Friday, August 3rd
This program has been made with great care. Nevertheless, (last minute) changes remain possible.Click on the lecture title to read more information about the speaker, his/her lecture and to download the presentation.
08h00 - 09h00 Registration
09h00 - 09h30 Introduction (Sheridan Williams)
About Sheridan Williams
Sheridan is a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society and ex-Director of the Computing Section of the British Astronomical Association and has archived over 100 years of BAA Journals. He was a founder contributor to Britain's longest running personal computing magazine "Personal Computer World" and was a Senior Lecturer in computer science and mathematics at Hendon College.
Prior to that he worked as a "Rocket Scientist" with the Ministry of Defence using a Ferranti Mk.1 computer and also analogue computers. After running his own very successful computer network company for 20 years he retired in 2001. He now works as a volunteer for the National Museum of Computing (http://www.tnmoc.org) (the home of Colossus and the Bombe) at Bletchley Park.
Sheridan has led astronomy tours for various tour companies and takes groups to remote places to witness astronomical events such as eclipses, transits, aurorae, meteor showers and observatories. This has taken him to places as diverse as Siberia, the Atacama Desert in Peru, Madagascar, the Gobi desert in China, Libya, Tahiti, Morocco, Sulawesi and many other places. Sheridan has seen 16 total solar eclipses. In the 1990s Sheridan was a modestly successful car rally, sprint and racing driver competing in the latter events in a Ferrari and has competed many times in Belgium.
Publications include a book on UK Total Solar Eclipses, Bradt Guides to the various eclipses, transits and aurorae. Appearances on TV and radio, including presenting Sky TV's total eclipse programme from Cornwall in 1999.
Abstract
Starting in the year 2000, Solar Eclipse Conferences have been held in every year that
there is no total solar eclipse. The prime-mover in these were Patrick and Joanne
Poitevin, who conceived the idea and planned each event. We are indebted to them for
starting such a marvellous series of conferences.
During the introduction I want to all delegates to act as evangelists and get rid of
myths and inaccuracies (fake news!). Try and get across the splendour and awe-
inspiring spectacle.
To help I will show the conversion of a sceptic and his profound apology to his friend.
Also I want the delegates to go forth and educate the younger generation. Eclipses can
be used to further so many areas of the curriculum: Astronomy, Nature, Maths,
Geography, Physics, Chemistry, People, History
Video of "Doubting Thomas"
(Doubting Thomas: watch from 2m30-5m16 and 5m50s-7m30s)
With any luck we should also be honoured with eclipse-guru Jean Meeus on
Saturday. It is difficult to get across how much Jean has influenced the eclipse
community. He is a splendid mathematician who over his nearly 90 years has
calculated eclipses, transits and other rare celestial events. I will present a full tribute
to Jean during the Discussion period on Saturday from 11:20 - 12 noon. I do hope that
he will be willing to join the team for this.
Downloads
09h30 - 09h45 Announcements, About the conference (SEC2018)
About SEC2018
Abstract
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09h45 - 10h30 Fooling Mother Nature: Recent and Upcoming Eclipse Flight Opportunities (Glenn Schneider)
About Glenn Schneider
Dr. Glenn Schneider is an Astronomer at University of Arizona's Department of Astronomy and Steward Observatory where, since 1994, he served as the Project Instrument Scientist for the Hubble SpaceTelescope's Near Infra-red Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer. He is the Principal Investigator for the EXoplanetary Circumstellar Environments and Disk Explorer (EXCEDE), a MIDEX class Explorer mission concept recently completing a NASA sponsored, technology development and maturation program. His research interests are primarily centered on studying the formation, evolution, architectures, properties, and diversity of extrasolar planetary systems. His studies have led to the direct detection of sub-stellar and planetary mass companions of young and near-by stars and of materials in circumstellar environments from which such systems may arise and interact. In concert with his scientific investigations of circumstellar dust, debris disks, and co-orbital bodies they may harbor, he has played a leading role in the development of very high contrast space-based coronagraphic and near-infrared imaging systems and techniques with space-based assets leading to spatially resolved scattered-light images of the birthplaces of planetary systems. Dr. Schneider is a member of the International Astronomical Union's Working Group on Solar Eclipses with expertise in the high-precision numerical calculation of eclipse circumstances and the application of those computations in planning and carrying out observations of total solar eclipses. For more than four decades, Dr. Schneider has lead expeditionary groups and conducted such observations on land, sea and air of thirty-four total solar eclipses occurring since 7 March 1970 from remote locations across the globe conducting direct, polarimetric, and spectrophotometric imaging programs. In concert, he has executed seven, and planned many more, high-altitude eclipse intercepts with jet aircraft. He has also been deeply engaged in studies of other Solar System "shadow events," including the recent transits of Mercury and Venus as nearby analogs of extra-solar planetary transits. Additional information on his background and research interests may be found at : http://nicmosis.as.arizona.edu:8000.
Abstract
"Chasing" the Moon's umbral shadow, or more correctly having it chase you, to observe a total solar eclipse from above the surface of the Earth using a suitable aircraft is not a new idea. Aircraft have been exploited for this purpose, now, for more than a century. Observing from, in particular, high-altitude (flight level circa 12 km) commercial jet aircraft in service today, with ground speeds typically about 830 km/hr, can provide some distinct advantages (when properly executed) over ground-based venues. These include the most obvious incentives of getting above otherwise obscuring cloud cover (i.e., "eclipse insurance"), extending the duration of totality when (as always!) every precious second counts, and observing with pristine clear/dark skies from above 75% or more of the Earth's atmosphere, as among the "top 10" reasons for taking flight. Yet, only a small fraction of umbraphiles have yet availed themselves of such an opportunity, but is something every eclipse chaser should plan to do at least once for a well-chosen TSE. Herein, I review a subset of recent (2015 - 2017) eclipse flights undertaken since SEC 2014 (including the 'inside story' of two back-to-back executed by Alaska Airlines), and discuss flight opportunities and "logistics" for the soon upcoming TSEs 2019, 2020, and 2021.
