A wide-angle view to the maximum of totality of the solar eclipse of Aug 1, 2008 [1-4] observed from nearly the central line from a place near Novosibirsk, RU (+54.8 deg. latitude). The observing point was located at the elevation of about 40m above the ground level without any obstruction to the view of horizon in the Eastern direction. Single exposures with handheld camera (0.17s, f/4, ISO400, f=16mm (24mm in 35mm equivalent)).
The angular altitude of the Sun in mid-totality from the point of observation was +30.0 deg and the duration of totality was 138s. Venus (-3.8m) and Mercury (-1.7m) are apparent in the image with a hint of Saturn (+1.6m) and barely a hint of Mars (+1.7m) in the left upper corner of the frame. A reference sky map for the maximum phase of the eclipse for a particular moment in time for the central lie of totality taken from page 65 of
NASA/TP—2007–214149 eclipse bulletin "Total Solar Eclipse of 2008 August 01" by F. Espenak and J. Anderson [5] is shown below.
The colors of the "circular dawn" (yellow with a hint of orange) are reproduced here close to the visual perception of the scene. The mouse-over effect shows the factor of 2x magnified area of the image close to the eclipsed Sun with Mercury and Venus nearby. The solar corona is far in the overlight on this single exposure image, but some far reaching streams in the corona are detectable.
The sky backdrop wasn't getting completely dark during the total phases of the eclipse as observed from this particular place, likely due to elongated configuration of the shadow and relatively small maximum phase of the eclipse (1.016 for this particular place): the circular dawn remained fairly bright on the sides even in mid-totality, so only the brightest planets and no stars showed up around the eclipsed Sun in this image.
[1]
https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEmono/TSE2008/TSE2008.html[2]
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/0004-637X/702/2/1297[3]
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/0004-637X/702/2/1297/pdf[4]
http://xjubier.free.fr/en/site_pages/solar_eclipses/TSE_2008_GoogleMapFull.html[5]
https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEpubs/20080801/TP214149b.pdf
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