I hope that a number of you will be able to see the total solar eclipse next Monday, April 8th. I have written about my adventures taking in a similar eclipse in 1999, an event which had a profound impact on me. Perhaps my experience might give you some things to think about that go well beyond the mere scientific.
Meanwhile, for those who can only see a partial solar eclipse that day, there’s still something really cool (and very poorly appreciated!) that you can do that cannot be done on an ordinary day! Namely, you can easily estimate the size of the Moon, and then quickly go on to estimate how far away it is. This is daylight astronomy at its best!
Side note for those in the Boston area: I’m speaking about my new book at Harvard on Wednesday April 3rd.
2 Responses
I’m flying to Dallas for the eclipse, but it now appears I’ll get a good view of the underside of clouds. Fortunately, Dallas has great bbq.
I drove to Wyoming in 2017 for the last total eclipse. Like you, it had a profound effect on me, which is why I’m flying out to try again.
Seems as though the Texas forecast is improving…