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10h50 - 12h00 Airborne Eclipse Chasing (Stephan Heinsius)
About Stephan Heinsius
Fascinated by the view to the sky since childhood days and having seen a partial solar eclipse 1976 at the age of 12 I now travel since 20 years to observe solar eclipses all over the world. My first view to totality was in 1998 on the island of Guadeloupe. After a rainy total solar eclipse 1999 in Germany I started eclipse chasing, which led me to remote places like the Zambesi valley in Zimbabwe, central Anatolia in Turkey and the Gobi desert in China. My eclipse journeys and expeditions are accompanied by experience reports, photos and videos I present via internet for each of the occasions.
With the professional background of a computer science study I work as a management consultant for companies mainly in the financial services and IT sector for project management and IT security related matters. Applying especially my project management skills to eclipse chasing, lead me to manage an international solar eclipse conference in China 2008 and an eclipse flight adventure over the Atlantic in 2013.
My eclipse experience reports and images can be found on www.eclipseland.com
Abstract
The lecture gives insights in planning, preparing, coordinating and experiencing solar eclipse observations from the air. The presentation is based on a flight having been organized by Dirk Ewers and myself to catch the transitional solar eclipse on 3rd November 2013 over the Atlantic Ocean southeast of Bermuda.
At an altitude of 44500 feet a small international group of eclipse chasers observed and photographed phenomena like a ring of chromosphere or multiple diamond ring and bead effects that can only be observed in a zone between total and annular eclipse.
The presentation includes video sequences of the eclipse taken on board. Optionally a report from German ZDF television can be presented which was broadcast on the evening of eclipse day on national news in Germany.
Finally the lecture gives an outlook to upcoming similar eclipse events in the 21st century.
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About Kris Delcourte
Kris Delcourte studied Mathematics with a specialization in Astronomy at
the Catholic University of Leuven (Belgium). In 1980, during his
promotion year, he travelled with some fellow students to Kenya to
observe his first total solar eclipse. This event marked the beginning of his
eclipse chasing addiction.
After graduating in Astronomy, he obtained a second master degree in
Computer Science. Professionally, he worked for many years in the ICT
sector, mostly managing developments of applications related to the Air
Traffic Flow Management of Europe as employee of Eurocontrol, the
European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation. Since 2011, he
joined Europe's Air Traffic Management (ATM) research program for the
Single European Sky, called SESAR. He was Project Manager of the
"Flexible Airspace Management" research project and he currently is
Project Manager of the "Optimised Airspace Users Operations" project.
Ever since he witnessed his first eclipse in 1980, Kris became passionate
towards this great natural phenomenon and is continuously looking
forward to seeing the next total solar eclipse. He has experienced 17 total
and 6 annular eclipses.
Since 2009 Kris is leading the working group "Eclipses" from the Belgian
amateur astronomy society (called VVS).
Kris is also an experienced photographer and graduated in photography
after following part-time evening courses from the Academy of Fine Arts
in Leuven (Belgium). You can find his works regularly posted at the site:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/krisdelcourte/sets/.
Since a few years landscape photography is his passion and you will also
find that passion back in his search for photogenic eclipse locations.
Abstract
Usually the number one criteria (besides the price) to select an eclipse location is the chance for good weather. But how about considering the most photogenic location to put yourself and your camera equipment in the shadow of the Moon?
With a few examples of past eclipses I will take you through some of the most amazing eclipse locations, illustrated with images. We will look at future eclipses and the opportunities this will bring for shooting unique pictures.
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14h05 - 14h55 Eclipses through philately (Martine Tlouzeau)
About Martine Tlouzeau
Martine, now retired, is a former "Load Master" for Air France at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris.
She is involved with astronomy since the early 80.
She founded and has been president of the CADRA (Cercle Astronomique pour le Développement des Rencontres entre Amateurs),
one of the first social networkin the "French Minitel" virtual space.
Martine saw her first Eclipse in 1994 (ASE1994 from Madera Island) and then Brazil (94),
Guadeloupe (98), France (99), Zimbabwe (2001), Costa-Rica (2001), South Africa 2002, Scotland (ASE2003), Egypt (2006), Pacific Cruise (2009)
Martine discovered Scuba Diving with her husband Jean-Paul and remains a "Concorde addict".
Abstract
It all started in February 1999 during a diving stay on Bonaire Island (Dutch Caribbean).
I entered the small Kralendijk post office to buy local stamps for my postcards and I got here my first eclipse stamps.
The 1998 Total Solar Eclipse passed over the A B C Islands (Aruba, Curacao and Bonaire), then the Dutch Caribbean administration
decided to issue a set of commemorative stamps.
As an eclipse chaser I thought it could be a good idea to collect eclipse stamps.
I bought the full set and never stopped searching. It took me around four years to gather about 400 stamps,
and Internet was a great help. I discovered that most eclipse chasers do collect eclipse stamps too and how easy it is to swap.
Once I gathered all my eclipse stamps, I missed the searching hobby, so I decided to start a new challenge :
collect the First Day Covers, maxi cards, souvenir sheets and phone cards…eclipse related!
