Support for Legacy versions of CaptureEclipse

If you are viewing this page, it is likely because your system cannot run the latest version of the software, which requires Apple Silicon and an up-to-date version of macOS. Although I can no longer support Intel-based Macs or pre-Tahoe operating systems, your current software will continue to function.

Because the Intel baseline is no longer being updated, the primary issue is that the important prediction parameter, ΔT, will not receive updates. However, you can easily update it yourself by following the detailed instructions here.

Past Versions

Review changes in Past Versions here

Quick Start

Since many will not want to read many pages of detailed instruction nor wish to use an actual camera or GPS before starting to use the program here is a quick walkthrough that will allow you to get a feel on how it works. Many other examples are included in the Learning section

Texas 2024 with Simulated Camera

Even though this eclipse is in the past I will be using this as the example. In version 2.0 the "2024 USA Total" button will be replaced by "2027 Luxor". To make this easy let's use one of the canned eclipses provided and a simulated camera
Start the App
Splash Screen

If this is the first time you have started the app take a moment to read the reminders. This same information will appear in the master help menu. By hitting "I Agree" you are agreeing to the EULA.

Define Eclipse Dialog

Again if this is the first time you have run the application then you will be presented with the Define Eclipse Dialog.

Select 2024 Test Case

Click on the "2024 USA Total" Test Case button. The program will fill in the circumstances for Dallas, TX on April 8, 2024. Press Save. Note the text that describes the age of the correction for earth rotation (ΔT). This example was captured before USNO updated the value.

Again in Version 2.0 This scenario has been replaced

In 2.2 this dialog was changed to accept negative numbers for S and W. It eliminated the toggles that were present in earlier versions

Select Camera

The program will then automatically attempt to select a camera. If you have a real camera you will get a different dialog shown in Learning. Since no camera is connected you get the "Did not Find" dialog. Normally this means your camera might be off. In this case we want to use a simulated camera so we press the appropriate button

Camera Parameters

Since we are assuming this is your first use of the program the Camera Preferences Dialog will appear. This dialog contains some important information on how you want to control your camera. For now we will just accept the defaults and move on. We come back to this dialog in Learning

The names of solar filters changed in 2.0 The new names are described in Learning

Scenario Parameters

The last dialog is to configure how you want to capture this particular eclipse. The phenomena of the eclipse are listed along with how many exposures you want to take. Not all eclipses will allow you to take a full set of photos (I picked the Texas eclipse for a reason). In general the defaults are fine except for the corona exposures and earthshine. Depending on your mount settings from the previous dialog and the eclipse duration you may have to make some decisions. This dialog lets you test your decision to make sure that the camera and moon will cooperate to give you what you want.

Note also that the Texas 24 eclipse is a total eclipse. When you go through the the Albuquerque Oct 23 test case in Learning you will notice a different dialog. That is because Oct 23 is an annular eclipse. Different phenomena will be captured.

Since this example uses a simulated camera a new feature that optionally downloads images from the camera is hidden.

Ready to Run
After you push "Save" the task list will appear in Monitor Window. This is the main window of the application so let's spend some time talking about the parts.
  • The site information is on the upper left
  • The current camera state is to the right of the site
  • Below the site are two time displays. The display labeled "Run Time" is what time the program thinks it is. In what we are about to do it shows a simulated offset. In one of the operational time modes Time this will show a correction to a poorly sync'd system clock (or a correct system clock if you have properly synced the time).
  • Moving to the upper right is the big Run button. It is big and obvious since when you are on site the last thing you want is to be searching for it. If you have a touchbar equipped Mac® then the button will also be in the touchbar.
  • Below the Run button is the event list. This provides the actual times when the events will occur. These will agree with the "Run Time" time. The column to the right is the time in "Adjusted Time". This can be safely ignored.
  • Last but not least is the task list. This is a time ordered set of tasks. This should be fairly obvious, but if you want more information see Details
Use Simulated Time
You could press Run at this point and take a generous coffee break. If you wanted to proceed with a test now you can use one of the simulated time modes.
Under the Time->Practice menu select C2. Note that the run time has changed to be a little over 15 minutes before C2.
Now we are ready to hit run and watch what happens.
The Capture Eclipse Folder
When CaptureEclipse runs it creates a special folder (marked with its icon) in the Documents directory. Within this folder are all of the user visible files.
Files from this run
Now let's expand the folder. Within is a log file created for the run. That file is described more in Details
Next is a directory of files for this run. For each of the images your script "took", a file is created with the simulated time and with an image that corresponds to the type of exposure you scripted. If we were using a real camera then the images would still be in the camera. This program does not down load them.
This is an example of the file recorded as a C2 (or C3) burst
Run another Day
What happens when you close the app down and come back another day? The app remembers whatever state is unchanged. From now you you will not see the splash screen. Instead of the Define Eclipse dialog you will have the Open dialog.
This is mostly a convenience when you are back home. Unless you are shooting from a friend's backyard you will rarely have good lat/long. No problem hit cancel and select Site->New.
From here you will get the camera dialog above. The Camera Preferences is not necessary so that will be skipped ( you can edit the preferences from the camera menu). Finally the scenario menu will appear defaulted with the last values.
So that is your introductory tour. You can continue the tutorial on the Learn pages (or just start using it). Do take the time to learn about Burst Mode and take the time to read the Time page. If you have not done so you might also want to review Photographing Solar Eclipses to learn about the rest of the process.

FootNotes

[1] And in case you are not familiar with the Cx terminology, Cx refers to the xth Contact as described in the reference

keep nova happy