January 2024

Global Astronomy Magazine Volume VIII Get ready for totality! — Page 38 A total solar eclipse is coming on April 8 — Page 18 Star Power: Astronomy project aims to empower youth — Page 54 Astrophotographer thrives where art & science meet

Volume VIII Published by the Explore Alliance Chief Editorial Staff: Marcelo de Oliveira Souza David H. Levy © Explore Alliance Duplication of contents in full or part is prohibited unless prior authorization by Explore Alliance has been obtained. Unless an advertisement in the publication contains a specific endorsement by the Explore Alliance, it has not been tested by, approved by or endorsed by the Explore Alliance. Explore Alliance 1010 S. 48th Street Springdale, AR 72762 Phone: 949-637-9075 o o o Sky’s Up digital magazine is made possible through a generous contribution from Explore Scientific. 2 contents Making everyone a space in space A paradigm shift for astronomy — Page 31 — Page 12 The total package Total solar eclipse to wow millions across North America — Page 38 on the cover Wonderful Universe .........Pg. 8 Seasonal Calendars....... Pg. 59 Global Astronomy Magazine “I tried capturing Abell 21 (Sh2-274) in the Spring on 2019. Typically Springs here in Michigan are pretty bad with clear skies and I was only able to gather 12.8 hours of integration time between Ha and OIII back then. We had a very unusual March this year (2021) with a lot of clear nights and I added on data to what a collected before. While I wanted to bring out more detail in the nebula itself, there was a lot of background nebula I wanted to pull out as well and see how far I can sharpen it. Although Abell 21, or Sh2-274, has a large apparent diameter of 10 arcminutes, its surface brightness is so low, with features ranging from magnitude 16-25, that it was not discovered until 1955. It is a planetary nebula lying at a distance of 1,500 light-years in the constellation Gemini. The parent star, now a white dwarf, is thought to be the deep blue star near the center of the crescent. The braided filaments of the shell the star shed during its red giant phase, resemble the serpents that comprise the hair of the mythical character Medusa, giving the nebula its popular name, the Medusa Nebula.” — Astrophotographer Douglas J. Struble Technical information: Imaging telescope: Explore Scientific 152 mm Carbon Fiber, Stellarvue SVX102T-R; Cameras: ZWO ASI1600MM COOL ; Mount: Astro-Physics Mach 1 GTO · Orion Atlas Pro AZ/EQ-G; Filters: Astrodon Ha 5nm · Astronomik Deep-Sky B · Astronomik Deep-Sky G · Astronomik Deep-Sky R · Astrodon OIII 3nm; Software: Pleiades Astrophoto PixInsight · Photoshop CC · PHD2 · Sequence Generator Pro ISSN 2768-2285 (Digital) • ISSN 2768-2285 (Print) CREDIT: Douglas J Struble — Page 54

from the editor From a young age, I always rooted for people to overcome challenges. Carefully following the volunteers to overcome barriers proposed by the organizers, I was cheering them on for success. When I started following advances in the area of space exploration, I kept imagining new limits to be overcome. Each achievement was a reason for a festive celebration. Little by little I realized that there were limits that were still very far from being reached. I learned, however, to keep alive the hope that a new discovery would allow us to anticipate the breaking of these limits. In these moments I remembered a poem by the famous Brazilian poet Mário Quintana, a poet whose work I discovered when I was a teenager. An excerpt of this poem in free translation into English is: The wire girl balancing the umbrella It was instantly and dazzlingly beautiful! The girl with the wire was sliding and undressing. Slowly. Just to punish us. And my eyes were getting wider and wider until they look like two saucers. My uncle said: “Silly! Don’t you know that they always wear knitwear underneath?” (In those voluptuous times there were no swimsuits or bikinis…) Yes! But all the delightful anguish of my virgin eyes secreted me ever: “Who knows?…” — QUINTANA, Mário. Nova Antologia Poética. São Paulo: Editora Globo, 2007. p.113,114. Now I am following the arrival on the market of wonderful small digital telescopes that allow us to obtain fantastic images of distant objects. The romanticism of observing through telescope eyepieces, which no longer accompanies the astronomer in his daily life, has arrived for the amateur astronomer who carries out observations in his, or her, backyard. A technological revolution that is quickly becoming accessible to everyone. Activities to popularize Astronomy in public places will probably soon be carried out differently from what we do today. People will have access without their cell phones, in real time, to images obtained by digital telescopes without the need to look into eyepieces. A paradigm shift caused by technological advancement. No matter how creative we are, we are always surprised by the new possibilities that arise for our future. Every day larger telescopes are designed to be installed on our planet and also to be launched into space. New data about the Universe will be obtained. Ancient mysteries will be unveiled. There is a perennial question that has been analyzed by many people from different civilizations: Do we have company in the Universe? The search for an answer to this question leads many people to be interested in astronomy and space conquest. All of us who carry out activities to popularize astronomy have already been asked about this. Discussions about the search for life beyond Earth attract large audiences. Despite all the impact caused by this topic, it is not what predominates in the actions of groups promoting astronomy. Traditional observations of the night sky and the Sun using telescopes are those that most often attract the public. Just look at the reports of the crowds who observe lunar and solar eclipses. Observations of the Moon and planets are highly successful events. Our group considers the observation of the planet Saturn in a telescope as the baptism into Astronomy. Nowadays we are faced with a great challenge. Excessive artificial lighting in large cities is robbing us of the beauty of the night sky. Urgent action is needed to preserve dark skies for future generations. In this edition of Sky’s Up, we have reports of magnificent groups and people who carry out activities to teach and popularize Astronomy in Nepal, Argentina, Pakistan, Uruguay and Egypt. They are inspirations for all of us. I continue with the same spirit of rooting for success in the challenges that life throws at us. When we talk about the difficulties imposed by our current technical limitations, I tend to reflect like the boy in Mário Quintana’s poetry. Will new discoveries happen soon and these challenges will be resolved in a short time? Who knows? I hope you have a pleasant journey through the Universe while reading this edition of Sky’s Up. Clear skies for everyone! by Marcelo de Oliveira Souza Will it work? Who knows? n n n Marcelo de Oliveira Souza is a physicist with a Master of Science in Physics (General Relativity) at the Universidade Federal Fluminense and a Doctor of Science in Physics (Cosmology) at Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro. Since 2004, he has been a professor at the Universidade Estadual do Norte Fluminense and since 2006 he has been the Louis Cruls Astronomy Club General Coordinator. In Brazil, he is the Astronomers Without Borders National Coordinator, the UNAWE program national Coordinator and the Mission X - Lead. He is the author of “Um Passeio pelo Céu,” and, from 2005 until 2013, he presented and wrote the script of the weekly TV program “Um Passeio pelo Céu” about astronomy and astronautics.

4 On the fourteenth of October 2023, I witnessed my 99th eclipse. This tally includes everything from barely noticeable penumbral eclipses of the Moon, where one can occasionally distinguish a slight shading of one side of the Moon as it wanders past the Earth’s outer shadow, to the dramatic and life-affirming total eclipses of the Sun. The October eclipse was actually an annular eclipse or “ring” eclipse. The annular phase occurs during which the entire Moon covers the Sun, but because the Moon is near its apogee, or farthest point from the Earth in its orbit, then the Moon is surrounded by a ring of sunlight. I was all set to join the group heading to southern Texas to see the annular eclipse, but last month I was invited to be the keynote speaker at the Homecoming festival at the State University of New York at Plattsburgh. This invitation meant so much to me that I was not about to pass it up. So, I took a big chance, and it paid off. The night of my lecture was clear and starry. I began the lecture with my own definition of what a university can be. The world is as it is; we can try but, in the end, it is difficult if not impossible to change it. A university, however, at its best represents the world as it can be. For me, this represents the ideal of what a university can accomplish. The case of SUNY Plattsburgh is a specific example of that possibility. The not-too-large student population, understandable relationships among students and faculty, careful and interesting course offerings, and even the Plattsburgh Cardinals sporting program, all help to promote this goal. But this university offers one thing more. About 40 miles to the south, within the ancient Adirondack mountains, lies their rural campsite called Twin Valleys. As a youngster I attended the Adirondack Science Camp there in what were three of the happiest summers of my life. And for the past 20 years there has been the Adirondack Astronomy Retreat at this magnificent place. On the eve of the eclipse my friend Ed Guenther and I led a small group of people to observe at our Adirondack Astronomy Retreat site, during which time I did a little comet hunting. The following morning the sky was cloudy but there were plenty of breaks in the clouds so we got a magnificent view of the partial eclipse. We were excited; the crowd was excited, and we thoroughly enjoyed the partial eclipse that lasted about two hours. During this excitement, the solar system continued its inexorable motions, as the Earth, the Moon, and the planets slowly wended their way through space and time. by David Levy Skyward Magnificent moments n n n David H Levy is arguably one of the most enthusiastic and famous amateur astronomers of our time. Although he has never taken a class in astronomy, he has written over three dozen books, has written for three astronomy magazines and has appeared on television programs featured on the Discovery and the Science Channels. Among David’s accomplishments are 23 comet discoveries, the most famous being Shoemaker-Levy 9 that collided with Jupiter in 1994, a few hundred shared asteroid discoveries, an Emmy for the documentary Three Minutes to Impact, five honorary doctorates in Science and a PhD which combines astronomy and English Literature. Currently, he is the editor of the web magazine Sky’s Up!, has a monthly column, Skyward, in our local Vail Voice paper. David continues to hunt for comets and asteroids, and lectures worldwide. COURTESY OF David Levy SUNY Plattsburgh

5 editorial board members • Scott Roberts - Founder and President of Explore Scientific - USA • David Levy - Worldwide famous astronomer, science writer and discoverer of comets and minor planets - USA • Marcelo de Oliveira Souza - DSc. in Physics (Cosmology). University Professor, Educator and Science Communicator. • Hassane Darhmaoui -PhD in Physics from the University of Alberta, in Canada. Associate Professor at the School of Science and Engineering of the Al Akhawayn University in Ifrane (AUI) and Coordinator of the AUI Center for Learning Technologies, founding member and general Secretary of the Arab Astronomical Society (ArAS), founder and national representative of the Universe Awareness (UNAWE) chapter in Morocco, founder and current supervisor and co-director of Al Akhawayn Observatory. Morocco • Andrea Sanchez Saldias - Astronomer, Master in Physics and PhD in Biology (Astrobiology), all degrees obtained at the Universidad de la República. Conducts research in Exobiology and Paleoclimatology on Earth and Mars, Uruguay • Suresh Bhattarai - Science educator, astronomy communicator and researcher in Nepal. National Outreach Coordinator (NOC) for Nepal for 2018-2021 and chairperson at the Nepal Astronomical Society (NASO) • Valentin Grigore - Leading amateur astronomer, specialist in meteor astronomy, astrophotographer, astro-poet, astrojournalist, author, trainer, lighting specialist, dark-sky and ecologist militant, youth worker specialist President of the Romanian Society for Meteors and Astronomy (SARM), National Coordinator for Romania of Astronomers Without Borders (AWB) and producer of the tv show ”Us and the Sky” at Columna TV • Olaynka Fagbemiro - Assistant Chief Scientific Officer with the National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA), Founder/National Coordinator of Astronomers Without Borders (AWB) Nigeria, IAU’s National Education Contact (NAEC) for Nigeria and the Public Relations and Education Officer for the African Astronomical Society (AfAS). • Cláudio Moisés Paulo - Prof. Assistant in Astrophysics at Eduardo Mondlane University. Doctor of Astrophysics (University of Witwatersrand, South Africa), Master of Astrophysics (University of the western Cape, South Africa), Honours in Astrophysics and Space Sciences (University of Cape Town, South Africa), and Honours in Physics & Meteorology (Eduardo Mondlane University, Mozambique). • Manoj Pai - One of the most active amateur astronomers in India. Astronomy Club, Ahmedabad, India To all our readers, I want to wish you a very happy New Year. May 2024 bring you only good things. The New Year promises some very interesting events. From a personal point of view, I am really looking forward to the total eclipse of the sun coming up on April 8th. I will be with Scott Roberts of Explore Scientific in southern Texas not far from the Mexico border. I am looking forward to every aspect of this event from the first tiny bite that the Moon takes out of the Sun, all the way to the shadow bands that proceed and follow the total phase. Even if the sky should be cloudy, we are going to get a lot of interesting things. For example, by far the darkest eclipse I have ever seen took place on March 7, 1970, when for two minutes the sky was almost as dark as midnight. The other 10 or so total eclipses I have seen were not as dark because the corona of the totally eclipsed Sun and the twilight on all the horizons provided some faint light of their own. I am also looking forward very much to this year’s Adirondack Astronomy retreat. This will mark the 20th retreat we have had since Wendee and I Launched this event in 2004. We missed a couple of years due to the Covid 19 pandemic but we are up and enthusiastically running again. This year’s retreat will take place at the end of July. If you are interested in attending, please contact me at [email protected]. The major purpose of holding this event for one week Is to remind us all why became we became passionate about the night sky in the first place. The other aspect of the New Year to which I am looking forward is to remember the wonderful times that I enjoyed during my almost 30 – year relationship with Wendee. After my wife died from breast cancer on September 23, 2022, I miss her terribly. As time goes by, the hole in my heart begins to heal and I remember the good times that we shared together. One of those good times occurred on October 2, 2006, the morning I discovered my most recent comet. Wendee did not like to get up to join me during the early morning observing sessions, but when I returned to bed on that particular morning I lay down, and began to close my eyes. Just then Wendee opened her eyes; she grinned at me and said, “ You discovered a comet this morning didn’t you?” That evening after the new interloper was confirmed I asked if she would want to see it the next morning.“ I wouldn’t miss this for anything!” We shared a fabulous look at the lovely new comet the next morning, and I was so glad that she was a part of it. Incidentally on that same date 47 years earlier, with my Mom and younger brother Gerry, on October 2, 1959, I witnessed my first eclipse of the Sun. by David Levy Editorial New Year holds lots of promise