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About Daniel Fischer
Born 1964, astronomer by training, science journalist since the 1980s, eclipse chaser since 1983 (21 totals, 10 annulars, some partials), nowadays often as group lead.
Abstract
What does it take to get decent images of annular or total solar eclipses in the 21st century with electronic consumer cameras? Having discovered by chance ten years ago that even a simple compact 'travel' camera could capture the totality sky well, the speaker has experimented since 2012 with a so-called bridge or superzoom camera which would eventually find clear skies for the two central eclipses of 2017. As it was already quite old by then, rather daring experiments were tried in particular during the annular in Argentina - with fascinating results. The trade-off between extremely light travel and simple operations vs. the archievable image quality will be discussed, with an outlook towards recommendations to the public for the upcoming South American eclipses and eventually the Next Great American.
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16h00 - 16h45 The eye safety campaign for the 2017 TSE (Ralph Chou)
About Ralph Chou
Editor-in-Chief, Canadian Journal of Optometry
President, Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, Toronto Centre
Past President, Science Teachers' Association of Ontario
Chair, CSA Technical Committee on Industrial Eye and Face Protection
Professor Emeritus
School of Optometry & Vision Science
University of Waterloo
Abstract
The eye safety campaign for the 2017 total solar eclipse built on the experience of the campaign for the 2012 TSE in Australia. A one-page guide to safe viewing of the solar eclipse was prepared for distribution to the general public, as well as a technical reference guide that provided evidence-based background information on solar eclipse eye injuries and safe observing methods. The American Astronomical Society supported preparation of these documents and their adoption by the American Academy of Optometry and American Academy of Ophthalmology as well as the Canadian Association of Optometrists. The ISO 12312-2:2015 standard was used to determine acceptability of solar eclipse glasses being sold online on amazon.com and certification reports were reviewed by the authors as part of the safety campaign. One of the authors (BRC) prepared online videos explaining how to use solar eclipse glasses and how to photograph the eclipse. These were accessed through the websites of the American Academies of Optometry and Ophthalmology. This was probably the most successful solar eclipse eye safety campaign in that virtually all sources of eye safety information in North America gave the same advice to the public, eliminating the sometimes conflicting and confusing messages that have characterized previous campaigns.
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About Jörg Schoppmeyer
Jörg was born on May 9, 1966. After the eclipse May 30, 1984 he started computer
programming to have predictions for future eclipse. Programming was very easy for him so
from 1986-1992 he studied computer science with a focus on compiler building and massive
parallel algorithms on transputer cpu's. Since 1992 he works for kühn&weyh Software GmbH
(k&w) , a typical German medium-sized business. k&w is a software producer for enterprise
output management solutions (OMS) , the headquarter is in Freiburg, Germany and they have
a branch in Pilsen, Czech Republic. Since many years Jörg is part owner, CEO and Head of
Development at k&w.
Jörg is addicted to astronomy and an eclipse chaser since 1976. His first real expedition was
for the annular eclipse May 30, 1984, which he observed successfully at sunset in Morocco.
Since then he has observed 49 solar eclipses, 16 total,15 annular and 18 partial eclipses. He
also observed 31 total and 11 partial lunar eclipses. For 18 years from June 2001 to February
2018 Jörg observed respectively traveled for every solar and every umbral lunar eclipse. This
series was interrupted by the solar eclipse July 1, 2011 which was only observed by satellites.
With a very few exceptions all travel is organized by himself and "payed" with miles and
points (frequent flyer miles). In 2012 he made a self-organized round the world tour for a
solar eclipse, a lunar eclipse and the venus transit. Involved were 4 airlines and altogether
800.000 points were burned for this once in a lifetime journey.
Abstract
At the annular solar eclipse of 26.02.2017 in the Argentine Pampa, the observation of a perfect thin ring from the center line was planned, but it turned out quite different and suddenly my recordings were of scientific interest. This talk shows the results and how it came about.
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About -
Abstract
Saturday, August 4th
This program has been made with great care. Nevertheless, (last minute) changes remain possible.Click on the lecture title to read more information about the speaker, his/her lecture and to download the presentation.
About Mike Simmons
Mike Simmons has been an amateur astronomer for 45 years and has always loved sharing the sky with others. In the 1970's he was president of the Los Angeles Astronomical Society and an operator of the Zeiss 12-inch refracting telescope for the public at Griffith Observatory, a major public facility in Los Angeles. In the 1980's he was the founding president of the Mount Wilson Observatory Association, which helped the professional observatory provide a better experience for its public visitors. He became as eclipse chaser with the 1979 eclipse in the US. Eclipse chasing led Mike to Iran in 1999 where he found an enthusiastic astronomy community lacking resources. His efforts to connect amateur astronomers he met in Iran, and during subsequent trips to Iraq, with American amateurs led to the founding of Astronomers Without Borders, an organization that unites astronomy and space enthusiasts around the world through their common passion for astronomy, where he now serves as president. Mike is also a writer and photographer and is currently a Contributing Editor at Sky and Telescope magazine. Mike received the 2014 Gabrielle and Camille Flammarion Prize from the Société Astronomique de France (SAF) for "setting a worldwide example that astronomy does transcend political and cultural borders." He was awarded the Clifford W. Holmes Award, an honor given annually by RTMC, for a "Major Contribution to Popularizing Astronomy." In 2009 Mike received the G. Bruce Blair Award given annually by the Western Amateur Astronomers for "outstanding contributions to amateur astronomy." In 2003, Minor Planet Simmons (22294) was named in his honor in part for his "varied outreach activities in astronomy."
