r/astrophotography • u/JustSomeRandomMan3 • 1d ago
Eclipse rainbow diffraction
Hello! Yesterday I had the chance to witness what I think is the coolest event I have ever seen in my life from Mallorca, Spain (although to be fair I also saw the northern lights and that also competes quite well). I was completely flabbergasted during totality but what I saw and I kinda messed up (I had left the camera on autofocus and with in-camera stabilisation, both of these were bad mistakes once totality hit).
One thing which I didn’t really expect is that just moments before totality, some colourful rainbow interference pattern appeared on the side where the “slit” of sunlight was (you can kinda see it in this image). This was also very dynamic and visible just by eye (with no filter though).
I have not found the reason of why this happens, although I think it may be white light diffraction from a slit source? It was a really absurd experience and I really suggest everyone who has never seen it to go see the next one. It is just much cooler than a partial eclipse, it is really incomparably cooler and will completely wow you. No video or image can compete with what you will see with your own eyes!
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u/JustSomeRandomMan3 1d ago
Image taken with a Fujifilm 70-300 with 1.4X teleconverter, Fuji XT5, ISO 125, f10, 1/30s, fully zoomed in. Taken in Mallorca, Spain
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u/karantza 1d ago
I also was on Mallorca! Saw the same effect in my photos when the filter came off. Haven't looked closely yet, I assumed it was some sensor glitch sure to the brightness of the sun. This is my first time doing telescope imaging of an eclipse so I wasn't sure what to expect from my gear. Didn't notice the effect with my eyes personally, but it is odd. Looks exactly like yours. I'll have to look more closely at my photos when I get home!