21 June 2019

ASP Releases “Great American Solar Eclipse” Book

Richard Fienberg

Richard Fienberg American Astronomical Society

ASP Book CoverThis announcement is adapted from an ASP press release (PDF):

The Astronomical Society of the Pacific (ASP) has just released Vol. 516 in its Conference Series collection, Celebrating the 2017 Great American Eclipse: Lessons Learned from the Path of Totality, edited by Sanlyn R. Buxner, Linda Shore, and Joe B. Jenson.

The "Great American Eclipse" of 21 August 2017 was one of the most anticipated celestial events of the century. It had been 99 years since a total eclipse had crossed the continental US, and a multitude of public events were held across the country. In the 1 hour 33 minutes it took for the Moon's shadow to traverse the nation, NASA estimates that 215 million people — 88% of the US population — observed the eclipse in person or watched it on their televisions, laptops, smartphones, or other devices.

This new publication is a record of just some of the ways people of all ages, backgrounds, and abilities participated in this eclipse guided by professional astronomers, amateur astronomers, science teachers, informal educators, nature guides, park rangers, scout leaders, librarians, and astronomy enthusiasts of all kinds. Readers will learn about how to plan eclipse events, how to reach marginalized communities, what kinds of events work best away from the center line, how to make simple scientific measurements with students, which activities work well with children, how to avoid potential pitfalls in public eclipse event planning, and much more.

Lessons learned from 2017 will be applicable to the next two solar eclipses that cross North America: the 14 October 2023 annular eclipse and 8 April 2024 total eclipse. Celebrating the 2017 Great American Eclipse: Lessons Learned from the Path of Totality is available in the ASP's AstroShop, in the Conference Series section.