Abstract
Efforts for the US eclipse of 2017, in which Astronomers Without Borders (AWB) played a small role, were huge successful. AWB will build not only on lessons learned but also existing resources to support South American and Asia with total solar eclipses and annular eclipses, respectively, in 2019 and 2020. Since the 2017 eclipse, AWB has gathered almost three million used and leftover eclipse glasses for use in other countries. AWB 2017 efforts included creation of an educational program using light to introduce STEM education in all fields, with the eclipse as inspiration. South America's two total solar eclipses in two years provide unprecedented opportunities to build on AWB educational programs, in partnership with other organizations, using light for STEM education and increasing awareness of the importance of total solar eclipses. AWB plans to use a donated 17-meter truck trailer as a mobile classroom in South America, pending funding.
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10h00 - 10h35 The benefits of a school eclipse education program (Terry Cuttle)
About Terry Cuttle
Terry Cuttle is a retired engineer and keen amateur astronomer and astro photographer with a particular interest in eclipses, comets and other transient phenomena. He has been to 16 total solar eclipses. Terry was heavily involved in planning and preparation for the Total Solar Eclipse in Queensland, Australia in 2012. He was instrumental in the development and implementation of a science education program focussed on eclipses for schools in the State of Queensland prior to the eclipse. He was also very active in assisting government and local and tourism authorities and the media in planning and preparation for that eclipse. He also participated in the American Astronomical Society's planning workshops for the 2017 USA eclipse.
Abstract
A science education program focussed on eclipses was implemented for schools in the State of Queensland, Australia prior to the 2012 TSE. Feedback indicated that this was very successful in assisting teachers to include real science into the classroom. A key objective was to stimulate a long term interest in science for students. It also assisted in distributing information and advice about the eclipse to the wider population. A similar program, if implemented at future eclipses is likely to return similar benefits. Terry will describe the Queensland program and its results, discuss some of the related activities implemented for the 2017 USA total eclipse and suggest what could possibly be achieved at future eclipses.
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About Bill Kramer
Bill Kramer is a veteran of 17 total solar eclipses. He programmed and now manages the www.eclipse-chasers.com web site where eclipse enthusiasts can provide content, log their observations, and share images. Currently retired and living in Jamaica, Bill and his wife Denise operated a computer consulting company specializing in CAD/CAM and engineering/scientific applications development for several decades.
Abstract
What interests an eclipse chaser and what interests the Press is a not always in harmony. The eclipse in America on 21 August 2017 was a widely covered event. Ranging from local news media up to national entertainment venues eclipse experts were sought after commodities. Just what kind of questions did they ask, what kind of answers did they like, and what was the result of all the press coverage? Can we learn anything from how it was handled?
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About -
Abstract
Do you still have an unanswered question? Now is your time. Ask the panel any sun/eclipse related question.
Participating speakers:
- Nick James
- Mike Simmons
- Ralph Chou
- Kris Delcourte
- Terry Cuttle
- Bill Kramer
- Glenn Schneider
- Jay Anderson
- Xavier Jubier
- Jay Pasachoff
- Michael Zeiler
About Ralph Chou
Editor-in-Chief, Canadian Journal of Optometry
President, Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, Toronto Centre
Past President, Science Teachers' Association of Ontario
Chair, CSA Technical Committee on Industrial Eye and Face Protection
Professor Emeritus
School of Optometry & Vision Science
University of Waterloo
Abstract
Clinical assessment of solar retinopathy has been limited to fundus photography and visual field analysis, both of which are limited in their ability to determine the locus and severity of damage to the retina. Spectral domain optical coherence tomography of the retina allows clinicians to assess retinal damage in the living eye in a manner similar to the histological studies of experimentally induced photic retinopathy of the 20 th century. The new imaging techniques of SD-OCT are reviewed and images of eclipse-related solar retinopathy are presented.
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About Michael Zeiler
Michael Zeiler is a geographer and eclipse chaser. He enjoys combining his personal interest in eclipses with his professional skills to make eclipse maps of high cartographic quality. Michael is employed as a product engineer by Esri, the leading provider of GIS software. Michael and his wife Polly White operate the websites
Abstract
The past masters of eclipse cartography introduced many innovations including perhaps the earliest temporal maps and early thematic mapping. Michael will begin with a quick survey of early remarkable eclipse maps. Then he will display and discuss a selection of modern eclipse maps in several forms; conventional maps, web maps, and animations. Lastly, Michael will preview eclipse mapping projects under way.
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About Serge Koutchmy
Position :
Directeur de recherches emeritus at CNRS France and Sorbonne University (Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris, UMR 7095)
Research :
45 Years of activity ; published more than 500 papers and several books in Solar Physics,
instrumental and observational astrophysics ; main adviser of 12 PhDs
Observed successfuly more than 20 solar total eclipses at ground all around the Word, and
also with ships, large telescopes and several times air- borne, including the flight of the
Concorde super- sonic jet in 1973.
PI of several Space- borne experiment including an imaging experiment during the flight of
the 1st French Cosmonaut in 1982.
Many collaborations in Europe, with the former Soviet Union before 1990, with Iran (several
PhD students, with Angola, with Egypt, with China and in USA. Work for 4 Years at the US
Air Force best solar observatory of Sacramento Peak in New Mexico for predicting solar
perturbations.
Awards :
Medals of the French (CNES) and of the Russian Space Agencies, of the French
Academy of Sciences (Janssen Price); Janssen medal of the French Astronomical Society and
the French Academy in 1998.
