Big Picture Science: Eclipsing All Other Shows – Solar Eclipse on the Way!

BIG PICTURE SCIENCE SHOW (SETI Institute) – With permission of the SETI Institute, MSONEWSport brings you the Big Picture Science Show 

Download episode  Click here for the Broadcast   “Eclipsing All Other Shows”

They say that the experience of watching a total eclipse is so profound, you’re not the same afterward.  If life-changing events are your thing and you’re in the lower 48 states on August 21^st, let us help you make the most of viewing the Great American Solar Eclipse.

Learn the basics of where to be and what to bring, even on short notice. No eclipse glasses?  Find out why a kitchen colander is an excellent Plan B.

Also, the strange behavior of animals and private jet pilots during an eclipse.  The latter is making the FAA sweat.

Plus, how 1878 eclipse fever inspired Thomas Edison and astronomer Maria Mitchell, and what was at stake for them scientifically.  And today, with astronauts able to view the Sun from space, what new science can we still learn by eclipse expeditions on Earth?

And, NASA turns up the heat on solar studies with a probe to within a hair’s breadth of the Sun.

Guests:

• David Baron – Author of “American Eclipse: A Nation’s Epic Race to Catch the Shadow of the Moon and Win the Glory of the World.”
• Jay Pasachoff – Professor of Astronomy, Williams College, chair of the International Astronomical Union Working Group on Solar Eclipses.
• Madhulika Guhathakurta – Astrophysicist, NASA Heliophysics Science Division and Program Scientist for the Solar Probe Plus mission.
• Andrew Fraknoi – Chair of the Astronomy Department, Foothill College.  His latest book, for children:  “When the Sun Goes Dark.”

Eclipse Resources:

• The free 8-page eclipse booklet for the public, which gives non-technical information about the eclipse in everyday language (what’s happening, exact times in various US locations, how to observe safely, etc.) can be downloaded from: http://nsta.org/solarscience
• The program to provide 2 million free eclipse glasses through 4800 public libraries nationwide is described at: http://www.starnetlibraries.org/2017eclipse/
• Eclipse glasses can be purchased in bulk from the two manufacturers in the U.S.
                 American Paper Optics
                 Rainbow Symphony
  Many science museums and science and nature stores will be selling them locally, and many public libraries will have them free, thanks to the program supported by the Moore Foundation and Google to make 2 million of them available.
• Good safety information about viewing the Sun is found at the American Astronomical Society eclipse site.
• The best maps of where the eclipse will be visible are at: http://www.greatamericaneclipse.com