6 Launched in the summer of 2020 during a time when approximately 4.2 billion people, over half of the global population, were under COVID-related lockdowns, the Global Star Party emerged as a beacon of connection for astronomy presenters and audiences alike. As the world adjusted to a new normal, the GSP continued to provide solace for individuals facing various forms of lockdown, from caretakers of elderly parents to those physically challenged. The GSP served as a virtual companion, offering the satisfaction of participating in an in-person star party while observing the cosmos from the comfort of their homes. This online event has captivated astronomers and enthusiasts globally, establishing itself as a shining gem in Explore Scientific’s commitment to fostering a worldwide community of stargazers through their Explore Alliance program. At the heart of this cosmic celebration is the Explore Alliance program, is a community-driven initiative designed to unite and empower astronomers of all levels. Explore Scientific’s vision is clear: to provide resources, support, and a shared platform that enriches the stargazing experiences of enthusiasts worldwide. With inexpensive technology that allows live streaming from an Internet connected desktop, laptop, or even a smart phone to be simulcast to numerous social media platforms simultaneously, the Global Star Party created a sustainable virtual space where the beauty of the night sky could be shared and celebrated by stargazers from every corner of the globe. The online platform has transformed into a celestial stage where astronomers, both amateur and professional, can come together to share their passion for the stars. Leveraging cutting-edge technology, the GSP provides a virtual astronomical conference and observatory, allowing participants to explore the wonders of the universe from the comfort of their homes. Key features of the Global Star Party include international collaboration, live stargazing sessions, interactive workshops and talks, virtual telescope tours, and a vibrant online community: • International Collaboration: The GSP stands out for its ability to bring together stargazers from diverse cultures and backgrounds, serving as a global hub that fosters collaboration and shared experiences transcending geographical boundaries. • Reconnecting with Fellow Astronomers in Lockdown: The GSP continues to unite stargazers worldwide, providing a global hub for collaboration and shared experiences, particularly for those facing various forms of lockdown. • Live Stargazing Sessions: Explore Alliance curates live stargazing sessions hosted by renowned astronomers, offering participants the unique opportunity to witness celestial wonders in real-time. • Interactive Workshops and Talks: The event provides a rich tapestry of knowledge through interactive workshops and talks by experts in the field, covering topics from astrophotography techniques to deep dives into astronomical phenomena. • Virtual Telescope Tours: As part of the Global Star Party, Explore Scientific provides virtual telescope tours, allowing participants to explore high-quality imagery captured by advanced telescopes, offering a unique and detailed perspective on celestial objects. • Community Engagement: A vibrant online community has emerged around the Global Star Party, allowing participants to share observations, exchange tips, and connect with fellow astronomy enthusiasts, fostering lasting connections among stargazers. Having surpassed its 140th event with co-hosts Scott W. Roberts and David H. Levy, the Global Star Party continues to evolve, captivating audiences with each new theme chosen for every event. Themes range from exploring specific constellations to delving into the science behind meteor showers or celestial events, adding an exciting and educational element to the star party experience, enhancing overall engagement and learning opportunities for participants. Usually broadcast live on Tuesday evenings starting at 6:00 p.m. Central Time, you can find us at www. explorescientific.com/globalstarparty. So, we invite you to attend the Global Star Party as a presenter or as an audience member to embrace the digital era of stargazing and elevate it to new heights. By breaking down geographical barriers and creating a global platform for astronomy enthusiasts, GSP has embraced the sharing aspect that shows off the best of what the astronomy community has to offer, turning our heads skyward and focusing on things that can give you a new perspective on life as we move toward a shared understanding and appreciation of the cosmos. n n n Scott W. Roberts is the founder and president of Explore Scientific in Springdale, Ark. He is an avid amateur astronomer who has spent more than 30 years in the astronomy optics industry. by Scott W. Roberts Go Global! Online event unites stargazers worldwide in a celestial celebration

7 JANUARY 2023 PAST ISSUES SCAN TO VIEW explorescientificusa.com/skysup JULY 2022 DECEMBER 2021 SEPTEMBER 2021 APRIL 2021 DECEMBER 2020 SUMMER 2018 Get a global perspective on the latest happenings in astronomy and discover more about the curiosities in our solar system and beyond! A Global Astronomy Magazine WINTER 2018 SUMMER 2017 SPRING 2017 SPRING-SUMMER 2016 FALL 2016

8 wonderful universe Lights... Colors... Songs... In the Universe there are notes on a scale that escape the perception of our senses... Stars talking without us noticing... Exchanging valuable information for humanity... Passing in front of us without us identifying them... Scientific knowledge coming to help us... Bringing extensions to our senses... Allowing us to participate and follow a celestial dialogue.... • • • In the past we observed in the sky what our vision allowed. To be able to look further, we build instruments to allow us to look further. Telescopes and cameras came together to allow the observation of more details of the stars. A new possibility presented itself with the discovery made by the American physicist Karl Guthe Jansky. Born on October 22, 1905, he was hired by Bell Telephone Laboratories in 1928. His job was to research sources of interference in the transmission of radio signals. The frequency range he analyzed corresponded to short waves, wavelengths with values between 10 and 20 meters. He developed an antenna system to analyze the 20.5 MHz frequency, which corresponds to a wavelength of around 14.5 meters. After a few months of work he had already identified some sources of interference. Some of them were already known at the time. There were, however, some of them, less intense, which had an unknown origin. Jansky directed his work toward identifying these new sources of interference. The main objective was to be able, by identifying sources of interference, to improve the transmission of radio waves. After arduous research, he identified that this source of interference did not originate on Earth. It appeared to be coming from the Milky Way, more precisely from the direction of the center of our galaxy, which is located in the direction of the constellation of Sagittarius. In 1933, he published a work in the “Proceedings of the IRE” with data on the results of his investigations. In this work Jansky announced that he had detected radio waves whose source was located in the center of our galaxy, the Milky Way. This was the first detection of a nonvisible signal from an extraterrestrial source. From that day on, radio astronomy began. • • • In 1937, the American Grote Reber, motivated by Jansky’s work, built a radio telescope in his backyard, using a parabolic antenna measuring more than nine meters in diameter. The Universe unknown to our senses Compiled by MARCELO DE OLIVEIRA SOUZA CREDIT: NRAO/AUI/NSF Above, Karl Jansky and his rotating directional radio antenna in the early 1930s Left, full-size replica of the first radio telescope, built by Karl Jansky and now at the Green Bank Observatory (formerly part of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory or NRAO) in Green Bank, West Virginia CREDIT: Public Domain

9 wonderful universe He managed to carry out systematic measurements and prove the results obtained by Jansky. From that moment on, larger and more powerful radio telescopes have been built every day. The electromagnetic spectrum is not limited to just the range we observe and radio waves. There are other bands in which emissions from the stars could also be detected. The Earth’s atmosphere, however, prevents some of these electromagnetic waves from reaching the Earth’s surface. This is what happens with X-rays, Gamma Rays and most of the Ultraviolet range. To be able to observe these regions of the electromagnetic spectrum, it is necessary to place an observatory above the Earth’s atmosphere. With the technological mastery achieved by humanity, in recent years several observation instruments have been developed in these bands of the electromagnetic spectrum to be placed in Earth’s orbit. These are the famous space telescopes. The most famous of them are Hubble and James Webb. Left, replica of Grote Reber Radio Telescope at National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Green Bank, West Virginia CREDIT: Jarek Tuszyński / CCBY-SA-3.0 & GDF

10 wonderful universe However, there are several others that have already been in Earth orbit, or that are still in operation. Among them, Compton, which made observations in the Gamma ray range, Chandra, which makes observations in the X-ray range, and Spitzer, which makes observations in the infrared range, should be highlighted. Chandra and Spitzer are still in operation. There are others still in activity and several that are awaiting placement into orbit or being designed. Today we know much more details about the universe due to these space telescopes. Humanity has managed to extend its senses by building competent assistants. Every day more surprises are revealed with the help of these powerful observation instruments. • • • In November 1967, Susan Jocelyn Bell-Burnell, a postgraduate student at the University of Cambridge, detected periodic, high-frequency extraterrestrial signals. Not having a visible source, it was speculated at the time that they could be signals emitted by extraterrestrial beings. They were nicknamed LGM-1 (little green men 1). After a few years, they identified the source of the signals as a rapidly rotating neutron star, also called a pulsar. It was the first time they had been detected, as it was not possible to observe them in the visible range. A paper describing the discovery was published. The work had four other authors in addition to Jocelyn Bell. Among the authors were his advisor Antony Hewish and astronomer Martin Ryle. For this discovery, the two received the Nobel Prize in 1974. One of the great injustices in science was the failure to award Jocelyn Bell. • • • The PhD in Physics Kent Cullers is visually impaired. He was the first visually impaired person to graduate in Physics. He obtained his doctorate in 1980. He worked for a long period on the SETI project, a project that analyzes signals detected by radio telescopes Above, Jocelyn Bell Burnell at the launch of the International Year of Astronomy – Paris 2009 CREDIT: Astronomical Institute, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic CREDIT: ESO This picture shows the beautiful antennas of the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), operated by ESO and its international partners in the Chilean Andes. ALMA’s 66 white antennas are not the same size: most of them are 12-metre antennas, and only twelve are 7-metre antennas.

11 in search of extraterrestrial life. He does not have the help of vision, a fact that did not prevent him from peering into the universe and trying to understand it. He hears the sound of the stars. Source for a symphony that he composes using the sensitivity of his soul. In the silence of the absence of images, he imagined a melodious universe, colored by hope, and fair. Overcoming all obstacles, he became an example for humanity. • • • We have nowadays many radiotelescopes worldwide. This section includes information about three famous radio telescopes responsible for important discoveries. In November 1963 was inaugurated the Arecibo Radio telescope. It was a 305-meter spherical reflector radio telescope built into a natural sinkhole located near Arecibo, Puerto Rico. Until 2016 it was the largest single-aperture telescope. In August 2020, the radio telescope suffered serious damage that led to its closure. It was decided in 2022 that the Arecibo site would not be used for a new telescope. In 2001, the Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope (GBT) was inaugurated in Green Bank, West Virginia, USA. It is the world’s largest fully steerable radio telescope. The Atacama Large Millimeter/ submillimeter Array (ALMA) is an astronomical interferometer in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. The array has been constructed in the Chajnantor Plateau (5,000 meter elevation) in the Atacama Desert, one of the highest and driest places on Earth. This radio telescope is composed of 66 high-precision antennas, which operate on wavelengths of 0.32 to 3.6 mm. Its main array has 50 antennas, each with 12-meter diameters, which act together as a single telescope: an interferometer. This is complemented by a compact array of four antennas with 12-meter diameters and 12 antennas with 7-meter diameters. ALMA’s antennas can be configured in different ways, spacing them at distances from 150 meters to 16 kilometers, giving ALMA a powerful “zoom” variable, which results in images clearer than the images from the Hubble Space Telescope. (Source: almaobservatory.org) wonderful universe CREDIT: H. Schweiker/WIYN and NOAO/AURA/NSF Above, aerial view of Arecibo Observatory in December 2012; Below, the Green Bank Telescope is the world’s largest, fully-steerable telescope. The GBT’s dish is 100-meters by 110-meters in size, covering 2.3 acres of space. CREDIT: NRAO/AUI/NSF

