Annular Eclipse
On October 14, 2023, an annular solar eclipse will cross North, Central, and South America. Parts of SE Utah will be in the direct path of the eclipse. We talk with Cris White, Eclipse Coordinator for the Earth to Sky Interagency Partnership, about the uniqueness of eclipses and the many scientific activities that will be happening in conjunction with this year’s eclipse.
Meet the Scientist: CRIS WHITE
With 20 years of experience as a professional naturalist and 18 years as a dark sky naturalist, Cris White’s passion is sharing her affinity for space science and the conservation of natural darkness. She can often be found under the night sky, sharing the beauty of this universe with all she meets. Cris is the Eclipse Coordinator for the Earth to Sky Interagency Partnership and is currently working with park rangers, naturalists, docents, and informal across the US, to help them prepare for the upcoming total and annular solar eclipses.
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Interview Excerpt: Chasing the Eclipse
Two solar eclipses will be visible over North America within the next year. In October, an annular solar eclipse will be visible from SE Utah. We talk with local Cris White, Eclipse Coordinator for the Earth to Sky Interagency Partnership, about how lucky we are to live at a time where solar eclipses are visible and the many scientific activities that will be happening in conjunction with the eclipse.
Science Moab: Can you explain what is meant by “annular” solar eclipse?
White: During an annular eclipse, the Moon is the farthest away from Earth as it can be. Therefore, the moon does not appear large enough to cover the full disk of the Sun. So during this type of eclipse, instead of seeing a corona, you see a ring of Sun around the silhouette of the moon. That ring is basically where we get the name annular eclipse. Annulus means ring in Latin.
In Moab, you will see an over 90% partial eclipse, but further south near Blanding and Bluff, Utah, you will see that full ring of fire around the moon.
Science Moab: Sounds like the Annular Eclipse will be brighter than a Total Eclipse, so how would you recommend trying to view it?
White: With a annular eclipse, because the sun is always visible around the moon, you have to always wear solar viewers, or some kind of solar protection. The best place I would tell you to get viewers is the American Astronomical Society. On their eclipse page, they have certified viewers that are certified to be safe. If you’re using a camera or a telescope, you have to have solar filters that are fitted to those pieces of equipment to be safe. Alternatively, you can make a pinhole projector to view an annular eclipse. There’s instructions all over online on how to do that. Just remember to put the pinhole toward the sun and you look away.
Science Moab: Are you doing anything special to promote or prepare for the Annular Eclipse this October?
White: Yes, Earth to Sky supports one national park for each eclipse. In October, we will be at Mesa Verde National Park with a group from NASA’s Solar System Exploration Division, and citizen science project called globe observer. I believe we might possibly have someone that’s working on the outreach efforts for the Punch Mission, which is this really cool heliophysics mission that is going to use satellites, in orbit around Earth, to intensely study the solar weather between the Sun and Earth, which is going to be amazing. We are living in this most beautiful time because we can see total eclipses. We know that in the future, the moon will have moved far enough away from Earth that you will no longer get total eclipses. They will all be annular eclipses. The moon is moving away from us probably just slightly slower than your fingernails would grow in a year. So it’s not significant, But it’s enough that eventually it will become far enough away from Earth that we won’t get total eclipses anymore.
Science Moab: Are there any kind of science experiments or activities that NASA is planning to conduct during this year’s Eclipse?
White: Through Science Activation, which is a section of NASA, has a lot of different citizen science projects dealing directly with the Eclipse efforts. Globe Observer has a wonderful citizen science project you can do anytime. During the eclipse, you monitor the changes in temperature and cloud cover through the entire Eclipse, and if you can put a wind sock up, or you have a weather station, they are also interested in changes in wind direction. All that data is very valuable to them.
There’s another one called Eclipse Soundscapes. They have an app you can download to a phone or an iPad that will change pitch as the light changes and it will also vibrate at different intensities, which is really great. Once you’ve collected the data that they’re looking for, then you actually get to help process the data as well. So you get to work with the scientists and process the information.
Then we also have the NASA Solar System ambassadors, which they’re found all over the US and the world. I’ve been a solar system ambassador for three years. It’s a volunteer position with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and we get 45-50 hours of training from other scientists and engineers that work throughout NASA’s network of centers. In return, we go out and do presentations for our local communities, or wherever we get called to. It’s fantastic.
