CARBONDALE – When the first full solar eclipse to occur in the continental United States in nearly 40 years sweeps across the country, it will be a unique opportunity for the collection of data for thousands of scientists.
When Carbondale was determined to be the point of the eclipse’s greatest duration, it became particularly attractive as a point of observation.
When it became evident the event would potentially bring thousands of visitors to the region, and to Carbondale in particular, Southern Illinois University reached out to the scientific community to help coordinate large-scale outreach events on campus.
As a result SIU has partnered with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the Adler Planetarium in Chicago and the Louisiana Space Consortium, among others, to synchronize an event which will be witnessed by people around the world.
Bob Baer, chair of the eclipse committee at SIU, has been working with Louis Mayo from NASA, and Michelle Nichols from the Adler Planetarium, among others, to coordinate staging the university to support the collection of empirical data as well as entertainment for thousands of people.
Mayo, Program Manager for the Sciences and Exploration Directorate at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center said that process involved tapping into a wide-ranging systems of relationships.
“We leveraged NASA’s extensive networks of partners including numerous social media platforms, broadcast media, and our unique space assets and people to bring the eclipse to America and the world.”
As a result, on the day of the eclipse, NASA EDGE will join forces with the NASA Heliophysics Education Consortium, Southern Illinois University Carbondale, and Lunt Solar Systems to air a 4 hour 30 minute live webcast “megacast” of the total solar eclipse from an area outside Saluki Stadium.
The webcast, which will begin airing at 10:45 a.m., will track the eclipse as it starts in Oregon and makes its way across the country ending in South Carolina, with as many as 1 billion potential viewers.
“To give you an idea of the magnitude of this broadcast, when NASA coordinated a global webcast for the Venus transit in 2012 they had 250 million viewers watching. That’s twice the number of viewers drawn by the Superbowl,” Baer said.
But it’s not just all about the webcast. Mayo said the entire NASA education program has many tens of organizational partners all dedicated to understanding what eclipses are all about.
“There are multiple links on our website to other great resources and websites as well as things like safety messages and citizen science downloadable apps. And we are trying to do all of this from the point of view, as we say, a through the eyes of NASA as only NASA can,” Mayo said.
Leading up to eclipse weekend, a team from Adler Planetarium will be traveling all over the region with their Galaxy Ride, an educational interactive program designed to educate kids and adults about the eclipse. Check out http://ift.tt/2vCyW1c to see where they will be.
Eclipse day programming at Saluki Stadium begins at 10 a.m. and will be hosted by Planetary Radio’s Matt Kaplan.
Those attending will learn about the eclipse from experts in the field of Heliosphysics, Lunt Solar Systems will provide high resolution imagery of the eclipse, Louisiana Space Grant Consortium will lead a team of students and researchers in launching two data-collecting weather balloons, and there will be attempts to view some of the legendary eclipse phenomena, like shadow bands.
Shadow bands are thin, wavy lines of alternating light and dark that can sometimes be seen moving in parallel lines on plain-colored surfaces immediately before and after a total solar eclipse.
“People in other countries call them snakes. In an attempt to catch sight of them our current plan is to set out about eight baseball tarps on the field of the stadium, one on each corner and four in the center. We are wondering if this will cause more of an optical illusion where people will fill in the gaps between the tarps,” Baer said.
Other scientific events on camps include the Citizen CATE (Continental-America Telescopic Eclipse) experiment which aims to capture images of the inner solar corona using a network of more than 60 telescopes operated by citizen scientists, high school groups and universities.
At SIU, students and scientists working with Citizen CATE will convene at the SIU Farms “dark site,” so called because it is deliberately staged in a field far from the lights, sound, and vibrations associated with high traffic areas.
There will also be an area for amateur astronomers to set up outside Saluki Stadium.
On Sunday, Aug. 20, Planetary Radio host Matt Kaplan will host a live radio broadcast consisting of two interactive panel discussions covering a wide range of eclipse related topics. Kaplan will broadcast from Shryock Auditorium beginning at 5 p.m. Tickets are required to attend, but the event will be live streamed online at WSIC.org and on the Planetary Radio webpage.
In addition, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 20, and Monday, Aug. 21, the Crossroads Science and Technology Expo will take over the SIU Arena highlighting businesses that specialize in solar, astronomy, science, and new technology. There will also be an indoor planetarium, science and technology talks and a NASA village. There is no cost for the public to attend this event.
“A small sample of other things that are going on include research workshops and talks in the student center auditorium, people taking spectroscopy measures, people talking radiation measurements off the sun, someone doing something with gravity wave detection, which is really exciting because gravity waves were just measured and confirmed, and someone measuring sound and animal sounds and activity from a remote location,” Baer said.
But at the end of it all, experiencing the eclipse is what it’s all about. Nichols said this is best done by putting down the phone and the camera and just taking it all in.
“Don’t miss the experience. The speed of the shadow of the moon as it is passing over Carbondale is around 1400 miles per hour. I like to think of it as the shadow washing over you, and at that moment you have a direct line between you and the moon and the sun. Your pictures will be nowhere near as good as the ones the professionals take. You can easily buy one afterwards, which is what I am going to do,” Nichols said.
All three scientist stressed the need to stay safe. This not only includes getting and wearing safety glasses, remembering to drink water, wear sunscreen and bug spray, and maybe wear a hat. In addition, it is suggested to carry a light jacket or sweater as during the eclipse temperature can drop precipitously.
But most of all, the event is designed to be fun and educational. “We have designed this to be an entertaining and family friendly experience,” Baer said.
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