12 By PIERRE PAQUETTE Royal Astronomical Society of Canada As we have seen in the last edition, the Middle Ages were not a “dead” period when it comes to science— even though its progress was slower than before in Europe, bringing some historians to say that the Arab/Muslim world was the heart of culture during this time. The early 8th century was marked by the rapid conquest of Spain and Portugal by the Muslim. But by the late 8th century, Christian kingdoms started becoming victorious in battle and gradually reclaimed territory, a period known as Reconquista (“reconquest”). Fighting was not constant, though, and Muslims and Christians cohabited peacefully for most of that 600-yearlong period, and knowledge circulated rather freely. In parallel, Western kingdoms increased their communication with the Eastern Roman (or Byzantine) Empire, while the increasing numbers of universities in the West also meant a greater access to culture for the “common people.” The late 12th century saw the first translations of major scientific works from Ancient Greek or Arabic to Latin, allowing their spread to the rest of Europe. For example, Constantine the African was born in Carthage (modern Tunisia), studied medicine in Egypt, and spent the final years of his life as a monk in Italy; he translated some major medical treaties to Latin. Around 1160, the Byzantine Emperor Manuel I Comnenus gave a copy of the Almagest to Sicilian envoy Henry Aristippus, who brought it back to Sicily, where it was translated by an anonymous student from Salerno. It did not get a large diffusion, though, and only 15 years later, Gerard of Cremona’s translation became rather popular. Consequently, some of the great discoveries of the West had their base in Eastern science, though the exact means of transmission are not always known. For example, Nicolaus Copernicus makes multiple references to Arab scientists such as Al-Battani, Ibn Rushd, Thābit ibn Qurra, Al-Zarqali, and Al-Bitruji, while some other Renaissance brings paradigm shift for astronomy figuring out how the universe works Map showing the dates when some Spanish cities were retaken by Christians CREDIT: FDV on Wikimedia Commons / Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International

13 chapters of his work seem to be influenced by the Maragha school, whose writings are known to have reached Bologna (Italy), where Copernicus studied. Though there was a gradual spread of knowledge, it was still limited in its speed by the fact that written works had to be painstakingly copied by hand—most often, by religious monks. However, the end of the Middle Ages would see an incredible boost in communication technology, which allowed the large scale and rapid diffusion of knowledge. Its origin is completely unrelated to science: Most Mediterranean societies consume olive oil, and many of them also drink wine. These two products are made by pressing fruits—olives or grapes—and collecting the expelled liquid. Olive trees and vines do not grow in the Far East, so another great civilization, China, did not then know the press. On the other hand, it invented paper and woodcut printing, which both reached Europe by the thirteenth century—prior to that, Europeans would write on papyrus (made of crushed reed) or parchment (made of animal skin, notably that of calves for a specific type of parchment called “vellum”). Europeans would eventually combine moveable type, another Chinese innovation, with their own presses, creating the printing press, an invention generally credited to Johannes Gutenberg. Over the next 60 years or so, most large European cities and many smaller ones would have their own printing press, allowing the relatively rapid reproduction and diffusion of written works in much larger numbers of copies than could previously be done by handcopying. The Scientific Revolution The so-called “Scientific Revolution” of the 16th–18th centuries results from a combination of factors. In astronomy, Copernicus published De Revolutionibus Orbium Cœlestium (“On the Revolution of Heavenly Bodies”; 1543), featuring a paradigm shift from the geocentric to the heliocentric system. Just six decades later, Johannes Kepler wrote Astronomia Nova (“New Astronomy”; 1609), in which he announced that planetary orbits are not circles but ellipses; at the same time, Galileo Galilei turned the recently invented telescope towards the sky and discovered four bodies revolving around Jupiter, proving that the Earth is not the centre of everything—we wrote Sidereus Nuncius (“The Starry Messenger”; March 1610) to communicate his discoveries. Less than a year later, his observations of Venus (September 1610) proved that it revolves around the Sun and not the Earth (Istoria e Dimostrazioni intorno alle Macchie Solari [“History and internal demonstration of sunspots”]; 1613). Finally, Isaac Newton’s Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica (“Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy”; 1687) brought a rational explanation to the phenomena described by the other three authors. Copernicus’s De Revolutionibus Widely considered as the book that triggered the Scientific Revolution, De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium Liber VI (“Six Books on the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres”), published by Nicolaus Copernicus in 1543, details his heliocentric model of the universe. It is not known exactly how or when Copernicus became convinced that the Earth is not central to everything, but already by 1514 he had published a short discussion of the heliocentric model in a treaty later entitled Nicolai Copernici de hypothesibus motuum coelestium a se constitutis commentariolus (“Nicolaus Copernicus’s short commentary on his hypotheses of the movements of heavently bodies”). Few copies were made of it, all handwritten, but it was enough to reach Pope Clement VII by 1533. Central to it are seven postulates: 1. There is no single central point to planetary motions. 2. The Moon orbits around the Earth. 3. The other planets [as the Moon was then considered a planet] revolve around the Sun, which is near the centre of the cosmos. 4. The size of the Earth’s orbit around the Sun is negligible compared to the distance of the stars; hence, parallax is not observed in stars. 5. The stars are fixed; the Earth’s rotation causes their apparent daily movement. 6. The motion of the Earth around the Sun causes its apparent yearly movement. 7. The motion of the Earth around the Sun causes the stars’ apparent yearly movement. CREDIT: Public Domain The “Toruń Portrait” of Copernicus, from an anonymous painter, 1580

14 The Copernican model, later detailed in De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium, is very similar to Ptolemy’s. Contrary to what many people believe, Copernicus’s model is not simpler than Ptolemy’s and does not get rid of the epicycles—it even adds some! Near the mean sun (an imaginary body whose movement in Earth’s sky is uniform) are the centres of the deferents or large spheres (the “orbs” of the work’s title), each bearing a smaller sphere called the epicycle, which in turn bears the planet. The centre of each deferent is offset from the sun by a different amount specific to each planet; likewise, the speed of each epicycle on its deferent, and the speed of the planet on its deferent, are unique to each planet. Additional smaller spheres allow the variable tilting of the apparent path of each planet in Earth’s sky. The heliocentric system explains why planets sometimes seem to “back up” or retrograde on their apparent path in Earth’s sky: Just as a car on the highway seems to move backwards when you pass it, planets are “passed” by the Earth on its orbit, which changes their direction in our skies. However, this was already explained by the epicycles. The only new phenomenon predicted by Copernicus’s model was that Mercury and Venus would sometimes seem to be “back-lit,” as they could be anywhere between the Sun and the Earth or beyond the Sun, but this was not apparent with the naked eye, and astronomers were thus not incited to switch their view to the heliocentric system as it did not really bring anything new or make their calculations easier. Johannes Kepler’s Astronomia Nova Johannes Kepler had built himself a solid reputation as a mathematician and was eventually invited by Tycho Brahe, a Danish astronomer exiled to Prague, who tasked him with the calculation of Mars’s orbit. We now know that this planet’s orbit is more elliptical than any other planet’s except for Mercury, and it was defying the models of the best astronomers as its position was almost always off from predictions. Though Kepler initially thought he could find a solution quickly, the task was made more difficult by the fact that Brahe didn’t allow him to use all his observations of Mars at the same time. After about a year of working together, Brahe unexpectedly died (from complications of a urinary infection caused by not relieving himself during a banquet as not to breach etiquette), and Kepler (successfully) fought his succession to obtain all Mars observations. After battling for a while with various curves other than the circle, Kepler eventually came to the realization that A spread from Kepler’s Astronomia Nova, showing various construction lines used in determining a planet’s orbit CREDIT: Public Domain

15 Mars’s orbit is an ellipse—a “stretched circle,” if you will. Incidentally, Kepler had previously thought of the ellipse, but he had thought it too trivial to be a real possibility. Without a real empirical basis for doing so, he then assumed that all planets had elliptical orbits, and this became what we now know as the first of his three Laws of Planetary Movement, published with the second in Astronomia Nova (“New Astronomy,” 1609)—the third one was published in Harmonice Mundi (“Harmony of the World,” 1619). These laws are: 1. The orbit of a planet is an ellipse of which the Sun is located at one focus. 2. Planets sweep out equal areas in equal times. 3. The square of the times of revolution are proportional to the cubes of the distances. The First Law went against the previous model, which dictated that orbits were circles; the Second Law invalidated the older dictum that equal angles were swept out in equal times. Kepler’s Astronomia Nova was among the first works to assign physical causes to observed events; planets were not moving because of the influence of some divinities, but because of real actions acted upon them. Kepler can even be credited as foreseeing Newton in that he supposed that there was some kind of force uniting the Sun and the planets, although he thought it to be similar to love: planets would move faster when nearer the Sun, just like humans would move faster towards their loved ones the closer they got to them. Galileo Galilei’s Telescopic Observations I mentioned above that Copernicus’s model did not predict any new phenomena or explain any previously unexplained one, except for the “backlighting” of Mercury and Venus. This was shown to effectively be the case in 1610, by Italian astronomer and mathematician Galileo Galilei. CREDIT: aiva. on Flickr / Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic Various artifacts related to Galileo, including two of his telescopes (top) and a (framed) lens objective (centre).

16 n n n Pierre Paquette has been an amateur astronomer for more than 35 years. He has been secretary (1990–1992) and president (1993–1994) of the Centre francophone de Montréal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, board member of the Fédération des astronomes amateurs du Québec (1993–1994, then 2010–2014), and vice-president of the Club des astronomes amateurs de Laval (2014). From 2012 to 2016, he was the editor and publisher of Astronomie-Québec, a freely available PDF magazine, and he still sometimes publishes on its website and Facebook page. He was main presenter at National Geographic Night-Sky Odyssey, the first-even openair planetarium with augmented reality, in Sutton, Québec, from 2018 to 2021. He has been an Ambassador of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada since 2013. In 2016, he received the Fred Clarke Award of the Montréal RASC for his lifetime achievements. He has given talks and workshops in Montréal, Québec City, Toronto, Whitehorse (Yukon, where he is Subject Matter Expert for the Aurora | 360 Experience), and Brazil. Having heard of a new device made of lenses which could make distant objects appear closer, Galileo was able to make one himself and he soon turned it towards the sky. This allowed him to discover mountains and valleys on the Moon, going against the view that celestial objects were pure, thus flat; he also saw that the Milky Way was made of countless stars too faint and too close to each other to be distinguished by the human eye; and he discovered four objects (which he called the “Medician Stars” after his patrons, the Medici family) around Jupiter, which proved that all celestial objects do not necessarily turn around the Earth. But he made another discovery that proved the teachings of Copernicus: Venus showed phases just like the Moon. To understand this discovery, imagine that your eye is the Earth and one of your hands is Venus—moving your hand around you represents Venus’s motion in the sky. Imagine also that the Sun is your lamp and likewise turns around you. If the motion of each body is a circle centered upon your eye, then Venus/hand is either always closer than the Sun/lamp, or always further than it. However, if your hand is to turn around your lamp, then there are times when Venus/hand is closer than the Sun/lamp, and other times when it’s further than it. The geocentric model is like the first situation: Each celestial body is said to turn around the Earth in circles, each on a different one, all these circles being concentric to the Earth. On the other hand, in the heliocentric model represented by the second situation, planets turn on orbits concentric to the Sun, and at least some of them—if the Earth is not the closest one to the Sun—are sometimes located closer to the Earth than the Sun is, sometimes further. Newton’s Principia Born about a year after Galileo passed away, Isaac Newton is now regarded by many as one of the greatest scientific minds who ever lived. His contributions to the fields of physics, natural philosophy, chemistry (or alchemy), theology, mathematics, astronomy, and economics, among others, are too numerous to list here. In astronomy, his bestknown work is Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica, often abbreviated to just Principia (pronounced [prɪnˈkɪpiə] in proper Latin, although many people say [prɪnˈsɪpiə]), in which he formulated the three laws of motion that now bear his name: 1. If no force acts upon a body, if it is at rest, it remains at rest. If it is in motion, the latter is in a straight line and at uniform speed. 2. If a force acts upon a body, the change in motion is in the direction of the force and proportional to it. 3. Action and reaction are equal, but in opposite directions. Another important law in physics is stated elsewhere in the Principia: Matter attracts matter, in direct proportion to the masses and in inverse proportion to the square of the distance. Together, these four laws provide a physical explanation to Kepler’s laws and allow one to calculate the past or future state of a planetary system… in theory, at least, as things get complicated when more than two bodies are involved. As mentioned above, Newton did not discover gravity, as ancient Greeks knew about it; his “flash of genius” was to suppose, rightfully, that the same gravity that brings the proverbial apple down from the tree holds the Moon around the Earth and the Earth around the Sun. …and the World Turned Upside-Down Within less than 150 years, the scientific community went from thinking that celestial bodies were divine and radically different from anything Earth-bound, to knowing that they were worlds somewhat like ours and obeying the same physical laws as things on the Earth. Once the infinitely large got to be understood (to a certain point), humanity turned towards the infinitely small, but that is a story for the next edition. CREDIT: Karel x on Wikimedia Commons / Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International The copy of the Principia held at Teleki-Bolyai Library in Romania

