A Still Excites In This Day And Age, Even For Astronauts

Susan Runco (NASA, JSC, Astromaterials)

tories about solar eclipse events often start with the wonder or animal reactions witnessed by these ancient peoples only added terror experienced by ancient cultures. Ancient cultures often embellishment to those stories. Today, we know the physical reason Sconjured up powerful or mischievous mythical creatures to for an eclipse and can predict its date, duration, and path over the explain the mysterious darkening of their source of light. Indeed, with scientific accuracy, yet the excitement associated with

Solar Eclipse Shadow on the Horizon about 20 minutes after the time of the Total Eclipse over the southern Indian Ocean as viewed from the International Space Station (ISS). ISS006- E-5064 was taken by the ISS crew on Dec 04, 2002 at 07:58:12 GMT while the ISS was over Looking Back at the Eclipsed Earth. Taken by French astronaut, Jean-Pierre Haigneré from the 29.8° S, 59.4° E. [Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit, NASA Johnson Space Center] Russian MIR 27, Aug 11, 1999. [CNES]

Astronomy Beat No. 148 • July 28, 2016 Page 1 Turkey

Cyprus

The ISS Expedition 12 crew captured a photo of the umbral (ground) shadow across southern Partial Solar Eclipse shadow over NW Pacific Ocean. ISS031-E-67742 Taken by the ISS crew on Turkey, northern Cyprus, and the Mediterranean Sea on March 29, 2006. ISS012-E-21351 was May 20, 2012, ISS Nadir 44.1N 155.6E, 23:36:25 GMT. [Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit, taken at 10:56:55 GMT while the ISS was over the Earth at nadir 33.2° N, 35.8° E. The photo NASA Johnson Space Center] center point is 36.5° N, 32.5° E. [Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit, NASA Johnson Space Center and Earth Observatory] direction to see the shadow of the solar eclipse. There have been these celestial events has not waned. People continue to journey more than a few times when an astronaut has wished that their to total solar eclipse locations to see, experience, photograph, and spacecraft had enough power to change its orbital inclination or study them, looking skyward from sometimes exotic locations. The better still just magically ignore orbital mechanics to pass over dawn of the space age has provided us with a new vantage point the shadow of the eclipse to capture a rare photograph. During for viewing a solar eclipse. We can now look down rather than up to flights between 1981 and 2000, Shuttle crews did see and enjoy an eclipse, looking at the ’s shadow cast on the not collect any images of solar eclipses. It wasn’t until the advent Earth rather than the traditional view of seeing the Moon pass in of orbiting space stations, particularly the International Space front of the Sun. Station (ISS) and its continuous presence in space, where occasion- ally the station was in the right place at the right time for the crew Astronauts Capture Photos of the Solar Eclipse to photograph the shadow of the eclipse. As early as August 11, Acquiring images of an eclipse from a space vehicle is no small 1999, a French astronaut, Jean-Pierre Haigneré, flying aboard the feat. The space vehicle has to be in the correct hemisphere, in Russian MIR space station (), took a photo of the solar daylight conditions, and have a window with a view in the right eclipse shadow on that date. At that time no Shuttle was in orbit

Astronomy Beat No. 148 • July 28, 2016 Page 2 and no US astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti (Italian. Lived on ISS Nov’14-Jun’15) was aboard the MIR. “Took a peek out the window between experiments. Orbital sunrise Capturing a photo of and the #SolarEclipse... could it go any better? … I think this is it: the a solar eclipse during umbra. Looking aft on our flightpath around maximum obscura- Space Shuttle mis- tion time. #SolarEclipse” sions proved elusive, but Shuttle astronauts like Dr. Ron Parise were very eager to do it, as he had already been involved in helping NASA webcast a total eclipse to people all over the globe. Parise, a Payload Specialist Astronaut, was an astronomer and physi- cist. He flew on two Shuttle missions (1990, 1995) to operate the Astro ultraviolet obser- A Mosaic of the Total Solar Eclipse Over Andrasen, Turkey vation payload, which March 29, 2006. [Stefan Seip] he had helped design and construct, and later analyzed the results to better understand enthusiast. A popular activity in the “ham” radio community is a the birth, life, and death of stars and galaxies. During the total special event station, operated in celebration of an unusual or his- eclipse on Aug 11, 1999, Dr. Parise was aboard the cruise ship toric event. Dr. Parise had set up a special event station on board Olympic Countess as the lead for a NASA Sun-Earth educational the Olympic Countess which connected the ham radio community program. His team tackled the elaborate preparations and pro- around the world to the excitement on board the Black Sea eclipse vided the satellite transmissions from the decks of the cruise ship cruise. His operation of a High Frequency (HF) “special event sta- so NASA photos and video files of the solar eclipse — as well as the tion” from the decks of the Olympic Countess both before and after associated shipboard activities — could be webcast to the world the eclipse commemorated the celestial event and celebrated in near real time. Astronaut Parise was also an avid amateur radio the last Solar Eclipse of the 20th Century. This activity aboard the

