Join Us in Planning for the Next “Great American Eclipse”

In a bit of greater than three years’ time — on April 8, 2024 to be precise — the Sun shall be blotted out of the sky for many excited viewers in North America. It shall be the continent’s first whole solar eclipse in seven years, since totality final crossed the United States in August 2017.

What’s extra, six months earlier, on October 14, 2023, the new Moon will partially cowl the solar disk leaving a hoop of the Sun’s fireplace peeping out from behind in what’s referred to as an annular eclipse.

As we begin the countdown to those occasions, we’re reminded of the myriad challenges concerned when a complete nation turns into collectively impressed. Handling the surge of keen eclipse viewers into slim tracks of totality, for instance, requires cautious planning. And these tracks cowl massive swaths of the continent. The path of annularity for the 2023 eclipse stretches from the Northwestern U.S. down by means of Texas and throughout Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula (persevering with throughout Central America and northern South America). The path of totality in 2024 sweeps by means of northern Mexico, stretching throughout the U.S. into Canada. As in 2017, viewers in practically all of North America will see no less than a deep partial occasion throughout each eclipses.

To handle these logistics, the American Astronomical Society has resurrected its Solar Eclipse Task Force (SETF). In the run-up to the August 2017 eclipse, the Task Force hosted a collection of workshops, pulling collectively the disparate components that come into play for an occasion of this magnitude. These included addressing eye security (don’t ever look instantly at the Sun with out applicable safety!), working with native communities to deal with the movement of site visitors into and out of the path of totality, and coordinating scientific, academic, and governmental organizations in order to make sure clean cooperation between them.

As it appears to be like forward to 2023 and 2024, the SETF — in its present incarnation — held its first (in-person) workshop at the 234th AAS assembly in St. Louis, Missouri in June 2019. The international pandemic disrupted additional plans, because it did in all sectors of life. The SETF has since regrouped to prepare the subsequent workshop — to be held nearly — on April 9–10, 2021.

Gleaning from classes discovered in 2017, the SETF is now forging forward with preparations for nationwide occasions. Experts in eye security, native and regional neighborhood planning, in addition to representatives from national companies corresponding to NASA, will give talks and lead panel discussions on these points and extra at the April workshop.

This workshop is for you in case you’re

• an expert / beginner astronomer
• a proper or casual educator
• a consultant of
  • tourism bureaus, Chambers of Commerce, the hospitality trade
  • departments of transportation
  • state- and national-parks and forests
  • regulation enforcement
  • emergency-management organizations
• an eclipse fanatic who’d wish to pitch in any way you possibly can

and have an interest in actively taking part in the planning phases.

Signing up for the workshop is simple: Simply click on on the hyperlink under. Note that there’s a $20 payment (nonetheless, the SETF could think about waiving it on a case by case foundation — you possibly can ship an email to the SETF and allow them to know your state of affairs).

Here are the particulars:

What: Virtual workshop to plan for the 2023 and 2024 eclipses

When: Friday April ninth and Saturday April tenth

Time (each days): 1 p.m. – 5 p.m. EDT / 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. PDT

Two-step registration:

1. Click on the hyperlink and pay the $20 payment. If you’re not a member of the AAS, you’ll must create an account in case you don’t have already got one — however you’re not required to hitch the Society.
2. You’ll obtain a affirmation e mail (in addition to a receipt) with a hyperlink for filling out an attendee questionnaire, after which you’ll obtain Zoom directions.

REGISTER HERE FOR THE SOLAR ECLIPSE PLANNING VIRTUAL WORKSHOP

Don’t hesitate to email the AAS Solar Eclipse Task Force with any questions you might have.

We hope to see you in a pair weeks’ time!