posted 08-21-2017 04:15 PM               

Solar eclipse from orbit: Crew on space station sees moon's shadow

As millions of people on Monday (Aug. 21) looked up to the sky to catch sight of the "Great American Eclipse," six astronauts and cosmonauts on the International Space Station gazed down to view the shadow of the moon darken the Earth below.

The Expedition 52 crew witnessed the total solar eclipse from orbit, experiencing three distinct views of the celestial spectacle as they circled the Earth three times. It was only the seventh time that a spacecraft's crew had seen a total solar eclipse (as visible from the Earth) in the almost 60 years of human spaceflight.

posted 08-22-2017 09:08 AM               

From a million miles out in space, NASA's Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC) captured 12 natural color images of the moon's shadow crossing over North America on Aug. 21, 2017.

posted 08-22-2017 01:24 PM               

An eclipse is much like viewing a night shuttle launch, except there's more certainty the big event WILL occur! A few hours of very slow progress, watching through the eclipse glasses, then the air gradually starts cooling, the ambient light dims to a weird gold hue. It was amazing how light it still was out with just a sliver of sun exposed.

Then things pick up rapidly. I took the glasses off and looked west...saw the sky darkening as the shadow of the moon raced toward us. I was looking down to hit the stopwatch when it got dark and everybody around started cheering. Then I looked up and saw the amazing light show. It was like a giant black hole in the sky surrounded by the corona, with Venus and Jupiter flanking each side.

Two minutes and ten seconds of totality, and all of the cheering turned to whispering. It was nearly silent except for crickets chirping (I didn't even notice that until I watched my video). Then some person decided it was a good time to light off some fireworks nearby. A strange thing to do at that particular moment.

The trailing edge of the moon began to lighten and I told my family to look down. I didn't put the glasses back on right away and caught a glimpse of the diamond ring and that was stunning. The moon was still surrounded by the corona with the pinks and reds around the edges and the brightest, purest white light imaginable burst out. That was unforgettable...I looked around and it was like everybody around us was bathed in the most intense white spotlight Hollywood has to offer.

Covered up again and watched the sun reappear, then the dark sky moving off to the east. It was another 15-20 minutes, after we had already gotten back on the road, before it was bright enough to need sunglasses again. One unexpected effect (among many) was the few white puffs of clouds that were around dissipated quickly as the temperature dropped, leaving a clear sky for the show.

Another funny thing was just 20 seconds or so before totality, somebody in a light single engine airplane buzzed over us in a beeline for the nearby GSP airport. I doubt he was able to on the ground and parked in time to see it happen. Bad timing!

We didn't waste any time trying to photograph it. I knew there would be thousands of photos out there far better than I could ever take and none of them would look as awesome as the real thing.

posted 08-24-2017 05:57 AM               

WOW, WOW... and more WOW! When I first took off the eclipse glasses for the first time and beheld the beauty of God's handiwork, it took my breath away, and after that all I could blurt out was OMG! I had all kinds of preconceptions from pictures and videos and once again anything wonderful you experience first hand in nature cannot even closely be captured, you must experience it!

I got to experience an annular here in STL during work in '94 and that was so cool, saw the shadow effects, birds went quiet, etc. But now having experienced the totality, my analogue to both is the difference between eating a filet mignon or eating shoe leather! (I know a bit extreme, but seeing the totality is that impressive to me).

I saw it all, the ethereal corona (so extensive around the 3D moon, the laser red solar promenances off the sun surface, Bailey's Beads (quick), and the diamond ring! I also thought that hey we got 2:12 seconds, that's a long time. No, it went quick!

I want more now! So Laura and I are going to try to experience the next one in this area in 2024. (We'll probably be in Titusville, Florida — retirement — God willing!) Plus, again, God-willing, in 2045 (83 years old) a total eclipse will occur right over the Kennedy Space Center! What a NASA big deal that will be!

posted 08-24-2017 02:56 PM               

Speaking of glasses, I bought a pair being sold that morning but it had no markings of any kind on it. Not sure if I could trust them, I only used them through my cell phone and three or four times put them on to quickly look at the eclipse, for no more than a second and no more.

