Megamovie video captures eclipse coast-to-coast
solar eclipse that traversed the nation yesterday.
2 p.m. 8/22/17 Update: A second, more complete version of the movie (above) was released Tuesday, Aug. 22, with much improved density and a full list of volunteers who have submitted images so far.
Berkeley — Last evening, the Eclipse Megamovie project posted a preview of the photos of the total solar eclipse submitted by a cast of some 1,500 volunteers spread out along the path of totality.
The crowd-sourced video is the result of a collaboration between UC Berkeley solar physicists based at the Space Sciences Laboratory and Google engineers, who developed the algorithm to stitch the images together.
Published after 7 p.m. PDT Aug. 21, the video shows a selection of images from these citizen scientists, giving an extended look at the sun’s atmosphere. They were algorithmically stitched together based on the time and location of the photo; gaps in the coverage are filled by the previous image.
As more photos are uploaded and processed, these gaps will be filled in and the movie will get better and better, providing opportunities for the scientific community to study the sun for years to come.
RELATED INFORMATION
- Megamovie project to crowdsource images of August solar eclipse (February 2017)
- Total Solar Eclipse 2017: Here’s what you’ll see on Aug. 21 (June 2017)
- Megamovie app makes photographing total eclipse a snap (August 2017)
- Tips for viewing (and enjoying) Monday’s solar eclipse (August 2017)