Magical Skies, a division of "edutainment" company Magical Science, will Webcast tomorrow`s total solar eclipse in association with AfriCam.
Magical Skies (www.magicalskies.com) will cover the eclipse from 7.15am SA time on 4 December.
The team at Magical Science, headed up by technical director Kevin Crause, has assembled a specialised suite of hardware and software for the event.
Crause says high-resolution digital images will be captured via a computer-driven six mega-pixel, digital CCD camera attached to a high-power Meade Achromatic Refracting Telescope. The telescope is fitted with a specialised solar filter and has a computer-controlled drive system, which enables it to track the movement of the sun through the sky.
For a fee of $9.90, subscribers will be able to watch the eclipse as it happens, as well as have access to a range of downloadable extras, including an interview with astrophysicist Dr Warrick Lawson, who will provide a detailed explanation of the event. This interview will be available as a movie, a transcript and as an MP3 voice track.
Screensavers, wallpapers and two solar-related projects designed by educational scientist Case Rijsdijk are also on the site. A set of high-resolution images and a movie will be posted on the Web site after the eclipse.
The Magical Skies project is part of the Magical Science "virtual lab" initiative, and consists of an interactive "telescope Webcam" that provides pay-per-view or subscription access to high-resolution digital imagery of southern sky astronomical features.
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