I wasn't going to risk my eyes on a pair of eclipse glasses that might not have been up to standard for anything longer than a person might just look up at the sun for a second under normal conditions.

posted 08-24-2017 03:26 PM               

When we arrived (my girlfriend went with me) we parked in an open field near the Glendo State Park. There were only a few cars then, but when we woke up on Monday morning almost the whole field was covered with cars.

The skies were completely clear and I watched the eclipse from beginning to end. It was amazing to watch as the last crescent of the sun was covered and instantly the corona appeared. I used a pair of binoculars once totality began and was able to see 3-4 solar flares and details of the corona.

posted 08-25-2017 12:48 AM               

After a 6-hour drive down I-57, my family and I arrived at our hotel in Paducah. We were near a shopping mall, so everything we needed was near by, and that convenience made the stay that much more pleasant. It was hotter than I like, but given the magnitude of this event, I managed to put up with it.

On Sunday, we drove to Metropolis IL to see the giant Superman statue. My 10 year old son loved it, and the town had put solar filter glasses on the statue (would he REALLY need them, one wonders?).

As with many other towns and cities, Metropolis had a festival going on.

Keeping an eye on the weather reports, the forecast from the NWS for Paducah continued to make me both anxious and relieved at the same time. They were forecasting cloud cover of about 38%. Compared to other sites I had seen, this was a great number. On the other hand, any cloud numbers greater than 0% made me a bit nervous as they would anyone. Fortunately, the forecast remained around this number during the weekend, so I didn't anticipate having to move much.

Monday morning arrived, and a look out of the hotel window at just after 8 AM showed sunny skies and few clouds. We got ready to leave, checked out of the hotel, as we would be travelling back to Chicago for my son to get back to school, and traveled the few miles to the Western Kentucky Technical college. After parking in their lot, I found a nice field in the back with some trees that would provide shade, but not block the Sun during totality.

After setting up our chairs and a improvised sun shade (curtain rods purchased from Walmart, and an "emergency" mylar blanket), I began setting up my telescope, small table, computer and cameras. With it being hot (93 degrees) and humid, the sweat was pouring off me like a wax figure in an oven. Eventually I got everything setup and ready for totality. During this time, some of the other attendees in the area were asking me if I was an astronomer and photographer. I answered that I was on an amateur level. I was also pleased to find some of the other attendees in my area were also from around Chicago, so several discussions were had. They had little astronomical experience, so I became somewhat of a mentor during that time.

As the eclipse started and we were on our way through the partial phases, I offered views through my filtered telescope (which I've used many times), and everyone waited politely to use my scope. Another group nearby had an astroscan telescope setup to do projection of the solar disk onto a large white board. This proved popular as well. Two balloon launches were done as well, and I believe one of them was NASA-sponsored. It had 4 instrument packages attached.

As the partial phase progressed, crescents were seen on the ground near the trees, and I directed my son to go an take a look. We continued to keep an eye on the sky, as the clouds began slowly increasing in size and numbers. We began to worry that they were sufficiently dense to interfere with totality.

Luckily, there was only a brief period during the partial phase that a cloud covered the Sun. As totality approached, we felt more confident that it would be uninterrupted.

As part of my setup, I was running a program called Eclipse Orchestrator, which was to automate photos being taken by my DSLR, so that I could visually observe the eclipse without having to attend to the camera.

Totality approached, and the excitement of the small crowd around us (there were many more people at the front of the campus, so it was not too crowded where we had setup) quickly increased. As this was our first eclipse, we tried to take in as many of the phenomena as possible. The shadows became very sharp as the light diminished quickly. The insects began getting very loud, and then the corona broke out as totality began, with the crowd cheering. The temperature dropped at least 15 degrees, making viewing much more comfortable.