Abstract
New experiments were prepared at the occasion of the recent total eclipses (2010- 2017). A short over-view of the results is first given, including i) the so- called solar diameter measurements using multiple light curve records; ii) the light deflection effect using the measurements of stars; iii) High resolution imaging of the coronal structure.
We then concentrate on the coronal aspects giving example of results on the coronal dynamics physics and especially on spectroscopy. The very low layers of the solar atmosphere and the coronal high temperature layers are analyzed using i) the fast slit- less spectroscopy; ii) the deep slit spectroscopy that includes the contribution of the far away dust component poorly studied in Space. Classical and new coronal emission lines and their full profiles are finally discussed.
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About Xavier Jubier
Xavier M. Jubier is an engineer and currently works as an IT Manager in a multinational French company outside of Paris. He started to get involved with solar eclipses in the early 90's and now tries to combine three of his passions: solar eclipses, travel and photography.
Xavier is a member of IAU Working Group on Solar Eclipses ( http://www.iau.org/science/scientific_bodies/working_groups/93/).
He maintains a website (http://xjubier.free.fr/en/) related to eclipses and has been directly involved in a few world premieres notably in Antarctica or high above the Western Atlantic Ocean on the edge of the Bermuda triangle.
In early 2007, he released the Five Millennium Canon of Solar Eclipses (5MCSE http://xjubier.free.fr/5mcse) web tool to allow the exploration of 11,898 solar eclipses. A simplified version of this tool was later adapted for NASA's website and the same tool was later released for the corresponding 12,064 lunar eclipses (5MCLE http://xjubier.free.fr/5mcle) but also for the Mercury and Venus solar transits (6MCST http://xjubier.free.fr/6mcst). The year after he released Solar Eclipse Maestro (http://xjubier.free.fr/sem) a new software to automatize the photography of solar eclipses and much more, then soon after Lunar Eclipse Maestro (http://xjubier.free.fr/lem) for lunar eclipses and Mercury Venus Transit Maestro for Mercury and Venus Transits (http://xjubier.free.fr/mvtm ).
All these tools are widely used by the eclipse chasing community and outside as well.
Abstract
When making sub-second eclipse predictions a number of key factors come into play. The last few decades provided us accurate ephemeris, the current decade accurate lunar limb profiles, yet we're still struggling with the size of our Sun, that is the true photospheric solar radius which is used to compute eclipse contact times.
We will see that the true photospheric solar radius is substantially larger than the standard IAU solar radius value used by all eclipse predictions and that amateurs can help make more accurate measurements during total or deep annular solar eclipses.
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About Calvin Johnson
Calvin is a member of the Making & Science team at Google, which works to support the making and scientific communities and inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers. Calvin has been at Google for 7 years in a variety of program management roles and now leads the Making & Science team's citizen science and children's robotics competition programs. August 2017 was Calvin's first total solar eclipse and he now understands what all the fuss is about. 2019 can't come soon enough!
Before Google, Calvin studied biology in college and worked at a children's museum and zoo caring for animals in the zoo and leading science themed summer camps for elementary school kids.
Abstract
The 2017 eclipse presented a fantastic opportunity to leverage the excitement of the first total solar eclipse to cross the US in decades into an outreach and scientific opportunity. The Eclipse Megamovie project recruited and trained over a thousand volunteer photographers from across the country and collected 40,000 images of the eclipse. A preview of the dataset was processed and released the day of the eclipse and the full dataset (and source code) has been open sourced and released to the public.
The project was a partnership between Google, UC Berkeley, the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, and many others. With complementary skills and experiences, the collaboration between these different members from academia, industry and amateur astronomy networks is what made this project possible. We'll review what went well, what didn't, and how we can bring what we learned and built into future eclipses.
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This will be an online presentation.
About Matt Penn
Dr. Matt Penn became interested in solar physics as an undergraduate during a summer research job at Caltech's Big Bear Solar Observatory. At the University of Hawaii he completed a dissertation examining plasma oscillations in the umbrae of sunspots. From 1992 to 2018, Penn worked in the fields of infrared spectropolarimetry and coronal physics, mostly at the National Solar Observatory. He ran the sky brightness site survey, developed science requirements, and instigated instrumentation for the new 4m solar telescope on Maui. For three years Dr. Penn taught on the faculty at the California State University Northridge. He has published 70 papers, worked closely with over 40 students, and has contributed on advisory committees for NASA. Dr. Penn's Citizen CATE Experiment for the 2017 total solar eclipse combined funding from private, corporate and federal sources to support 260 volunteers observing at 70 sites across the USA, and even generated an invitation to testify about CATE to Congress.
Dr. Penn currently works as an electro-optical engineer in industry. He lives in Tucson Arizona with his wife and daughter, is an avid amatuer astronomer, and advises local high school students about research projects in STEM.
Abstract
The inner corona is notoriously difficult to study. Space-based observations are limited to narrowband filter images or high energy X-ray imaging which are not sensitive to all coronal plasma temperatures. Ground-based observations are made sampling continuum radiation, especially polarized brightness, and thus sample all of the coronal plasma; but these observations must contend with high sky-scattered background levels and thus suffer from lower signal to noise ratios. Eclipse observations present the ideal opportunity to observe the inner coronal continuum radiation, and the 2017 total solar eclipse presented a unique opportunity (Hudson et al. 2012).
