Stellar background observation during Total Solar Eclipse March 9th 2016

• Published in: Journal of physics. Conference series Vol. 771; no. 1
• Main Authors: Mumtahana, Farahhati, Jaelani, Anton Timur, Muhamad, Johan, Sutastio, Heri
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Bristol IOP Publishing 01.11.2016
• Subjects: Darkness; Field of view; Mathematical analysis; Measuring instruments; Night sky; Physics; Position measurement; Solar eclipses; Stars
• ISSN: 1742-6588; 1742-6596
• DOI: 10.1088/1742-6596/771/1/012038

We report observation and an early analysis of stellar background from total solar eclipse in Ternate, Indonesia. The eclipse phenomena which occurred on March, 9th 2016 was observed with certain portable instruments in order to obtain the stars behind the Sun in particular field of view and resolution. From our observation site in Ternate city, solar eclipse occurred in the late morning when the weather was unfortunately cloudy. However, during the darkness of totality, we obtained several point source objects between the gaps of the moving clouds and we suspected them as very faint stars due to their appearance in several frames. Those so called stars have been identified and measured with respect to their positions toward the center of the Sun. The main purpose of this research is to revisit strong lensing calculation of the Sun during total solar eclipse by measuring the deflection angle of the background stars as it had been calculated by Einstein and proved by Eddington at a total solar eclipse in 1919. To accomplish this aim, we need to conduct another observation to measure position of the same stars in the next period when those stars appear in the night sky.