As I began pointing out various things to my family (such as Venus, and my son noticed Jupiter and other stars), I had them look at the corona both naked eye and through the telescope (the wispy tendrils of the corona were amazing through the scope!) Others in the crowd noted that the street lights in the parking lot had come on. At about this time I listened to my camera, and did not hear the shutter firing as it should have been. It was too late to do anything about it, so I managed to get a contingency shot of the eclipsed sun through the telescope with a point and shoot camera that I had brought (this was done afocally - I just aimed the camera lens into the eyepiece of the telescope). It had been used to record the partial phases as well as other general scenes, and a contingency shot was in my plans so that I would at least have some sort of recording of the eclipse.

And just like that, the diamond ring indicating the end of totality appeared. This had been the quickest 2 minutes 20 seconds that I had ever experienced. We heard birds starting to sing as if it were early morning with the return of the sunlight

As the area quickly brightened, most of the groups began disbanding, us included. Just before breaking down the computer to repack it, I decided to check the DSLR camera's folder to see what was there. Surprisingly, in addition to the pictures of the partial phases I had been manually shooting with the DSLR, I found that there were 5 photos of the diamond ring just before the end of totality. While I was elated to have them, I was puzzled. I had tested the script numerous times (the program has a simulated time mode to test sequences), so it failing to take the pictures during the actual event was frustrating. However, the script was set to take *3* shots of the diamond ring at the end of totality, yet there were *5* images on the camera. While I'm at a loss to explain it, I'm happy to have the shots!

We finished packing up, and began the long trek home. After topping off the gas tank a block away from the campus, we hit I-24 to head back to I-57 and then home. Well, we and everyone else that is. As was expected, traffic was a nightmare. We slowly made our way north, often at a snail's pace. After getting gas in Marion IL, we ended up taking Route 37 which paralleled I-57 mostly to avoid the crawl. While it was moving somewhat better than I-57, it still had it's pockets of stand-still traffic as others were trying to do the same thing. At various towns along the way, the local police were blocking the roads that would take drivers onto I-57. This added to the traffic woes on the local road as well.

Although it *only* took 6 hours to get to Paducah, we managed to to get only one third of the way back after 12 hours. After stops for gas and an attempt to get a last minute hotel room (not happening!), we ended up "sleeping" (if you can call it that) overnight at a rest stop. While my son was supposed to be back at school on Tuesday morning, we were still 200 miles away when we set out after 6 AM. The traffic jam had dissipated, and we managed to get home at 10:45 am, showered and then caught up on our missed sleep.

I created a composite of the partial phases, the sole totality shot, one of the diamond ring shots and the image from the DSCOVR spacecraft's EPIC camera, showing the shadow of the moon over the area we were in. It was taken at 1:14 PM CDT, and totality at our location started at 1:22 PM.

posted 08-25-2017 05:20 PM               

Here's something to consider for those who saw the planets and stars during totality - as you gazed upon them, you were looking directly across our solar system and beyond, seeing it as it really is, with the planets in their orbits about the Sun. You were seeing the solar system as a member of it. I found an online site that shows the solar system at any given date/time. Here's the representation from the date/time of the eclipse:

posted 09-22-2017 10:21 AM               

The purpose of the hearing is to review what scientific knowledge was gained from studying the eclipse, how U.S. telescopes and other scientific instruments were used to capture the eclipse, lessons learned from engaging the public and students in grades K-12 in STEM education and activities surrounding the event, and future preparations for eclipses in 2019 and 2024.

• Dr. James Ulvestad, Assistant Director (Acting), Directorate for Mathematical & Physical Sciences, National Science Foundation
  
• Dr. Thomas Zurbuchen, Associate Administrator, Science Mission Directorate, NASA
  
• Dr. Heidi Hammel, Executive Vice President, Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy
  
• Dr. Matthew Penn, Astronomer, National Solar Observatory
  
• Ms. Michelle Nichols-Yehling, Director of Public Observing, Adler Planetarium

posted 09-27-2017 04:30 PM               

A record number of Americans viewed the 2017 solar eclipse

Eighty-eight percent of American adults viewed the August total solar eclipse directly or electronically. This audience of 215 million adults is nearly twice the size of the viewership of recent Super Bowl football games.