17 Wednesdays 9PM Eastern Fridays 8PM Eastern You Tube Show Schedule

18 By MANISHA DWA and SURESH BHATTARAI Guest Contributors There’s a quote “Sky is the limit”, but for Nepal Astronomical Family (NASO), Sky has been the lower limit whereas we have always been celebrating “Under one Sky” as sky unites all regardless of the differences. Since Nepal follows peculiar culture and traditions, “reach for the stars, or, fly high, or aim for the Moon” had been the very popular blessing the older ones have for the younger ones. This also gives an example how the depth of the sky is being always looked upon as a metaphor for people to grow and reach new heights. Hence, NASO since its initial days, has been trying to bring people closer to the space by helping people dream of reaching for the Moon and stars. Upon the journey, NASO identified some of the challenges that was limiting people to dream for the stars. In response, we implemented “Astronomy for community Empowerment in Nepal”, the ACEN project, with the support of IAU-OAD. Astronomy has been one of the area of interests among Nepali students and enthusiasts, thus, sometimes ‘A’ in STEAM is confused as Astronomy instead of Arts. Therefore, we opt to use the power of astronomy to foster STEAM education in Nepal to contribute to sustainable development goal 4 i.e. quality education. Thus, the idea of project ACEN (Astronomy for Community Empowerment in Nepal) was developed. The motive of this project was to create astronomy clubs at selected schools and train students to communicate with their own communities and explore collaborative opportunities to share their knowledge. Nepal has a huge gap between community (public) and institutional (private) schools in terms of their teaching and learning approaches. Children from COURTESY OF Suresh Bhattarai Students at Birat Deaf School in Koshi Province learn how to use a sundial. Astronomy project in Nepal Star power: aims to empower youth

19 marginalized, underprivileged and underrepresented communities are mostly going to community schools. This gap is creating gender as well as educational disparities in the country. We planned to use astronomy as a tool and astronomy clubs as resource centers for creating conducive environment for communication and collaboration among students at community schools, institutional schools and their community where both of them exist. We believe that it would help them to be more critical towards these disparities and be a part of equitable society. We targeted community schools as they have less access to the resources compared to institutional schools as this project was supposed to help student develop leadership skills through ‘mentee turns into mentor’ approach at workshop/training, establish astronomy club at their schools with the telescope kit to conduct outreach activities in their locality/community. Besides, the project would be helping students at community school build confidence to communicate and collaborate with others students. ACEN project, as the name indicates was designed to have the engagement of students in their respective communities. As it was targeted for the high school students from the community schools in Nepal, after the completion of the project, we received overwhelming responses from the students particularly mentioning that with proper guidance, they were able to train and collaborate with the students from the private and elite schools too. During the project, six astronomy clubs were initiated in four provinces in the country. The club was provided with an “Astronomy in a Box Kit”. The box comprised of a telescope, sundial, planisphere, solar glasses, VR glasses, manual book (in four different languages) along with other goodies. The implementation took place in two phases. During the first phase, a club was formed with the agreement signed between the host school and project, hosted by NASO. Then the resources were handed over to the club after a one-day workshop in each school leading to the completion of first phase. For the second phase, members from the club have to reach out to five schools in their locality and train the newer pool of the students in each school using the resources they have in their school. The provinces we chose at the beginning of the project were Madhesh, Bagmati and Gandaki as they represent students from diverse background whereas the number of total population in the provinces were also taken into account. Bagmati province being the centre of the nation was chosen such that the ACEN activity could penetrate into the large number of population residing in the country capital as well as to reach the indigenous (Newars) community living in the region; Gandaki province being the region with promising background to flourish astronomy in the region and its periphery; and Madhesh was chosen as it has the lowest literacy rate in the country. People residing in this area are from indigenous and ethnic group like Yadavas, Tharu, Musahar, Rajput, along with others. Since the girls in this area are at a bay in case of receiving the opportunities and are married at a very young age as compared to other regions in Nepal, we tried to bring opportunities to involve and engage them to make them feel included and welcomed. ACEN project was developed to empower the community from the grass-root level. No doubt the school and the students from the respective schools and the schools from the locality were benefited with the project. But, this has initiated the interest among the schools and students who have seen the engagement of the students in and around the community. In case of Janakpur, female students were completely camera shy, but being involved in the project, they were able to realize their potential and were handling the telescope all on their own. Since the number of girl students are comparatively higher in the community schools, they were looked down upon by their own peers and sometimes, even the teachers. But, the way club members from Bhadrakali School in Pokhara were able to write the minutes and were eager to be in the team had built a

20 scenario which proved that the only thing that was missing for these students to grow was the platform where they can take the leadership. Similarly, the engagement of the students with hearing imparities from Birat Deaf School who were also mute had been a matter of great talk in the community. According to the students, they had always been engulfed by the fact that they are out-casted. But, being learning the necessary skills and upon getting the platform, they can prove they are equally abled in society. These are some of the examples of success of the ACEN project. As a result of the change ACEN was able to bring in the community, we have been requested by the local government authority to conduct similar programs for teachers. We have already signed a MoU with the Pokhara Metropolitan for introducing astronomy to the schools from 33 wards within the city. Thus, approaches could be a little different, but the objective would be the same. We look forward to getting similar kind of support from the local bodies to continue the project as much as possible. Besides, the schools where the clubs have been set up, would work as a resource centers for the schools in the locality. Our team is dedicated to support these clubs to help them with income generation and leadership training for the continuation of the project in future. Some of the NASO mentees, who were involved in the project had already conducted ‘telescope making workshops’, showing the direction towards a way forward. Similarly, a member of the team had got a placement in one of the reputed government schools in Kathmandu. Despite all the even stories project ACEN has beholded, the way towards the completion of the project was not easy. We were greeted by bountiful challenges. Since astronomy is a mere new subject in Nepali context and the culture of dependency is prominent in the people, we faced challenges in preparing the materials Overall, the project was not just a success but a great hit in the society and engaged young students to a stupendous level of self-learning. Furthermore, they were able to experience the 4Cs, namely communication, critical thinking, creativity and collaboration ... Manisha Dwa trains the NASO-JSS Astronomy Club members at Janata Secondary School, in Janakpur, Madhesh Pradesh, Nepal, on how to use a planisphere. COURTESY OF Suresh Bhattarai

21 at first (particularly the sundial). It delayed the program during the initial phase. The production of planispheres and the solar glasses were also challenging, although we made them at the end. This, project also helped us realize the importance of stable government for the best outcome for the students. In between, the local and provincial elections halted our plans for some time. As, the resources and the election sites were basically the government schools and teachers. The next issue was the outbreak of Dengue in the hilly regions of the country. Since it happened for the first time in the country as a whole, it turned out to be an epidemic and many people lost their lives. Almost all the team members were infected and it almost pushed our project implementation more than a month back. Besides, the vacations and festival holidays also added a zing to the delay in the implementation of ACEN project. Overall, the project was not just a success but a great hit in the society and engaged young students to a stupendous level of self-learning. Furthermore, they were able to experience the 4Cs, namely communication, critical thinking, creativity and collaboration of the 21st century skills. The project as a whole was a learning platform for both the students as well as the implementing bodies for the smooth implementation in the days to come. This had been just the initiation towards the community empowerment, we hope that with similar approaches, we can create a big ripple in building a better and larger STEAM community with astronomy and its wonders. n n n Manisha Dwa is the project leader of the Astronomy for Community Empowerment in Nepal (ACEN) funded by IAU Office of Astronomy for Development (OAD). She is currently working at Nepal Astronomical Society (NASO) as a project coordinator. She is the Deputy Manager of the OAE Node Nepal, an IAU Co-National Outreach Coordinator (Co-NOC) and national contact person of the National Astronomy Educator Coordinator Team (NAEC Team) for Nepal. She is a National Coordinator of the World Space Week (WSW) and Universe Awareness (UNAWE) for Nepal. She is also a member of the International Board of the International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics (IOAA), IOAA junior and the International Astronomy Olympiad respectively. Suresh Bhattarai is an executive chairperson at the Nepal Astronomical Society (NASO) since 2014. He served NASO as a founding secretary during 2007-2014. He has eclectic experience on astronomy outreach and education in Nepal. He is a manager of the OAE Node Nepal, an IAU National Outreach Coordinator (NOC) and National Astronomy Education Coordinator (NAEC) for Nepal. He is also a member of the International Board of International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics (IOAA) and International Astronomy Olympiad (IAO) respectively. He has been working as NASA Space Apps Local Leads for seven provinces of Nepal since 2020. He also served at the Space Generation Advisory Council (SGAC) as a National Point of Contact for Nepal, Executive Secretary for Vienna Office and Regional Coordinator for Asia-Pacific Region during 2009-2018. COURTESY OF Suresh Bhattarai Above, the astronomy-in-a-box kit is delivered to NASO-GBS Astronomy club in Kaski, Gandaki Province, Nepal. Below, founding members of the NASO-SNMV Astronomy Club in Kathmandu, Bagmati Province, Nepal.

22 By JANNE ROBBERSTAD Guest Contributor The Global Science Opera (GSO) is a global creative education initiative made possible through digital interactions and live streaming. It exists at the meeting point of science and art, of all human cultures, of research and practice, aiming to connect and celebrate human beings as creative creatures. A network of students from primary to university-level, teachers, researchers, and artists collaborate in creating and producing an artistic presentation. Song, music, dance, drama, ecoart, animation, puppetry, and other artistic expressions, seamlessly interact with, and become integral parts of, the scientific inquiry in which students engage. Each year a new overarching scientific topic provides the opera ́s inspiration, and it is performed simultaneously on the world-wide stage of the internet (www.globalscienceopera. com). The Global Science Opera has collaborated with several scientific institutions, each connected to the respective year’s scientific topic: The Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire (CERN) when working on an opera about particle physics, and the UN’s Environment Programme when working with ecosystem restoration. Three of the previous operas are directly inspired by astronomy. The GSO’s first production, “SkyLight”, was the first ever opera to be written and performed by a global community. It was inspired by the United Nationssanctioned International Year of Light 2015, and endorsed by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) as an official project of the celebration. The scientific Approaching scientific inquiry through creative engagement COURTESY OF Janne Robberstad / Global Science Opera Two Norwegian students study aspects of marine life while working with the main story for the opera “One Ocean”. Their research included dissecting a cod and later eating the meat for lunch.

23 concept addressing topics of cosmic light and light pollution was provided by Dr. Rosa Doran. With 35 participating countries it was performed during World Space Week 2015 as a collaboration with Lunar Mission One. In 2017 the GSO collaborated with the European Space Agency (ESA) and Dr. Bernard Foing. “Moon Village” is set in the semi-near future when a permanent space-station is established on the moon. The astronauts have children and one of the creative exercises for the opera-participants was to imagine a school on the moon. What would they teach? What do they learn about the Earth? How do they explore space? And on a practical level: How do you control playful young children when there is no gravity to hold them in place? In 2023, “Unfold the Universe” is inspired by the images and informed by the data collected by the James Webb Telescope. The collaboration with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is an inspiration for everyone involved. The story is still being developed as this article is being written. How can participating in the GSO help develop an understanding of astronomy? The GSO’s methodology is collaborative at its core through the interdisciplinary partnership between the sciences and the arts, through STEAM-education. STEAM being an acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics. By respecting both fields as equals, a higher form of collaboration can be reached, where the sum is larger than its parts. This transdisciplinary approach highlights how much the fields have in common, simultaneously complementing and completing each other. One of the priorities is to address diversity in school education, developing social, civic, interEveryone carries stardust in them, and as such we are the universe experiencing itself, through art, through science, through connecting with others in exploration and experimentation, through collaboration and sharing, and through a Global Science Opera. COURTESY OF Janne Robberstad / Global Science Opera A group of U.S. students worked on how gravity influences light. Here, they pose in front of a self-made eco-art version of the solar-eclipse in 1919, which supported Einstein’s theory of General Relativity.

