Long time skywatcher, first total solar eclipse...


I have read many accounts and seen many pictures, and Bailey's Beads are
emphasized. Yet that effect seemed to last but a fraction of a second and was
not that pronounced. I expect this changes from eclipse to eclipse, but also
perhaps the Beads are more of a photographic artifact. Also, are Bailey's Beads
the "diamond" in the diamond ring effect?

I assume the "ring" in the diamond ring effect is the white line encircling the
moon that appeared briefly at second contact. This seemed to last a bit longer
than the Beads -- perhaps about a second.

Another thing I observed during second contact greatly surprised me, and I've
never seen it mentioned in accounts. At the same time the "ring" appeared I
also saw what I can only describe as "sparkles" or something twinkling. At
first I dismissed it as my own excitement, but I observed the same effect when
the "ring" appeared at third contact. I have not seen this in any pictures or
videos. (Again, at third contact the Bailey's Beads were not particularly
pronounced to my eye.)

Anybody else observe sparkles or twinkling at second & third contacts?

One thing that this eclipse has driven home to me, by both the eclipse itself
and my attempts to photograph some small-town buildings in a rainy twilight, is
that cameras -- film, digital, and video -- simply do not respond to light the
same way the human eye does. We like to pretend cameras are the same as our
eyes, but they are not. I have seen many nice eclipse photos, but even the best
ones don't quite capture the quality of light I witnessed: the glow of the
corona, or the neon brilliance of the prominences.