A national study of American adults conducted by the University of Michigan under a cooperative agreement with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration found that 154 million American adults watched the eclipse directly, using a combination of solar glasses designed to allow the direct viewing of the sun and various other devices — pin-hole viewers, for example. Approximately 20 million adults traveled from their home area to another area to be able to watch the solar eclipse, usually seeking a higher degree of totality.

"This level of public interest and engagement with a science-oriented event is unparalleled," said Jon Miller, director of the International Center for the Advancement of Scientific Literacy at U-M's Institute for Social Research.

This is the first coast-to-coast total solar eclipse to occur in nearly a century and the wide availability of television, the internet and smartphones alerted most adults to the event. Some individuals were not able to step outside and view the eclipse because of work or other obligations, and approximately 61 million American adults viewed the eclipse electronically.

Miller's survey — beginning on the evening of the eclipse and continuing for a week after the event — found that most adults viewed the eclipse with their family, friends or co-workers. Only 3 percent viewed the eclipse as a part of an organized group. Miller noted that this was not unexpected since the eclipse occurred mid-day on a regular work day.

The eclipse was widely shared: One in three viewers took pictures or a video of the events and about half of those adults reported that they shared their pictures with others using social media, email and other electronic means.

Most adults who viewed the eclipse found it to be both enjoyable and educational. On a zero-to-10 scale, Miller found that adults gave the viewing experience a score of 7.6 for being enjoyable and 7.0 for being educational.

The 2017 Michigan Scientific Literacy Study is based on a national probability sample of U.S. households from a U.S. Postal Service listing of all occupied households. The data were collected by AmeriSpeak, a panel service operated by the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago. The February-March survey included online and telephone interviews with 2,834 adults age 18 and older, and 2,211 of the same adults responded to a follow-up survey in August immediately after the eclipse.

Miller noted that this was an initial report about the number of adults who viewed the eclipse and how they prepared for the eclipse event. A final follow-up survey of the same adults will be conducted in October and November of 2017 to assess how viewing the eclipse may have stimulated viewers to seek additional information about eclipses, the sun, the solar system and related astronomical information.

posted 03-01-2018 10:21 AM               

Ross Franquemont is a U-2 pilot and instructor at the 1st Reconnaissance Squadron, based at Beale Air Force Base, California. Fortunately for the rest of the world, he is also a great photographer.

posted 08-20-2018 12:30 PM               

NASA Hosts Live Science Chat: One Year After Eclipse 2017

On the one-year anniversary of the historic 2017 Eclipse Across America, NASA will host a Science Chat at 10:30 a.m. EDT, Tuesday, Aug. 21, to discuss new science data and the public impact of the celestial event experienced by millions. Scientists also will take a look ahead at upcoming eclipses and missions that will reveal more of our solar system's secrets. The event will air live on the agency's website and NASA's Facebook Live, Twitch, Ustream, YouTube, Periscope and Twitter channels.

The briefing participants are:

• Jim Green, NASA Chief Scientist, Headquarters, Washington
  
• Yari Collado-Vega, space weather scientist, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland
  
• Jon Miller, director and professor, International Center for the Advancement of Scientific Literacy at the Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
  
• Alex Young, solar scientist, Goddard

Members of the public can ask questions with the hashtag #askNASA on Twitter or in the comment section of the NASA Sun Facebook page.

On Aug. 21, 2017, for the first time in 99 years, a total solar eclipse occurred across the entire continental United States. NASA and its partners provided a wealth of images and information captured before, during, and after the eclipse by spacecraft, NASA aircraft, ground-based observatories, citizen scientists, more than 50 high-altitude balloons, and astronauts aboard the International Space Station.