24 cultural competences and media literacy by providing an innovative integrated approach (Robberstad et al., 2020). The GSO methodology is inclusive in recognizing that we are whole human beings, and that we learn in different ways. This holistic approach towards the students and the teaching utilizes the creative approach to in-depth learning, where more students will interact with the material. The students engage in the creative inquirybased science education process, by following their curiosity, what they are fascinated by and want to learn more about. They use all their senses in exploring and experimenting creatively when they are introduced to a topic. By embodying the learning-process, engaging the whole body: mind, hands, and heart, we may experience learning in a different, more pure manner. We accomplish, achieve and master. And by encouraging the students to express themselves artistically, they may engage in a more integrated way, which in turn means that their newly acquired knowledge stays both deeper and longer. Through a circular creative collaboration, all students contribute with ideas when making stories based on the scientific topic, continuously building upon each other’s ideas. But collaboration is not limited to the subjectfields. It is also a team-collaboration that defies age and status, national and cultural borders. Several countries have worked together in creating scenes. A first group may compose and play a piece of music. Then a second group may choreograph a dance and perform it to the music. Other times, a more direct collaboration entails two countries creating a theater-scene together using online tools and communication. The methodology is adaptable to all scientific topics, and we have seen how the holistic approach to learning is democratic as it engages a wider group of students through nourishing their curiosity and creativity, as well as increasing their knowledge. The sum of this methodology, greatly influenced by the participating teachers and students themselves, has shown an increase in students’ interest and engagement in both sciences and arts. The past years, the GSO has been further developed in a close collaboration with three cities in Brazil. Each municipality has incorporated the methodology into their schools, as part of their STEAM-education, creating the first Brazil Science Operas. Our experience with GSO’s methodology shows the importance of including ethics and student empowerment. Ethics honors our basic human rights and responsibilities, respecting each other and the planet which we are custodians for. This is partly achieved in the classrooms, but also through international collaboration. Ecological sustainability is integrated both conceptually and practically into every production, balancing harsh facts with alternative solutions and hope (Robberstad, 2017). Young people are knowledgeable and engaged in building their future, so empowering them to express themselves, their thoughts and feelings to an international audience may serve as a powerful tool. The GSO supports this empowerment of the students to believe in themselves, to trust that they are valuable contributors in the societal debate, especially regarding their own future. Astronomy fascinates children, and they want to learn, to grasp concepts connected to space, like infinity, vacuum, time. It is our experience that by working indepth, attempting to visualize and solidify the abstract In the Global Science Opera production “Moon Village (2017)”, the students from Kenya performed a catchy song about the sun: “It’s not a rock-star, but it’s a super-star, and it’s our star - it’s the Sun!” Click the image at right to access the performance. COURTESY OF Janne Robberstad / Global Science Opera

25 concepts, a deeper understanding may arise. When creating small drama-pieces, they must articulate the concepts they are researching, and this cannot be done credibly without an understanding of the topic. Hence, they cannot treat the subject superficially, but must get to the bottom of the issue at hand. In the aftermath of “Moon Village”, a ten-year old English student impresses her family one night while they are out driving. She asks them to pull over and to go out to look at the nightsky, which they do. She proceeds to share her knowledge about the moon, about the permanent spacestation that will be built there, about how the building will be structured to withstand falling meteors and radiation, about craters with glaciers that can provide water, about gravity, rockets, temperature-changes, and growing food on the moon. Her parents were not only inspired by the level of engagement and knowledge, but appreciative of the familyexperience. Everyone carries stardust in them, and as such we are the universe experiencing itself, through art, through science, through connecting with others in exploration and experimentation, through collaboration and sharing, and through a Global Science Opera. n n n Janne Robberstad is an associate professor at Western Norway University of Applied Sciences and the production manager for Global Science Opera. Left, in “Unfold the Universe”, this unfortunate astronaut is being sucked into a black hole and while singing and dancing to samba-rhythms, he asks the audience if we understand the gravity of the situation. Click the image access the performance. Below, the Global Science Opera methodology’s holistic approach to learning empowers the students in their process of acquiring new knowledge. References: • Global Science Opera. (2023). http://globalscienceopera.com • Robberstad, J. (2017). Creativity and Ecoscenography in the Global Science Opera. [Master thesis, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences]. http://hdl. handle.net/11250/2452703 • Robberstad, J., Doran, P., Ben-Horin, O., & Sotiriou, M. (2020) GSO4SHOOL Teachers Guidelines. GSO4SCHOOL. http://gso4school.eu/wp-content/uploads/2021/ O2_D2_1/D2_1_GSO4SCHOOL_Teachers_Guidelines_Final.pdf COURTESY OF Janne Robberstad / Global Science Opera

26 By DAVID PROSPER NASA Night Sky Network Most planets are easy to spot in the night sky, but have you spotted Mercury? Nicknamed the Messenger for its speed across the sky, Mercury is also the closest planet to the Sun. Its swift movements close to our Sun accorded it special importance to ancient observers, while also making detailed study difficult. However, recent missions to Mercury have resulted in amazing discoveries, with more to come. Mercury can be one of the brightest planets in the sky – but also easy to miss! Why is that? Since it orbits so close to the Sun, observing Mercury is trickier than the rest of the “bright planets” in our solar system: Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. Mercury always appears near our Sun from our Earth-bound point of view, making it easy to miss in the glare of the Sun or behind small obstructions along the horizon. That’s why prime Mercury viewing happens either right before sunrise or right after sunset; when the Sun is blocked by the horizon, Mercury’s shine can then briefly pierce the glow of twilight. Mercury often appears similar to a “tiny Moon” in a telescope since, like fellow inner planet Venus, it shows distinct phases when viewed from Earth! Mercury’s small size means a telescope is needed to observe its phases since they can’t be discerned with your unaided eye. Safety warning: If you want to observe Mercury with your telescope during daytime or before sunrise, be extremely careful: you don’t want the Sun to accidentally enter your telescope’s field of view. As you may already well understand, this is extremely dangerous and can not only destroy your equipment, but permanently blind you as well! That risk is why NASA does not allow space telescopes like Hubble or the JWST to view Mercury or other objects close to the Sun, since even the tiniest error could destroy billions of dollars of irreplaceable equipment. Despite being a small and seemingly barren world, Mercury is full of interesting features. It’s one of the four rocky (or terrestrial) planets in our solar system, along with Earth, Venus, and Mars. It’s not easy to spot the Messenger Mercury always appears near our Sun from our Earthbound point of view, making it easy to miss in the glare of the Sun or behind small obstructions along the horizon.... Mercury often appears similar to a ‘tiny moon’ in a telescope since, like fellow inner planet Venus, it shows distinct phases when viewed from Earth! Mercury is hot, small, and heavily cratered across its gray surface, as seen in this image from NASA MESSENGER. Mercury is the most heavily cratered planet in our solar system, since it lacks either a substantial atmosphere or geologic activity to erode surface features like craters - similar in certain aspects to the surface of our own Moon. COURTESY OF NASA/ Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/ Carnegie

27 This article is distributed by the NASA Night Sky Network program, which supports astronomy clubs across the USA dedicated to astronomy outreach. Visit nightsky.jpl.nasa.gov to find local clubs, events, and more! Mercury is the smallest planet in our solar system and also possesses the most eccentric, or non-circular, orbit of any planet as well: during a Mercurian year of 88 Earth days, the planet orbits between 29 million and 43 million miles from our Sun – a 14-million-mile difference! Surprisingly, Mercury is not the hottest planet in our solar system, despite being closest to the Sun; that honor goes to Venus, courtesy of its thick greenhouse shroud of carbon dioxide. Since Mercury lacks a substantial atmosphere and the insulating properties a layer of thick air brings to a planet, its temperature swings wildly between a daytime temperature of 800 degrees Fahrenheit (427 degrees Celsius) and -290 degrees Fahrenheit (-179 degrees Celsius) at night. Similar to our Moon, evidence of water ice is present at Mercury’s poles, possibly hiding in the frigid permanent shadows cast inside a few craters. Evidence for ice on Mercury was first detected by radar observations from Earth, and followup observations from NASA’s MESSENGER mission added additional strong evidence for its presence. Mercury sports a comet-like tail made primarily of sodium which has been photographed by skilled astrophotographers. The tail results from neutral atoms in its thin atmosphere being pushed away from Mercury by pressure from the nearby Sun’s radiation. NASA’s Mariner 10 was Mercury’s first robotic explorer, flying by three times between 1974-1975. Decades later, NASA’s MESSENGER first visited Mercury in 2008, flying by three times before settling into an orbit in 2011. MESSENGER thoroughly studied and mapped the planet before smashing into Mercury at mission’s end in 2015. Since MESSENGER, Mercury was briefly visited by BepiColombo, a joint ESA/JAXA probe, which first flew by in 2021 and is expected to enter orbit in 2025 - after completing six flybys. Need more Mercury in your life? Check out NASA’s discoveries and science about Mercury at solarsystem.nasa.gov/mercury/, and visit the rest of the universe at nasa.gov. COURTESY OF NASA Night Sky Network / Stellarium Above, Mercury reaches maximum western elongation on the morning of January 30, which means that your best chance to spot it is right before sunrise that day! Look for Mercury towards the southeast and find the clearest horizon you can. Observers located in more southern latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere have an advantage when observing Mercury as it will be a bit higher in the sky from their location, but it’s worth a try no matter where you live. Binoculars will help pick out Mercury’s elusive light from the pre-dawn glow of the Sun. COURTESY OF NASA Night Sky Network On rare occasion, Earthbound observers can observe Mercury, like Venus, transiting the Sun. Mercury frequently travels between Earth and the Sun, but only rarely does the geometry of all three bodies line up to allow observers from Earth to view Mercury’s tiny shadow as it crosses our star’s massive disc. You can see one such event in this photo taken by Laurie Ansorge of the Westminster Astronomical Society on November 11, 2019.

28 By FERNANDO FABBIANI Guest Contributor “We seek to offer enriching experiences while protecting and helping to conserve the natural and celestial environment” Astrotourism or Star Tourism involves activities carried out outdoors, in full contact with nature, which seek to entertain, teach and transfer scientific knowledge to people by observing what is happening in the sky, whether with the naked eye or with the help of optical instruments (binoculars and telescopes) and specialized software. Astrotourism is fueled by astronomy, the narrative of events that occurred during the study of the cosmos and the legends woven by ancient civilizations that, seeing imaginary figures in the sky, associated them with events that had occurred or were about to happen and used them as a guide for their daily lives, deciding times for sowing and harvesting, the beginning of hunting or gathering seasons, even the time to migrate to escape the cold, floods or droughts. Many things are necessary to achieve it, but three of them are fundamental: 1) an interested public, 2) a location with dark skies, and 3) a trained and experienced sky guide or interpreter. Modern life in cities makes people today seek contact with nature, whether through beach, mountain, sky tourism, among others. We talk about nature tourism. Nature tourism: Pressure on the environment We must be aware that each activity we carry out puts pressure on the Sharing the sky Centauro Astroturismo Uruguay puts priority on promoting astronomy COURTESY OF Fernando Fabbiani Visitors enjoy planetary observation at La Pedrea Social Club, ocean resort of Rocha, Uruguay, in November 2023.

29 environment, affecting the air, soil, water and sky. The gases expelled by the exhaust of the engines that move vehicles, the elements that we put in the water (kitchen, washing clothes and bathrooms and their sewage); solid waste (garbage) resulting from our activity in general; the sound of our conversations and not to mention the sound of our music; the light that escapes from our vehicles, houses, squares and manufacturing establishments; our personal and environmental scents and our mere physical presence in natural areas; everything interferes with the activity of the beings that inhabit ecosystems, affecting them, sometimes irreversibly, even from a distance. Astrotourism in Uruguay In Uruguay we can say that astrotourism is nothing new, observation of the sky, the moon and the planets with the naked eye and with binoculars/small telescopes has been carried out since ancient times by self-taught “guides”. Astrotourism is practiced in the “hiking” mode with interpretation of the sky with the naked eye or in the “observation site” mode where telescopes are fixed to the ground. In recent years, the activity has been encouraged and professionalized after starting the training of guides and acquiring appropriate optical instruments. There are several Associations of Astronomy Fans (Montevideo and Dolores), a Network of Astronomical Observers, a Fixed Planetarium (Agrimensor Germán Barbato, in Montevideo) and a Mobile Planetarium (Kappa Crucis) that do their part in promoting astronomy among supporters and citizens in general. The problem is the loss of sky quality in part of Uruguayan territory due to the poor management that authorities and citizens have done with artificial light at night. An experience: Centauro Astroturismo Uruguay Centauro Astroturisom Uruguay is an organization made up of amateurs and students of astronomy, astrophotographers and nature guides, dedicated to the dissemination and scientific interpretation of astronomy and environmental issues. Our main resource is nature and it is available any day, anywhere and at no cost. In astronomical matters, Centauro Astroturismo Uruguay is dedicated to: DISCLOSURE TO THE PUBLIC: We participate when requested in exhibitions and social events where our participation with telescopic observation of the sun, planets, etc. It is possible and relevant. OPEN TELESCOPES: When astronomical events of interest occur, such as eclipses, meteor showers, conjunctions, etc., we strive to promote them. At night, “with the naked eye”, aided by laser pointers and optical instruments (binoculars and telescopes), we observe planets, nebulae, star clusters, constellations, the passage of artificial satellites, etc. with the guidance of an expert guide in the sky. Through the use of special filters, we observe the Sun and its surface activity. Additionally, for all ages, we organize astronomical camps, where we live under the starry sky and tell stories and mythological legends about the stars. CONFERENCES/WORKSHOPS: For COURTESY OF Fernando Fabbiani Children learn about the Earth and Moon in an evening workshop in La Estrella field establishment, Canelones, Uruguay in May 2023.