From any one location along the path of the 2017 eclipse, the solar corona was visible for about 150 seconds. In order for the lunar shadow to transit completely across the continent required 93 minutes, and thus if observations could be collected and merged from several sites across the eclipse path, the inner corona could be observed for a long period of time. The Citizen Continental-America Telescopic Eclipse (CATE) Experiment was developed to exploit this opportunity. The experiment decided to use identical equipment at a set of stations across the country, and aimed at recruiting a collection of diverse, non-professional volunteers from many different locations to use the equipment. Leading up to 2017 an initial test run was conducted in 2015 and a network of sites was established in 2016.
We describe the Citizen CATE Experiment and discuss some initial results including: the details of the site instrumentation, the volunteer network and the training program for these volunteers, the performance of the CATE network on the day of the eclipse, and the resulting CATE data set and some of the initial scientific results from the observations.
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Sunday, August 5th
This program has been made with great care. Nevertheless, (last minute) changes remain possible.Click on the lecture title to read more information about the speaker, his/her lecture and to download the presentation.
About Nick James
I am an engineer working in Chelmsford UK and I lead a team which is responsible for implementing highly sensitive and accurate systems for receiving and processing signals from deep-space spacecraft. In 2016 my team received the Royal Academy of Engineering Major Team Award for our contribution to the successful cometary rendezvous carried out by the ESA Rosetta spacecraft and its lander Philae and we are now working on the needs of future missions such as JUICE and Euclid.
I am a keen amateur astronomer and have been a member of the British Astronomical Association since I was 12. I am now the Director of its Comet Section and Assistant Editor of The Astronomer Magazine. I have written many articles for magazines and books, and co-authored "Observing Comets" which was published in 2003 as part of Sir Patrick Moore's Practical Astronomy series.
I am a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) ambassador and I am particularly keen to encourage more young people to consider science and engineering as a career. I regularly give talks on engineering, space and astronomy to a wide range of audiences ranging from Year 1 primary school children through to advanced astronomers at venues such as the UK's Royal Institution.
In my spare time I enjoy travel, particularly if I can link it to astronomical phenomena. I've been in the umbra 16 times, although two of these were wiped out by weather, and have seen four annular eclipses in good conditions. I have also led small groups to far-flung places to see the northern lights, comets and other interesting objects under dark skies.
Abstract
A bright comet in the sky during a total solar eclipse must be a spectacular sight. A number have been seen in the past but these events are exceedingly rare. Historically most eclipse comets took
observers by surprise and records are very sketchy. These days the probability of discovering a bright
comet during an eclipse is very small since most potential objects would be picked up by deep
surveys well in advance. Smaller objects, which only become very bright when near the Sun, would
be picked up in spacecraft coronagraph images well before the event. The element of surprise then
has probably gone, but at least we should be able to predict these events in the future.
In this talk I will look at what we can learn from historical eclipse comets and will explain why they
are so rare. I will describe how comets behave when they are near the sun and will make some
predictions regarding known comets that could potentially be imaged near the Sun at future TSEs.
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About Werner Hamelinck
In 1996, Werner Hamelinck, who is a passionate amateur astronomer since he was 15 years old, started with 2 activitities that would become his fulltime job: he started "Urania Mobiel", a mobile astronomy classroom to visit schools and teach about astronomy, and he founded "Astroreizen", to develop and guide astronomy-related travels all over the world. He organised a first eclips-expedition to observe the 1998 total eclipse with a group of 50 people, in Guadeloupe. Between 1998 and 2017, he organised 31 eclips-trips to 21 solar eclipses (13 total and 8 annular), allowing more then 1000 people to witness totality!
Abstract
At the Urania Public Observatory (Volkssterrenwacht Urania), it is our mission to make people enthusiastic for science in general and astronomy in particular. Living in Belgium, where nor the weather, nor the lightpolluted skies are favorable for astronomy, this can be challenging.
Combining premium quality group-travels with the added value of an astronomical event or theme has proven to be a succesfull formula to bring astronomy to the interested public.
Werner will talk about the philosophy behind the Astroreizen-concept, the plan of approach to develop a succelfull astonomy/eclipse tour, the challenges faced and the results achieved.
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About Bill Kramer
Bill Kramer is a veteran of 17 total solar eclipses. He programmed and now manages the www.eclipse-chasers.com web site where eclipse enthusiasts can provide content, log their observations, and share images. Currently retired and living in Jamaica, Bill and his wife Denise operated a computer consulting company specializing in CAD/CAM and engineering/scientific applications development for several decades.
Abstract
Can a total solar eclipse, with a near perfect size match of the Sun and a moon, be seen anywhere else in the solar system? People often state that total solar eclipses are rare events and are unique to Earth. So the question is just how rare are they? This talk presents the basic process and results of a computerized study involving over 100 known moons in the solar system.
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About Ruben Verboven
Ruben is an amateur astronomer and since he was little, passionated about the sun, solar eclipses and lunar eclipses. His first total solar eclipse was the 1999 eclipse in Belgium. Since then he witnessed 5 total solar eclipses.
Abstract
For this session, we leave the congress hall and we'll take place in the planetarium of the Cosmodrome. First we'll have a look at the Great American Eclipse and how the Cosmodrome team observerd this eclipse.
After this short introduction we simulate the next solar eclipses (2018 (partial) , 2019,2020,2021 and 2024).
About Petra Vanlommel
Petra Vanlommel started her science carrier in the 90's as a PhD student in helioseismology at KU Leuven. With sound waves she could probe the inner of the Sun. She combined her PhD studies with teaching and tutoring first year university students civil engineering. After finishing her PhD, she started at the Royal Observatory of Belgium where she developed space weather products and services and joined the team of space weather forecasters. Now she is doing the 'science communication and valorisation' for the Solar-Terrestrial Centre of Excellence. She spreads the scientific word and highlights why we should care about solar research and space weather.
