How to watch the Solar Eclipse this Sunday & tips to capture it with phone or DSLR without damaging your eyes

KEY HIGHLIGHTS

• After June 21, the next solar eclipse will take place on December 14-15, 2020
• This will be an Annular Solar Eclipse, one of the types of solar eclipses
• The annularity, when a ring of fire is visible, usually ranges from less than a second to over 12 minutes

The first solar eclipse of 2020 is almost here. It will take place on June 21 at 9:15 am, reach its peak at 12:10 pm and conclude at 3:04 pm in India.

This will be an Annular Solar Eclipse when the new moon covers the sun from the centre and leaves only the outer rim of the sun visible. Thus, creating an appearance of the ‘Ring of Fire’. If you are planning to witness this phenomenon and capture it from your terrace, you need to keep in mind a few things.

How to watch it safely

You should NEVER directly watch the solar eclipse with bare eyes. This exposure to the light can damage your eye permanently and even cause blindness. You must wear protective eyeglasses, binoculars, box projector or a telescope to safely witness the solar eclipse.

Tips to capture it by phone or camera

• You can use your smartphone or a DSLR camera to capture detailed images of the Annular Solar Eclipse, but you must scout a location where you will get a perfect view of the eclipse a few days ahead.
• ​If you are using a DSLR, you need to shoot through a telephoto lens to get well-defined shots.
• You must use a tripod to support your camera to get blur-free images of the eclipse.
• Keep a telescope handy with you, to track the sun during the eclipse and capture the shot just at the right moment.
• You should set your camera’s sensitivity to ISO 400 to keep exposures short and set its resolution to the highest level.
• While shooting the partial eclipse (when the eclipse starts), you should mount a solar filter in front of your telephoto lens and the telescope’s finder scope to protect it.
• Lastly, you can buy certified eclipse glasses or wear binoculars to safeguard your eyes from harmful rays while taking shots.

If you wish to get a more comprehensive guide on this, you can head to Space.com.

How to watch Solar Eclipse live stream

If you are not in the right geographical area where the Annular Solar Eclipse will be visible, you can catch the online live stream of the same on TimeandDate.com’s and Slooh’s official YouTube channel. You can alternatively also watch it here.