30 the general public and for the more specialized public, and for educational centers, we organize workshops and thematic conferences on celestial objects such as asteroids, comets, astrobiology and chemistry of the universe, etc. We also address the issue of light pollution, a serious environmental threat that is increasing today. ASTROPHOTOGRAPHY: We teach the art of sky photography to interested people and create opportunities to photograph nebulae, star clusters, galaxies, eclipses, planets, sky and landscapes, etc., for photography lovers looking for dark skies and peaceful places with easy to connect equipment to the electrical network. AMATEUR PHOTOGRAPHY COMPETITION: On special occasions such as full moons, supermoons or blue moons or in the case of very bright planets in opposition, we invite the community and those who follow us on Facebook and Whatsapp to take photographs with the photo capture element they have and send them to the networks. MEDIA DISCLOSURE (press and social networks): Upon request, or on our own initiative, we publish short technical articles/give interviews/ give virtual lectures on current astronomical topics. REMOTE TELESCOPIC OBSERVATION (project): It is an activity that we plan to implement soon to make astronomy better known. The idea was born during our visit to Campos dos Goytacazes, where, with the help of Dr. Marcelo Sousa, we had our first contact with the subject. We then reinforced it with links with the Panamanian Astronomy Association and the Guatemala Institute for Earth and Astronomy Research and Sciences. TRAVELING MUSEUM (project): A new initiative in our midst that arises from the group of nature teachers who surround the Centauro Astroturismo Uruguay and the Instituto Uruguay of Sustainable Turismo, with which we carry out Introduction to Astrotourism courses. It seeks to implement a collection of minerals and rocks existing in the Earth’s crust and meteoric rocks arriving from space and their impact interactions on Earth. As you can see, astrotourism itself is broad and can cover many themes and ways of developing it. • • • Contact Centauro Astroturismo Uruguay at: Facebook: @cenatur2 E-mail: [email protected] n n n Fernando Fabbiani is an agricultural engineer graduated from the University of the Eastern Republic of Uruguay and a technical professor in the agricultural area graduated from the INET of the National Administration of Public Education of Uruguay. He was a teacher in the formal education system (Technical-Professional Education and High School Education) of his country for 21 years and has been a teacher in the non-formal educational sector of Uruguay and Argentina for 26 years. He has published/edited more than 20 textbooks and educational videos on topics related to agronomy and astronomy. He is currently a teacher at the Uruguayan Institute of Sustainable Tourism (IUTUS) and at the Consejo de Capacitación Profesional (COCAP). Fernando is director of Centauro Astroturismo Uruguay, member of Darksky Internaconal and founder and director of DarkSky Uruguay. He is also member of the following institutions and associations: Network of Astronomical Observers of Uruguay, Association of Friends of Astronomy of Montevideo (AAA), Uruguayan Society of Rural and Natural Tourism (SUTUR), Zoological Society of Uruguay (SZU) and National Center for Sustainable Development of Uruguay (CENADESU). COURTESY OF Fernando Fabbiani Elderly people look through a telescope for the first time in their lives at Spa Guazuvirá, Canelones, Uruguay, in February 2023.

31 By WANIYA KAMIL Guest Contributor Whether it’s debunking science myths or making space exploration more accessible, Team Exploration is playing a pivotal role in changing the space landscape in Pakistan. Yumna Majeed initiated her journey into space exploration with the aspiration of finding her unique place within the cosmos. Over time, this pursuit has evolved into her guiding principle. The genesis of her commitment to this cause dates back to her formative years in a public-school classroom, where her teacher dismissed the idea of space travel and its mere existence. Since then, Yumna has been resolute in her determination to serve as a counterexample and role model for the young of her native country, Pakistan. The foundation of today’s formidable team of space explorers can be traced back to Yumna’s early initiatives, which were driven by her extensive networking efforts dating back to 2016. During this time, she connected with ex-NASA astronaut Nicole Stott, a key figure actively engaged in the inclusion of artwork in space missions and the embellishment of spacesuits with artistic expressions. However, this artwork went beyond mere aesthetics; it was part of an inclusive and pioneering program designed to gather artwork from children in under-served communities, including children who are out of school for various reasons or at hospitals and disability centers. The careful selection and incorporation of these artworks into space missions served a dual purpose: realizing the dreams of young artists and fostering a sense of involvement among children from diverse communities around the world. Nicole Stott’s project found a harmonious Making everyone a space in space Astronomy advocate emphasizes accessibility COURTESY OF Yumna Majeed Astronomy advocate Yumna Majeed works on Space Week projects with children at Junior Leaders School Foundation in 2019. What started as a part-time hobby for a young medical student has grown into something that now impacts over 5,000 children each year, helping them realize their dreams of exploring space.

32 resonance with Yumna’s aspirations, leading to their collaboration in the collection of artworks from various regions of Pakistan, a significant portion of which was destined for space. Each year, Exploration conducted space-art healing sessions with kids of different backgrounds and collected artwork for Nicole’s collective art pieces. This collaborative endeavor served as a creative tapestry, intricately weaving together the imaginative expressions of children from diverse backgrounds, while also contributing to the scientific exploration of space in a captivating and delightful manner. For Yumna and her journey of Exploration, what initially began as a modest space art and demystifying space myths team turned out to be the harbinger of a remarkable twist of fate. In its early days, the Exploration effort started receiving a diverse array of space infographics, posters, projectors, and even the infamous meteorites. Suddenly, Yumna’s longing to bring the wonders of stars and galaxies into the classroom began to find a solution. The cosmic gifts offered a new dimension to her ongoing mission: introducing the cosmos to classrooms, “The Traveling Space Museum” a new chapter of bringing a meteorite expo and telescopes to school kids for them to engage in space-theme STEM learning experiences. Somewhere along this cosmic path, Yumna discovered newfound motivation in the rapid progress they were making. It was the perfect moment to give life to “Exploration by Yumna,” which has now evolved into the comprehensive entity known as “Exploration - Cosmos to Classroom.” A name that came from Nicole’s artistic space suit not only reflects Yumna’s vision and her team’s collective efforts but also stands as a testament to her past experiences and the change she aspired to manifest in reality. One of the most prominent facets of Exploration is its commitment to creating space for brown women in space. As a 16-yearold, Yumna could not join her local astronomy club or partake in latenight stargazing sessions due to the constraints of her brown girl curfew. However, Exploration has revolutionized the landscape for young women today. They not only COURTESY OF Yumna Majeed Astronomy advocate Yumna Majeed guides children through a solar observation exercise in 2019 (above) and through a Space Week presentation in 2017 (below).

33 feel supported and empowered while exploring alongside the Exploration team but also while volunteering, making the journey into the cosmos an exciting and inclusive adventure for all. What started as a part-time hobby for a young medical student has grown into something that now impacts more than 5,000 children each year, helping them realize their dreams of exploring space. For four years, this endeavor was a onewoman effort, receiving little to no recognition. However, it has now become a prominent representative for space exploration in Pakistan. They’ve even received four telescopes for their mission, allowing children from all walks of life to have unique experiences in learning about space. This initiative has finally reached a point where it can bring interactive learning to hospitals and state school classrooms but it still has a long way to go to make space learning accessible to the far corners of Pakistan. With its new and expanded team of volunteers, they offer children the opportunity to experience space through their traveling space museums. While the national awards they’ve received are important milestones, their true mission has always been about enabling dreams and making the idea that “there is space for everyone in space” a reality for all. Exploration has come full circle for young Yumna. It embodies everything she dreamed of at 16 when she gazed at the stars and aspired to find her own space in space, which seemed out of reach back then. Today, Exploration fulfills all those aspirations. It not only provides a safe environment for women and all participants but also allows every segment of society to share in the same experiences, helping them discover their own place within the cosmos. Discover how optics work & explore the night sky with the iconic Galileoscope build-your-own refractor kit! Now available at explorescientificusa.com n n n Waniya Kamil is a student currently completing her A-Levels. She finds her interests in Astronomy and History -the sweet spot between science and philosophy. Passionate about elevating the voices and initiatives in her country of Pakistan, Waniya tries creating equity through her writings. If not at a vinyl shop you can surely find her on a mission with the Exploration team. COURTESY OF Yumna Majeed Astronomy advocate Yumna Majeed holds up meteorite pieces containing ejected material from the Moon and Mars. Want to help? Exploration is currently seeking donations to purchase an inflatable planetarium for kids to enhance the organization’s traveling space museum. To find out more about Exploration, follow @explorationbyyumna on social media.

34 By BESHIR MARZOUK Qatar Calendar House, Solar Res. Lab - NRIAG. Our star — the Sun — is similar to millions of other stars in our own Milky Way galaxy. It comprises more than 99% of the total mass of our solar system. It is the nearest star to Earth, with the distance between the Earth and Sun being about 150 million kilometers. The Sun’s age is about 4.5 billion years old, and its diameter is 1.6 million km (about 109 times of Earth’s diameter). The temperature of the first layer of solar atmosphere (photosphere) is 6000⁰, while the temperature at solar corona is about 2 million degree. The sun is a source of life on the earth, because it give us the light and heat, so, the life on our home planet could not exist without the Sun’s energy. The main reaction in the sun’s core is nuclear fusion, the Sun’s energy generates by convert 4 atoms H2 to He3, so the 75% of Sun’s mass consist of H2, while about 23.8% of its mass is He3, and less than 2% of sun’s mass is heavier elements like Fe, Ne, O2, C2, and others. Every second it fuses 620 million tons of H2. Our Sun moving in its orbit around the center Get to know Our Star CREDIT: ESA/NASA/SOHO Figure 1 – Extreme Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (EIT) image of a huge, handle-shaped prominence taken on Sept. 14, 1999, taken in the 304 angstrom wavelength. SOHO is a project of international cooperation between ESA and NASA.

35 of Milky Way galaxy, the distance from Sun and center of galaxy is varying from 24000 to 27000 light years. Sun’s Layers: Our sun consists of three inner layers (the Core, Radiative zone, and Convective zone), while the stratified structures of the solar atmosphere mainly consist of three outer layers (the photosphere, the chromosphere, and the corona). Inner layers of the Sun: The core is the innermost layer of the sun, the sun’s core temperature up to about (15,000,000° K), and the amounts of energy produces through nuclear fusion reaction. This conversion of hydrogen to helium powers Sun and is responsible for all of the heat and light on the Earth. The second layer of the sun’s interior layers is known as the radiative zone. It’s the upper layer above the core, where energy is carried outwards by radiation, moreover, its temperature is around 500,000°K. Energy can take more than 100,000 years to move through radiative zone. The last sun’s interior layer is the convective zone; where its outermost shell surrounds the core of the sun. The energy comes from the radiative zone travels to the outer part of the sun through a process of convection at temperatures of around 5,500° K. Hot gases rise from the bottom of the convection zone and cool as they approach the top. Cooler gases sink, forming loops of gas that move energy toward the sun’s surface. Outer layers of the Sun: The stratified structures of the solar atmosphere (outer layers of the Sun) are mainly the photosphere, the chromosphere and the corona. The Sun’s photosphere is about 500 kilometers thick with temperatures about 6000 ⁰K. The photosphere is the source of solar flares: (tongues of fire) that extend hundreds of thousands CREDIT: NASA/Goddard Figure 2 - Layers of the Sun Credit: NASA/SDO/Goddard Space Flight Center Solar photosphere and some groups of sunspots

36 n n n Dr. Beshir Mazouk has, a Bachelor’s Degree of Astronomy & Metrology Science, Master and Ph.D. degrees in Solar Physics from the Astronomy & Metrology Department - Faculty of science - Al Azhar University. Since 2016 he is an astronomer expert at Qatar Calendar House, Doha, Qatar. Since 2018 he observed most of astronomical phenomena like Solar and lunar eclipses, conjunctions of planets and conjunctions of planets and the Moon from Qatar sky. He provide astronomical lectures and workshops about the basics of astronomy and calendars for amateur and training amateurs about astronomical observations and teaching how to use astronomical instrumentations. of miles above the sun’s surface beside to the main solar activity phenomena (sunspot, faculae.... etc). We can see and observe the solar photosphere always, so we can observe and study some of solar phenomena through the photosphere, like sunspots, faculae, and granulations. The chromosphere is the second layer of solar atmosphere. It comes above the photosphere layer, and its thickness is about 2000 km. The chromosphere is visible as colored flash, we can observe the chromosphere only after starting and before ending total solar eclipse or by certain filters (H-Alpha). The important event that observed in the chromosphere is solar flares and its effect on space technology like communication satellites, GPS, and other devices. The light from the chromosphere is usually too weak to be seen against the brighter photosphere. Figure 4 shows the solar chromosphere during the start of a total solar eclipse (left), and during a partial solar eclipse by using H-alpha filter (right). The images were taken during the total solar eclipse on March, 26, 2006, from Al Salloum, Egypt. The upper layer of the sun’s atmosphere is the corona. It can be seen only during a total solar eclipse when the moon occults the sun’s photosphere for a few minutes. It appears as white streamers or plumes of ionized gas that flow outward into space. Temperatures in the sun’s corona can get as high as 2 million ⁰K. The shape of solar corona extends to several solar radii depending on the sunspot cycle. Figure 5 illustrates that white light solar corona images during a total solar eclipse. This solar corona image was taken during the total solar eclipse on March, 26, 2006, from Al Salloum, Egypt. CREDIT: Created by Solar Res. group (B. Marzouk et al.) Figure 4 - Solar chromosphere during starting total solar eclipse (left) and during partial solar eclipse (right). CREDIT: Beshir Marzouk Above, Beshir Marzouk presents a lecture about the Sun at Qatar Calendar House’s hall.