Abstract
Sporadic and massive eruptions of very high-energy matter and radiation from the Sun can have a pronounced impact on our ability to navigate, communicate and on our energy supplies.
In extreme cases, these eruptions pose a safety risk to human health. Crew and passengers on air planes can be subject to solar radiation, astronauts in space receive unhealthy or even lethal
doses. This is space weather.
To study and to forecast space weather, we need state-of-the-art-technology to observe the Sun. One of our pearls is the PROBA3 duo-satellite, THE solar eclipse maker. This all is definitely worthwhile talking about it!
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About Jay Pasachoff
Jay Pasachoff is a professor of astronomy at Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts, USA, and Chair of the Working Group on Solar Eclipses of the International Astronomical Union. At the time of the meeting, he will have seen at least 68 solar eclipses including 34 totals. His research includes studies of the solar corona at eclipses and from spacecraft; the solar chromosphere from ground-based solar telescopes; and the atmospheres of objects in the outer solar system such as Pluto from their occultations of stars. He is coauthor of such recent books ( http://solarcorona.com ) as The Sun (2017); Nearest Star (2014); and The Cosmos (4th ed. 2014; 5th edition in production). His recent eclipse research has been supported in large part by the Committee for Research and Exploration of the National Geographic Society and by the U.S. National Science Foundation. See http://totalsolareclipse.org for photos and links to his past eclipses.
Abstract
I discuss the wide range of scientific observations, including imaging and spectroscopy, made by my research/student group and others at recent solar eclipses, including especially totalities in Gabon (2013); Svalbard (2015); Ternate (2016); and Salem, Oregon (2017).
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14h50 - 15h20 The catalog of the historical observations of solar eclipses for Europe and the near east (Marek Zawilski)
About Marek Zawilski
An advanced amateur astronomer (born in 1948), observer of eclipses and occultations, member of the Polish Association of Amateur Astronomers (since 1972) and International Occultation Timing Association, European Section (IOTA/ES). Other field of interest: history of astronomy,astrophotography.
Retired professor of the Lodz University of Technology.
Abstract
People have been observing solar eclipses for centuries, leaving valuable for us
records. However, these data are spread among various sources, which are often
difficult to be found and interpreted.
The presented catalog represents the effects of the author's several years' work
devoted to gathering information about historical observations of solar eclipses. The
work is concerned with the region of Europe and the Near East.
At first, the primary purpose of the catalog was to collect observations of solar
eclipses that could be useful for testing author's own computer programs. Over time,
however, it turned out that the work can be a source of information in many areas of
interest, such as:
- recognition of the structure of the Sun
- dating historical events
- investigation of rotation of the Earth and orbital movement of the Moon
- general development of astronomical knowledge
- social and cultural aspects
Generally speaking, all found records on total and annular solar eclipses were taken into consideration. Partial eclipses were included in the cases when the path of centrality was running through the countries of Europe and the Near East. However, all partial eclipses near the horizon and those with the timed contacts and the maximum phase were included, too. On account of this, the catalog does not include all reports on partial eclipses. Of course, a great number of laconic reports which do not meet the above stated criteria have not been included, either.
Thus, the catalog contains data for the following solar eclipses :
- total, when the source texts times it beyond any doubts,
- total, when there is a supposition that the description may reflect exactly such phenomena, or gives other information which allows to arrive at a conclusion as to the phase of the eclipse, e.g. visibility of stars, appearance of unusual darkness, accompanying phenomena (reactions of people and animals, remarking the solar corona and protuberances),
- partial, when this word is used in relation to the description of a phase,
- partial, for which the moments of contacts and/or max. phase have been timed,
- partial, described as the appearance of solar crescent,
- partial near the horizon,
- partial, in regions near the path of totality, described as the appearance of a distinct weakening of light.
Three separate sets of astronomical observations have been distinguished and enclosed at the end of the catalog. They are :
- a collection of Islamic observations from the years 829-1004,
- a collection of observations made in West Europe in the 14 th to 17 th century before the aid of telescopes,
- a collection of the Polish observations from the 16 th century (mainly Nicolaus Copernicus' observations).
"The Collection of the Historical Descriptions of Solar Eclipses" containing source texts in their original language, in English and in Polish (optionally), form an independent computer set of texts as a supplement to the catalog. Each entry has been dated and, if it was necessary, an author's comment has been added. "The Collection ... " also contains the list of literature on the subject.
Thus, each line in the catalog has its equivalent in "The Collection …" and the appropriate reference as the literature source is given. It is planned to add maps of central eclipse paths along with the marking of observation sites.
Source texts on historical eclipses are easier or harder to be found on the Internet, but not all of original materials at present are accessible and are to be found in libraries. Since only a part of all written sources are available so far in online collections, the internet archive has to be checked continuously and the catalog has to be supplemented and updated every year.
The whole work is planned for publication soon.
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About David Dunham
David Dunham graduated from the University of California, Berkeley in 1964 and obtained a PhD in astronomy at Yale University in 1971. He has designed trajectories for several lunar and interplanetary space missions, working now part-time with KinetX-Aerospace, but he is best known here for his establishment of the grazing occultation program in 1962, and of the International Occultation Timing Association (IOTA) in 1975. He coordinated IOTA's successful effort to obtain the first confirmed video recordings of lunar meteor impact flashes during the Leonid storm in November 1999. He now mainly observers asteroidal occultations, often from multiple locations with automatic video recording systems. He has also observed over 20 total and annular eclipses, to try to determine possible variations in the solar radius, considering also observations from the historical record.
