” out of the solar disk. 

Ancient Omens: From Angry Gods to Trickster Spirits

Today, we use precise astronomical software to calculate eclipse pathways down to the exact second, but to ancient civilizations, eclipses have shaped human mythology, stopped wars, and inspired awe for millennia.

The word “eclipse” traces its roots back to the ancient Greek word ekleipsis, which translates as “abandonment”. The Greeks interpreted a solar eclipse as an ominous sign that the gods were angry with humanity and that the Sun was actively abandoning the Earth, leaving behind misery. They believed that destructive demons were swallowing the sun whole. In 647 BCE, the Greek poet Archilochus, witnessing an eclipse, wrote: “Nothing can be sworn impossible… since Zeus, the father of the Olympians, has concealed the light of the blazing Sun and made night out of noonday, and… fear has come upon mankind.” 

Moving eastward, the ancient Persians developed a completely different, light-hearted mythology around the event. In Persian folklore, a solar eclipse was not necessarily an apocalyptic warning, but rather the mischief of a trickster pari—a magical, fairy-like spirit. They believed these invisible entities blotted out the sun purely for fun, playing a grand cosmic joke on humanity before allowing the light to return safely. 

Across other ancient cultures, the themes of theft and battle repeated. The Chinese banged pots and beat drums to scare off a celestial dragon that they believed was consuming the solar disk. Meanwhile, the people of Togo in Africa viewed the eclipse as a literal boxing match between the sun and the moon; they used the darkness as a communal reminder to settle their own earthly arguments and heal fractured tribal relationships. 

What Scientists Learn from a Solar Eclipse

One of the primary scientific goals during an eclipse is the study of the solar corona—the tenuous, superheated outermost atmosphere of the Sun. Usually, the blinding glare of the Sun’s surface (the photosphere) completely washes out the corona. But when the Moon acts as a natural shield, the corona is revealed as a glowing halo of plasma stretching millions of kilometres into space. 

High-resolution imaging during an eclipse lets us observe dynamic structures like plasma plumes, magnetic loops, and massive solar streamers in unprecedented detail. Such information helps us understand why the corona is millions of degrees hotter than the actual surface of the Sun. It also offers clues into the mechanisms driving the solar wind, the stream of charged particles that blows past Earth and causes our auroras, while occasionally threatening our satellite communications and electrical grids. 

Behind the Lens: Capturing a Low-Horizon Eclipse

On 12^th August, we arrived at 18.30 and set up the equipment. We realized it was going to be a difficult evening as there was a large storm cloud directly at 278°. We managed some images of the full sun before it went behind the cloud at about 19.00.  We estimated it would reappear at a little before 20.00, which it did – thus, we missed out on direct observation of the first part of the eclipse event. Apart from that, the site was perfect and, over time, we were joined by other observers, not too many to make it crowded, but enough to make it a communal event!

The camera was the Canon EOS Ra, and the lens, the Canon RF 100-500mm f/4.5-7.1L IS USM. A Baader solar filter was mounted over the front of the lens. The filter reduces solar intensity by a factor of 100,000, filtering out 99.999% of visible light along with harmful ultraviolet and infrared wavelengths.

The Workflow

1. Focus Locking: Pairing the camera with the Lenovo Extreme tablet, we manually locked focus on the sharp edge of the solar limb while the filter was attached. We used the tablet to adjust the settings as needed and to take bracketed exposures without having to touch the camera.
2. Interval Tracking: We manually tracked the sun and captured a frame every few minutes, as the moon pathed across the solar disk.
3. The Low Horizon Challenge: Because the eclipse peaked so low to the western horizon, atmospheric refraction and haze were thick. We adjusted ISO speed and exposure length as time went on. 

The Progression Gallery

Below is a sequential series of nine shots from the full sun, a gap due to cloud, and then progressive obscuration up to just less than the maximum peak, when the sun dipped behind low level clouds again.  And, below the series a short video demonstrating the progression.