37 Above, Figure 5 - White light corona during the total solar eclipse on March, 26, 2006 Left, Qatar Calendar’s astronomical team observing a partial solar eclipse in October 2022. CREDIT: Created by Solar Res. group (B. Marzouk et al.) CREDIT: Beshir Marzouk

38 On April 8, 2024, a total solar eclipse will cut a narrow path across Mexico, 15 U.S. states and Canada’s maritime provinces, giving millions of observers one of the most profound astronomical experiences an individual can have. A total solar eclipse occurs when the New Moon passes between the Earth and the Sun, completely blocking the face of the Sun. When that happens, the hallmarks of night will gracefully emerge as the Moon’s shadow swallows the Sun and nudges day aside for a few fleeting moments. During a total solar eclipse, observers must use proper eye protection for observing all portions of the partial phase leading up to totality. During the brief moments of totality when the Sun is completely obscured, observers can view the event without protective eyewear. During this total solar eclipse event, some cities along the path will experience more than 4 minutes of totality. This total solar eclipse will make mainland landfall in North America at 11:07 a.m. PDT in Mazatlan, Mexico, and sweep northeast crossing into Texas at 1:27 p.m. CDT. It will quickly travel along a band through parts of Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. Near the end of its journey, the total solar eclipse will pass through portions of several Canadian provinces including Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador. For those that are unable to make it to the path of the total solar eclipse, nearly all of North America will experience a partial solar eclipse. A partial solar eclipse occurs when the new Moon passes off center between the Sun and the Earth and temporarily obscures a portion of the Sun’s disc. The length of the eclipse and the amount of Sun coverage will vary based on location. VIEWING PLANS When it comes to viewing any solar eclipse, proper eye protection should always be your main concern. NEVER point a telescope or binoculars at or near the Sun because this action could result in immediate and permanent blindness. To safely enjoy this event, you the total package The poster image is an original designs of Tyler Nordgren — astronomer, artist and author of “Sun Moon Earth.” To order this or other eclipse posters visit www.SpaceArtTravelBureau.com. Total solar eclipse set to wow millions across North America

39 All maps courtesy of Michael Zeiler, greatamericaneclipse.com the path of totality eclipse resources • www.greatamericaneclipse.com • eclipsophile.com • eclipsewise.com • www.mreclipse.com • science.nasa.gov/eclipses/future-eclipses/ eclipse-2024/ • nationaleclipse.com • eclipse.aas.org • www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/solar/2024-april-8 • www.tylernordgren.com/2023-2024-solar-eclipses can use solar eclipse glasses, outfit your optical device with approved solar filters or make your own pinhole projector. This eclipse will attract a great deal of attention, both internationally and within the United States, from amateur and professional astronomers, the public and the media. This means eclipse enthusiasts from around the globe will make the journey to take in this event. Although the path of the eclipse is long, hotel rooms, campsites and other lodgings in the strip will rapidly fill up. If you are not one of the fortunate ones who already live in one of these lucky locales, secure your travel plans immediately, remembering to keep local eclipse circumstances and historical weather patterns of the area in mind. Over the next few pages, we are highlighting places that have the good fortune to lie along the slim route of totality and providing resources to act as a guide as you make your own observing plans. So get equipped, plan a backup and make sure you don’t miss this awe-inspiring astronomical event!

40 mexico As the path of totality sweeps in from the Pacific Ocean, it will first touch land just before 10:52 a.m. local time on Isla Socorro, a sparsely populated volcanic island off Mexico’s coast. Shortly after, the main event will hit the North American mainland at Mazatlán, Mexico. Although the partial eclipse phase will start at 9:51 a.m. local time, eclipse chasers will have to wait until 11:07 a.m. local time for totality to get under way. The skies over Mazatlán will go dark for just over 4 minutes. Although Mexico has a generally sunny climate, cloud cover should still be a concern when picking a viewing location. On his website eclipsophile.com, Canadian meteorologist and renowned eclipse chaser Jay Anderson notes, “the least promising eclipse-watching sites in Mexico come after the track has passed the Sierra Madre Oriental and moved onto the Gulf Coastal Plains as it approaches the Texas border.” Mexican cities in the path of totality include: Mazatlán • Durango • Torreón • Monclova • Sabinas • Allende • Piedras Negras (Note: Cities sorted by start time for totality)

41 texas Texas has the honor of being the first place where the narrow path of totality touches the United States. The full lunar shadow will sweep into the state at 1:27 p.m. CDT and begin a journey northeast that will cross over some of Texas’ largest cities, including the Dallas - Fort Worth metroplex that nearly 8 million people call home. Totality’s long haul across the Lone Star State will take less than 20 minutes. One of the prime factors that will make Texas a favored destination for eclipse chasers in the U.S. is its potential to deliver clear skies. On his website eclipsophile.com, Anderson writes, “the best of Texas weather prospects—in fact, the best prospects in the United States and Canada—lies on the Edwards Plateau, where median cloud amounts are as much as 15 percent lower than those south of the centre line on the Coastal Plain.” Texas-based observers will also benefit from the easy highway access the location of the path of totality gives them in case they do wake to clouds on eclipse morning. Events will be happening all along the path of totality in Texas. One such event is the Eclipse Over Texas: Live from Waco festival that will have astronomers from Lowell Observatory and Baylor University on site for the big show. Another unique viewing location may be Austin because, as the minds behind the nationaleclipse.com website state, “by early April, Austin’s famous Congress Avenue Bridge bats should have arrived from their winter grounds in Mexico. It will be an interesting experiment in animal behavior to see if the bats emerge from under the bridge during the eclipse.” Texas cities in the path of totality include: Eagle Pass • Del Rio • Brackettville • Carrizo Springs • Crystal City • Uvalde • Carta Valley • Concan • Leakey • Utopia • Rocksprings • Vanderpool • Hondo • Medina • Hunt • Bandera • Ingram • Kerrville • Center Point • Pipe Creek • Castroville • Harper • Junction • Comfort • Boerne • Natalia • Fredericksburg • San Antonio • Stonewall • Mason • Hye • Johnson City • Llano • Kingsland • Buchanan Dam • Marble Falls • Tow • Dripping Springs • Burnet • Brady • Bend • San Saba • Richland Springs • Lampasas • Lometa • Cedar Park • Kempner • Copperas Cove • Georgetown • Round Rock • Austin • Killeen • Pflugerville • Harker Heights • Gatesville • Belton • Temple • Troy • Meridian • Woodway • Waco • Aquilla • Glen Rose • Hillsoro • Stephenville • Grandview • Granbury • Waxahachie • Mansfield • Corsicana • Ennis • Cedar Hill • Dalworthington Gardens • Arlington • Fort Worth • Grand Prairie • Dallas • Irving • Fairfield • Mesquite • Garland • Addison •Terrell • Plano • The Colony • Athens • Wills Point • Canton • Frisco • Greenville • Commerce • Mineola • Quitman • Lindale • Sulphur Springs • Cooper • Tyler • Paris • Pittsburg • Mount Pleasant • Detroit • Gilmer • Clarksville • New Boston • Texarkana (Note: Cities sorted by start time for totality)

42 (Note: Cities sorted by start time for totality) oklahoma At 1:44 p.m. CDT, the total eclipse phase will get under way in the southeast corner of Oklahoma. Unlike Texas, the state’s major population centers are far from the path of totality. Because the stretch of centerline that passes through the state is only 31 miles, options are limited for locations that maximize duration. Those looking to set up their viewing base in Oklahoma might want to position themselves in Idabel, where totality will last for 4 minutes and 19 seconds, or Broken Bow, which will see just one less second of darkness. One thing all eclipse chasers should keep in mind is that spring is severe storm season in this part of the United States, so staying weather aware is important not only for cloud cover concerns but also general safety. Totality exits the state at 1:51 p.m. CDT. Oklahoma cities in the path of totality include: Hugo • Fort Towson • Valliant • Idabel • Sobol • Tom • Broken Bow • Antlers • Talihina • Poteau (Note: Cities sorted by start time for totality) Arkansas cities in the path of totality include: De Queen • Ashdown • Grannis • Nashville • Mena • Murfreesboro • Norman • Glenwood • Hope • Amity • Booneville • Prescott • Danville • Hot Springs • Paris • Jessieville • Ola • Hot Springs Village • Arkadelphia • Dardanelle • Russellville • Ozark • Clarksville • Pottsville • Malvern • Perryville • Morrilton • Hector • Benton • Roland • Springfield • Center Ridge • Conway • Maumelle • Greenbrier • Clinton • Little Rock • North Little Rock • Quitman • Fairfield Bay • Marshall • Higden • Jasper • Jacksonville • Rose Bud • Fox • Heber Springs • Mountain View • Flippin • Searcy • Melbourne • Mountain Home • Batesville • Bull Shoals • Cave City • Horseshoe Bend • Oakland • Salem • Saddle • Hardy • Newport • Walnut Ridge • Pocahontas • Jonesboro • Corning • Paragould arkansas The total phase kicks off in Arkansas at 1:45 p.m. CDT. Unlike Oklahoma, the entirety of the path of totality will pass through the Natural State, which gives eclipse chasers in Arkansas more real estate to work with when trying to escape cloudy skies. It also helps that several key viewing locations are connected by two major interstates — I-30 and I-40. Those traveling on Interstate 40 can chose from several cities near the center line, including Russellville, which will experience 4 minutes and 12 seconds of darkness. Arkansas offers some picturesque locales from which to view totality if clear skies prevail, including Hot Springs National Park and Petit Jean State Park. Totality in Arkansas ends seconds before 2 p.m. CDT.

43 Missouri cities in the path of totality include: West Plains • Doniphan • Eminence • Mountain View • Van Buren • Poplar Bluff • Silva • Malden • Dexter • Kennett • Arcadia • Sikeston • Farmington • Cape Girardeau • Perryville • Park Hills (Note: Cities sorted by start time for totality) Illinois cities in the path of totality include: Tamms • Chester • Alto Pass • Cairo • Murphysboro • Makanda • Carbondale • Marion • Benton • Metropolis • Harrisburg • Mount Vernon • Golconda • McLeansboro • Centralia • Mill Shoals • Fairfield • Salem • Carmi • Albion • Kinmundy • Olney • Mount Carmel • Effingham • Marshall • Paris (Note: Cities sorted by start time for totality) missouri The total phase will begin in Missouri at 1:53 p.m. CDT and move across the southeast corner of the state in less than 10 minutes. Although none of Missouri’s biggest cities are in the path, the area is easily accessible by Interstate 55. One popular viewing locale will be Cape Girardeau, where totality begins at 1:58 p.m. CDT and lasts for just over 4 minutes. Eclipse chasers should also check into option around Poplar Bluff, which will also have more than 4 minutes of totality, or some of the 20 state parks and historic sites that are located in the shadowy path. illinois The path of totality enters Illinois at 1:58 p.m. CDT, and zips across the southern end of the state, exiting at 2:06 p.m. CDT. The biggest crowds will likely flock to Carbondale, which sits very near the centerline and will experience 4 minutes and 9 seconds of totality starting at 1:59 p.m. CDT. Those looking for a shared experience may want to check out Eclipse Day at Saluki Stadium, which is a guided viewing event hosted by Southern Illinois University Carbondale. The university hosted a similar event in 2017, when the Great American Eclipse passed over the area on August 21st. Unfortunately, the chances of cloud cover being an issue only increase from Illinois on. On his popular eclipse weather website, Anderson writes, “on the centreline, cloud amounts vary between 60 and 70 percent from Illinois to Lake Erie.” Luckily, the area does have good highway access for day-of adjustments. tennessee Upon exiting Missouri, the path of totality crosses a tiny sliver of Tennessee for about four miles before heading into Kentucky.