Abstract
The International Occultation Timing Association (IOTA) attempted a citizen-science project to determine the locations of the edges of the path of totality, similar to what was done visually in New York City during the 1925 eclipse. With ubiquitous smart phones, we asked observers to record the eclipse, preferably with clip-on 8x telephoto lenses. The limits are not sharp since the solar intensity drops off gradually at the path edges. We hoped to determine how accurately the path edges could be determined, and the width of their "fuzziness". But it was not possible to find any astronomers who weren't also going to the center, who might otherwise help organize some path edge observations. In 1925, people were less concerned about the possibility of suffering eye damage from quick glimpses at the eclipse. In 2017, several were concerned about damage to their cell phones, although our tests showed this was not a problem for the two minutes desired. The only successes were at Minden, Nebraska where high school students set up 15 stations across the southern limit and recorded the eclipse with iPads, and near Wheatland, Wyoming, where Jan Kok set up 21 pre-pointed smart phones with 8x lenses that he was able to program, to record the eclipse during the critical two minutes. We found that the dynamic range of the smart phone recordings could not distinguish between the corona, and the Baily's beads around the contacts, so useful times of the duration of "totality" could not be determined. A few IOTA observers recorded Baily's beads telescopically at a few locations near the eclipse limits. An especially good color recording of Baily's beads was made by Fred Bruenjes from only 1.3 km inside the southern limit. We hope that similar recordings with accurate time stamping can be obtained at a few locations near both limits of future eclipses. Even better might be recordings of the flash spectrum near both limits, to measure the transition from absorption lines in the photosphere to emission lines of the chomosphere.
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About Terry Cuttle
Terry Cuttle is a retired engineer and keen amateur astronomer and astro photographer with a particular interest in eclipses, comets and other transient phenomena. He has been to 16 total solar eclipses. Terry is an Australian and although he does not live in the path of TSE 2023 in Western Australia, he has been to the area scouting for the eclipse, knows the area well and is familiar with travel in remote Australian areas. Terry was heavily involved in planning and preparation for the Total Solar Eclipse in Queensland, Australia in 2012. Terry plans to survive long enough in good health to experience the five total solar eclipses that will visit Australia between 2023 and 2038.
Abstract
Although the TSE of 2023 is a little less than 5 years away there are reasons to start early planning if wanting to visit Australia for this eclipse. The area of North West Cape in the path of totality is quite small, it is in a relatively remote part of Australia and there is limited accommodation. Terry will discuss the circumstances of the Australian portion of the eclipse, describe the local area, potential viewing sites, means of access, accommodation options, local attractions, weather prospects and other issues such as travel in remote areas of Australia.
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About Jay Anderson
Jay Anderson is a retired meteorologist, formerly with the Meteorological Service of Canada. He has been studying and writing about the climatology along eclipse tracks since 1978 and has viewed many of them in person with his wife Judy.
Abstract
The next three years will bring three total eclipses and as many annulars before we see another Solar Eclipse Conference. Several of these upcoming eclipses will have significant portions of their track over land, across many different climatic zones. This presentation will discuss the climatology along the path of the three total eclipses in detail and give a quick overview of the weather prospects for the annulars. For a few favoured locations, the meteorological prospects will be examined in detail with suggestions for alternative plans if the weather is poor.
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About Sheridan Williams
Sheridan is a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society and ex-Director of the Computing Section of the British Astronomical Association and has archived over 100 years of BAA Journals. He was a founder contributor to Britain's longest running personal computing magazine "Personal Computer World" and was a Senior Lecturer in computer science and mathematics at Hendon College.
Prior to that he worked as a "Rocket Scientist" with the Ministry of Defence using a Ferranti Mk.1 computer and also analogue computers. After running his own very successful computer network company for 20 years he retired in 2001. He now works as a volunteer for the National Museum of Computing (http://www.tnmoc.org) (the home of Colossus and the Bombe) at Bletchley Park.
Sheridan has led astronomy tours for various tour companies and takes groups to remote places to witness astronomical events such as eclipses, transits, aurorae, meteor showers and observatories. This has taken him to places as diverse as Siberia, the Atacama Desert in Peru, Madagascar, the Gobi desert in China, Libya, Tahiti, Morocco, Sulawesi and many other places. Sheridan has seen 16 total solar eclipses. In the 1990s Sheridan was a modestly successful car rally, sprint and racing driver competing in the latter events in a Ferrari and has competed many times in Belgium.
Publications include a book on UK Total Solar Eclipses, Bradt Guides to the various eclipses, transits and aurorae. Appearances on TV and radio, including presenting Sky TV's total eclipse programme from Cornwall in 1999.
Abstract
Sheridan will chair the session with presentations of the 3 upcoming eclipses: 2019,
2020 and 2021.
Maps of the track, cloud cover statistics, shape of the corona, stars and planet
visibility will be covered.
Also being discussed is whether to go-it-alone or join a travel company.
The presentation will conclude with a Q&A from the floor, but before the Q&A Jay
Anderson, Jay Pasachoff, Michael Zeiler, Xavier Jubier and Glenn Schneider
will help answer questions like:
- Where to go
- What else to see while there
- If I could only go to one eclipse, which would be best
- Cost considerations
- Climatology
- Safety
- Photography
- Solar activity -shape of the corona
- etc
- Magnitude
- Obscuration
- Gamma
- Saros