Solar Eclipse Workbench 1.5.1 Released — A Focus on Stability and Refinement

A new maintenance update for Solar Eclipse Workbench is now available!

Version 1.5.1 focuses primarily on bug fixes and small usability improvements, ensuring a smoother and more reliable experience for eclipse photographers and automation enthusiasts.

You can download the latest version on GitHub:
👉 https://github.com/AstroWimSara/SolarEclipseWorkbench

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⭐ What’s New in 1.5.1

Added

🗑️ Delete Saved Locations

One of the most requested features has now been added:

You can finally delete saved observing locations directly from the GUI.

A new Delete Location button appears whenever you select a stored location in the dropdown. Clicking the button opens a confirmation dialog; once confirmed, the location is removed both from the interface and from the configuration file (~/.sew_wizard_config.json).

This improvement is available in:

• The main GUI location picker
• The wizard interface

Here is a screenshot of the updated “Delete Saved Locations” section:

📌 Version Number in Window Titles

The application’s window titles now clearly display the version number.

This makes it much easier to track which version you are running—especially useful when switching between test builds.

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🛠️ Bug Fixes

📷 Nikon Burst Mode Reset Issue

Previously, after executing a take_burst command, the camera would remain stuck in burst/continuous mode. As a result, subsequent take_picture commands unintentionally fired bursts instead of single shots.

This release introduces:

• Automatic reset to single-frame mode immediately after a burst
• Reset of burstnumber back to 1
• A second safety layer: take_picture now explicitly enforces single-frame mode for Nikon cameras

This brings much better consistency and avoids unexpected burst captures during critical eclipse imaging moments.

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🌍 Timezone Detection for Sea/Ocean Locations

Locations over water—such as those in the Mediterranean—were previously assigned Etc/GMT because the underlying timezone library only detects land polygons.

The new _find_timezone() helper in reference_moments.py solves this by:

1. Attempting timezone_at_land() first
2. If the result is None (sea location), scanning outward in expanding radius steps (0.5° → 5°)
3. Assigning the nearest land-based timezone

This ensures that a location such as 39.924°N, 1.4271°E now correctly resolves to Europe/Madrid, not UTC.

This fix is also applied to the GUI job-scheduling table, improving automation accuracy.

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🎉 Final Thoughts

Solar Eclipse Workbench 1.5.1 may be a smaller update, but it delivers meaningful quality improvements—especially for Nikon users and anyone working with offshore eclipse locations. The added convenience of deleting saved locations also helps keep your workflow clean and organized.

Stay tuned for future updates, and don’t forget to star the project on GitHub if you find it useful!

👉 https://github.com/AstroWimSara/SolarEclipseWorkbench