44 kentucky Totality’s trip through Kentucky will be a brief one. The southern portion of the path moves over the state’s western edge beginning at 1:58 p.m. CDT. Even though the centerline misses the state entirely, there are several locales that could be good viewing locations weather permitting. Wickliffe Mounds State Historic Site, which is located near the junction of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, will see 2 minutes and 44 seconds of totality beginning at 1:59 p.m. CDT. Other options include Paducah, with about one and a half minutes of totality, and Henderson, where the sky will go dark for two and a half minutes beginning at 2:02 p.m. CDT. Kentucky cities in the path of totality include: Paducah • Henderson (Note: Cities sorted by start time for totality) indiana Totality roars into Indiana at 3:02 p.m. EDT to begin a roughly 10-minute journey across a broad swath of the state. Nearly 4 million people reside in the area covered by the path of totality and more than 2 million of those are in the Indianapolis metro area, which sits just north of the centerline. Depending on their exact location in the metro area, observers in Indianapolis could experience as much as 4 minutes of totality. Observers who want to be nearer to the centerline should keep Bloomington on their radar. More than 4 minutes of totality will begin there just seconds before 3:05 p.m. EDT. For those on the far southern end of Indiana, Evansville, which is actually in the central time zone, will experience about 3 minutes of totality beginning at 2:02 p.m. CDT. Click here for a great guide to eclipse events around Indiana. Like Texas, most of Indiana’s biggest population centers are in the path of totality. Unlike Texas, the chance of poor weather conditions is fairly high. Eclipse chasers based in Indiana will want to keep their eyes on the forecast and be prepared to use the easy highway access to their advantage. Indiana cities in the path of totality include: New Harmony • Mount Vernon • Princeton • Evansville • Vincennes • Newburgh • Petersburg • Washington • Sullivan • Linton • Lyons • Jasper • Bloomfield • Santa Claus • Terre Haute • French Lick • West Baden Springs • Brazil • Bedford • Bloomington • Paoli • Unionville • Martinsville • Bristow • Mooresville • Danville • Nineveh • Franklin • Greenwood • Columbus • Salem • Indianapolis • Seymour • Shelbyville • Carmel • Fishers • Greenfield • Westfield • Noblesville • Sheridan • Greensburg • Knightstown • Scottsburg • Anderson • New Castle • Cambridge City • Connersville • Metamora • Hagerstown • Muncie • Centerville • Fountain City • Richmond • Marion • Winchester • Upland • Portland • Warren • Decatur (Note: Cities sorted by start time for totality)

45 michigan From Ohio, the path of totality runs for 31 miles through Michigan. A majority of those miles pass over Lake Erie. Ohio cities in the path of totality include: Oxford • Greenville • New Weston • Celina • Fort Loramie • Hamilton • St. Marys • Tipp City • Sidney • Dayton • Wapakoneta • Van Wert • Delphos • Medway • Lima • Russells Point • Beavercreek • Bellefontaine • West Liberty • Springfield • Kenton • Forest • Findlay • Defiance • Marion • Bowling Green • Tiffin • Delaware • Fremont • Galion • Mount Gilead • Perrysburg • Maumee • Dublin • Marengo • Port Clinton • Holland • Norwalk • Toledo • Milan • Sandusky • Mansfield • Lakeside • Huron • New London • Put-in-Bay • Ashland • Wellington • Elyria • Mount Vernon • Avon Lake • Westlake • Wooster • Parma • Broadview Heights • Cleveland • Wickliffe • Akron • Cuyahoga Falls • Mentor • Kent • Painesville • Burton • Ashtabula • Conneaut • Warren (Note: Cities sorted by start time for totality) Pennsylvania cities in the path of totality include: North Springfield • Edinboro • Erie • Meadville • North East • Warren (Note: Cities sorted by start time for totality) ohio With more than 7 million people living in the 124-mile wide path of totality, Ohio will definitely be the home base for lots of viewing expeditions. Totality begins in the state at 3:08 p.m. EDT and encompasses some key population centers, such as Dayton, Toledo and Cleveland, which will see nearly 4 minutes of totality beginning at 3:13 p.m. EDT thanks to its proximity to the centerline. Unfortunately, Cincinnati and Columbus will only see a deep partial eclipse, but travel into totality from either location should be easy, as long as you hit the road early in the day. Ohio’s Cuyahoga Valley National Park, which is one of only two national parks within the path of totality in the U.S., will experience 3 minutes and 25 seconds of totality beginning at 3:14 p.m. EDT. The park made space.com’s list of 10 scenic places to watch the eclipse. pennsylvania The path of totality will clip the northwest corner of the state beginning at 3:15 p.m. EDT, and the big story in Pennsylvania is Erie — both the city and the lake. Those stationed in Erie for the event will be treated to 3 minutes and 43 seconds of totality beginning at 3:16 p.m. EDT. The shores of Lake Erie and Presque Isle State Park will be prime viewing locales, as will the water itself for those lucky enough to have boat access. According to the nationaleclipse. com website, “meteorologists think the frigid waters of Lake Erie (and, farther along the path, Lake Ontario) in early April might actually inhibit the formation of clouds over the lake.” Totality in Pennsylvania ends at 3:20 p.m. EDT.

46 Vermont cities in the path of totality include: Burlington • St. Albans Town • Jay • Stowe • Waterbury • Middlebury • Newport • Greensboro • Montpelier (Note: Cities sorted by start time for totality) new york With more than 3.7 million people living in the path of totality, New York will definitely have its share of eclipse crowds. The centerline, which will travel 359 miles across New York, passes directly over Buffalo, which will be treated to almost 4 minutes of totality beginning around 3:18 p.m. EDT. If weather conditions allow, nearby Niagara Falls, which will see 3 minutes and 29 seconds of darkness, promises to be an iconic viewing location. Totality will also move over Rochester, which sits on the southern shore of Lake Ontario. Like the frigid Lake Erie, Lake Ontario is likely to be effective in moderating cloud cover, according to eclipsophile.com. New York cities in the path of totality include: Chautauqua • Fredonia • Lily Dale • Lakewood • Jamestown • Niagara Falls • Buffalo • Blasdell • Cheektowaga • East Aurora • Salamanca • North Java • Batavia • Albion • East Bethany • Linwood • Brockport • Mumford • Geneseo • Cuba • Henrietta • Rochester • Conesus • Fairport • Canandaigua • Newark • Phelps • Geneva • Sterling • Oswego • Henderson Harbor • Pulaski • Sackets Harbor • Auburn • Romulus • Watertown • Cicero • Fort Drum • Alexandria Bay • Carthage • Syracuse • Lowville • Gouverneur • Ogdensburg • Canton • Old Forge • Potsdam • Tupper Lake • Massena • Rainbow Lake • Saranac Lake • Malone • Lake Placid • Indian Lake • Wilmington • Plattsburgh • Essex (Note: Cities sorted by start time for totality) Totality’s trend toward hitting some of a state’s most populous locales rings true in Vermont. Burlington, which is the largest city in the state, will bask in the lunar shadow for 3 minutes and 16 seconds starting at 3:26 p.m. EDT. The state capital of Montpelier will also get a short time in the shadow with 1 minute and 37 seconds of totality kicking off at 3:27 p.m. EDT. Just like it is in New York, Lake Champlain is likely to be a draw in Vermont for eclipse chasers looking for picturesque views and longer durations. The centerline of totality passes over the lake beginning at 3:25 p.m. EDT. Chasers should be aware that Vermont’s Green Mountains could present an additional cloud cover challenge in the area of totality. vermont

47 New Hampshire cities in the path of totality include: Pittsburg • Colebrook • West Stewartstown • Lancaster (Note: Cities sorted by start time for totality) Maine cities in the path of totality include: Jackman • Rangeley • West Forks • Carrabassett Valley • The Forks • Mount Chase • Millinocket • Dover-Foxcroft • Island Falls • Medway • Linneus • Houlton • Portage Lake • Presque Isle • Fort Fairfield • Lincoln • Caribou • Danforth • Lee (Note: Cities sorted by start time for totality) new hampshire Totality in New Hampshire, which runs from 3:28 p.m. EDT to 3:31 p.m. EDT, is less likely to draw a lot of visiting eclipse chasers due to the path’s location in the low-populated northern tip of the state known as the Great North Woods. The entire area of totality is home to only 12,000 people. With a population of around 3,500 people, Lancaster is the largest town in the path of totality in New Hampshire, but it is very close to the edge so it will experience less than a minute of darkness. The centerline never touches the state but Colebrook will see 3 minutes of totality starting at 3:28 p.m. EDT and West Stewartstown will see 3 minutes and 14 seconds. maine The final stop on totality’s tour across the United States is Maine. Totality will begin in the state at 3:28 p.m. EDT, and the entire path from edge to edge will make a speedy journey across a lightly populated swath before exiting the U.S. at 3:35 p.m. EDT. The path through Maine offers a bounty of beautiful landscapes to watch the lunar shadow move across — including Mount Katahdin, which will experience more than 3 minutes of totality. However cloud cover is very likely to be a huge problem. Anderson of eclipsophile.com notes, “Along the Maine-Québec border, satellite-measured cloudiness reaches 90 percent across the White and Longfellow Mountains and barely falls below 75 percent over the rest of the path through eastern Maine and over New Brunswick.” After totality exits Maine, another total solar eclipse will not touch the contiguous U.S. until August 23rd, 2044.

48 canada Once totality exits Maine, the total solar eclipse will become an exclusively Canadian experience. Prior to entering Maine, which contained the full path of totality, parts of the path have been dipping in and out of eastern portions of Canada since passing over Lake Erie. The table detailing totality times was compiled by the Canadian Space Agency. Eclipse chasers in Canada can also explore detailed maps of totality’s full journey across Canada and its maritime provinces at greatamericaneclipse.com. After its final hurrah across the Maritime provinces, the total solar eclipse will end in the open waters of the Atlantic Ocean. Questions/Comments? 866.252.3811 ©2022 Explore Scientific, LLC. All rights reserved. Learn more at explorescientific.com/glasses Oct. 14 2023 APR. 8 2024 Annular Eclipse Total Eclipse ASSORTMENT $9.99

49 How to Safely View the April 8, 2024, TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSE A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon blocks any part of the Sun. On Monday, April 8, 2024, a solar eclipse will be visible in North and Central America, as well as parts of Europe and South America. All 50 U.S. states (excluding most of Alaska) will have a chance to see at least a partial solar eclipse. In a narrow track across Mexico, the U.S. from Texas to Maine, and Canada from Ontario to Newfoundland, the Moon will completely cover the Sun’s bright face, producing a spectacular total solar eclipse. Protect Your Eyes • Looking directly at the Sun without proper eye protection is unsafe EXCEPT during the brief total eclipse phase (“totality”). This happens ONLY within the narrow path of totality. At all other times, it is safe to look directly at the Sun ONLY through special- purpose solar filters, such as “eclipse glasses,” that comply with the transmittance requirements of the ISO 12312-2 international standard. Ordinary sunglasses, even very dark ones, are not safe for looking at the Sun. • If you are inside the path of totality on April 8, 2024, remove your solar filter ONLY when the Moon completely covers the Sun’s bright face. As soon as the Sun begins to reappear, replace your solar filter to look at the remaining partial phases. • Outside the path of totality, there is NO TIME when it is safe to look directly at the Sun without using a solar filter that complies with the transmittance requirements of the ISO 12312-2 international standard. Instructions for the Safe Use of Solar Filters and Viewers • Always inspect your solar filter before use; if scratched, punctured, torn, or otherwise damaged, discard it. Read and follow any instructions printed on or packaged with the filter. • Always supervise children using solar filters. • If you normally wear eyeglasses, keep them on. Put your eclipse glasses on over them or hold your handheld viewer in front of them. • Stand still and cover your eyes with your eclipse glasses or solar viewer before looking at the bright Sun. After looking at the Sun, turn away and remove your filter – do not remove it while looking at the Sun. • Do not look at the uneclipsed or partially eclipsed Sun through an unfiltered camera, telescope, binoculars, or other optical device. Do not do so even while wearing eclipse glasses or using a handheld solar viewer in front of your eyes – the concentrated solar rays could damage the filter and enter your eyes, causing serious injury. • Solar filters must be securely attached to the front of any telescope, binoculars, or camera lens. Seek expert advice from an astronomer before using a solar filter with a camera, telescope, binoculars, or any other optical device. What If You Don’t Have a Safe Solar Filter or Viewer? Another method for safe viewing of the partially eclipsed Sun is indirectly via pinhole projection. For example, with your back to the Sun, cross the outstretched, slightly open fingers of one hand over the outstretched, slightly open fingers of the other, creating a waffle pattern. In your hands’ shadow on the ground, the spaces between your fingers will show the Sun as crescents. A solar eclipse is one of nature’s grandest spectacles. By following these simple rules, you can safely enjoy the view and be rewarded with memories to last a lifetime. For more information about eye safety and the eclipse, visit https://eclipse.aas.org/eye-safety. This safety information has been endorsed by the American Astronomical Society, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the U.S. National Science Foundation, the American Academy of Ophthalmology, the American Academy of Optometry, and the American Medical Association. NP-2023-11-189-GSFC

50 By ALEJANDRO SOMMER Guest Contributor My name is Alejandro, and I consider myself a defender of the Sky, and of heritage in all its breadth (natural, cultural, tangible and intangible). Well, it turns out that many times, our objective does not always accompany the training base we have had. It is unusual for us to fight with our knowledge in pursuit of teaching. But I believe that all is forgiven if what we teach has a greater good. Many times, I have even had fervent discussions about the matter with colleagues and professionals, but fortunately, science ends up being right, and that gives us the courage to pass the message, especially to the youngest, those who do not share our knowledge and passions for the stars. I think that is the public objective of all the work done, and to be done... But I stopped at that kind of introduction or memories of how I came to the world of tourism, or AstroTourism. And we must emphasize the etymology of the word that leads to this activity. “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” A phrase that defined the route, well of course, how could you not do it!! I think that like all our readers, we have started in some astronomy club, or out of simple personal fascination with the Universe, towards sharing common spaces: workshops, conferences, scientific dissemination activities. But there was something that was not happening: the impact on citizens and governance spheres. Why was the objective of raising awareness not met? The information is valid, updated, reviewed by academic peers, and taken from official sources. Well, a call to the honesty of the activity is enough. Pay attention to the public. What do you think happened? At the end of the day, we were the same as always, who unconditionally participate in the activity, commit, investigate and disseminate science, but the biggest detail, the information did not reach the common citizen! Well, a transition of activity occurred, the method changed, the public changed. The message I want to spread is about the preservation of dark skies, and how it impacts many aspects. I couldn’t find a better way to do it, but through a tourist activity, as I had mentioned. And that world is where our knowledge, lexicons and experiences collide. This is where the Half of the world happens at night COURTESY OF Alejandro Sommer Anibal Moreira, from the Yvytu Porá community (good winds) shows us inside the village his interpretation of the sky.