Image
On April 8, a near-total solar eclipse will be visible from Amherst, Massachusetts. To prepare for this rare event, the University of Massachusetts Amherst will be hosting a free public lecture on March 27, Chasing the Moon’s Shadow: The Total Solar Eclipse of April 8, 2024, by James Lowenthal, Mary Elizabeth Moses Professor and chair of astronomy at Smith College. The lecture will take place in the Integrated Science Building’s auditorium (room 135); doors open at 7:30 p.m.
Total solar eclipses are among nature’s rarest spectacles. Any single spot on Earth will see a full eclipse only once every 360 years, on average. From Amherst, almost 95% of the sun will go dark on April 8, and this is the last time that a total solar eclipse will be visible from anywhere in North America until 2044.
Lowenthal will take the audience on a guided tour of total solar eclipses, including how and why they happen, phenomena to watch for, and how to prepare for and safely watch the total solar eclipse coming to northern New England.
Lowenthal uses large telescopes in space and on the ground to study the formation of galaxies in the early universe, and also uses Smith’s rooftop telescope with a team of students to study exoplanets orbiting stars in our Milky Way galaxy. He works locally, nationally and internationally to protect the night sky from light pollution and satellite constellations. He is a veteran of eight total and annular solar eclipses and author of the book “The Hidden Sun.” Lowenthal has also made public a collection of photographs he has taken of eclipses around the world.
This free public lecture is part of a series of open events leading up to the eclipse on April 8. Mark your calendar now for the main event, a public gathering at UMass Amherst to observe the eclipse. The College of Natural Sciences and the astronomy department will distribute solar shades beginning at 11 a.m. April 8 at two locations on campus while supplies last—UMass Amherst Sunwheel and Metawampe Lawn. UMass astronomers will speak about the phenomenon at both campus viewing locations. The peak of the eclipse will be at 3:28 p.m., and the event will conclude at 4:30 p.m.