Astronomy Beat No. 148 • July 28, 2016 Page 3 Olympic Countess by Astronaut Parise served as a prototype for future NASA world-wide educational programs for solar eclipses. On March 29, 2006, no big city was directly on the 185 kilometer- wide path of totality, but several cities including Ankara [Turkey], Lagos [Nigeria] and Tbilisi [Georgia] were very close to it. For the 2006 Total Eclipse, NASA, conducted another world-wide education program to engage a large audience. For this eclipse, the ISS was in the right place in its orbit so that the crew could share photos of their unique observations with the public.

Getting Information to the Crew The Earth Science and Remote Sensing group at NASA JSC looks for any overlap of ISS orbital tracks with upcoming solar eclipse paths. If an overlap is found, eclipse information and maps showing the path of totality are included in the daily Earth Observation (CEO) message to the crew the day before the eclipse. Crew members know how to take photos of the eclipse because of their photography training during the year before their flight; the information in the CEO mes- sage assists them in knowing in which direction to look, and at what time to start looking and taking photos of the eclipse shadow. The two graphics to the right were sent to the ISS Expedition 12 crew during the March 29, 2006 solar eclipse.

Total Solar Eclipse August 17, 2017; Anticipation is Growing! Will the August 2017 Total Solar Eclipse over the United States be the most viewed ever? Advanced planning by such organizations as the Astronomical Society of the Pacific and NASA are taking place now to be able to use all of the internet and social media tools available to share the imagery, science, and excitement of this major event. At NASA JSC we are keeping an eye on the ISS’s orbit track predications to see if the Moon’s, Sun’s, and ISS’ paths align so the ISS crew can

Astronomy Beat No. 148 • July 28, 2016 Page 4 acquire images and share them and their excitement with the world. You can see imagery of Earth taken by the astronauts at any time by going to the Gateway to Astronaut Photography of the Earth. See the latest selected Astronaut image and also information about the rest of our Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science (ARES) Division of the Exploration Integration and Science Directorate at NASA JSC on our social media sites: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Google +, and WordPress. Where will you be on August 21, 2017?

About the Author Susan Runco is the Deputy Manager of This Google Map from NASA’s Eclipse Web Site shows the path of the Total Solar Eclipse of the Exploration Science Office within the 2017 Aug 21. The “GE” marker is the point of “Greatest Eclipse”, defined as the instant when Exploration Integration and Science Directorate the axis of the Moon’s shadow cone passes closest to Earth’s center. The “GD” marker is the point of “Greatest Duration”, defined as the instant when the length of the total (or annular) at JSC. She is also a co-principal investigator phase reaches a maximum along the central path of a solar eclipse. and science operations lead for the ISS’s High Definition Earth Viewing (HDEV) cameras (imag- ery can be viewed on USTREAM). In previous “It is amazing to see an eclipse from orbit. positions, she helped train and guide Space Shuttle and ISS crews in Earth observations, which included managing the imagery database The shadow on Earth looks just like what and developing software for citizen science involvement. As a naval officer, she also forecasted weather and ocean conditions for air and you see in the physics books and the ship operations. astronomy book where those folks figured all that out without ever having seen what that shadow looks like.”

— NASA Astronaut Don Pettit

Astronomy Beat No. 148 • July 28, 2016 Page 5 Resources: Astronomy Beat • ABC News in Science, Space & Astronomy: http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/space/ SpaceRepublish_1603542.htm Number 148 • July 28, 2016 • NASA’s Earth Observatory: http://www.earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=6419 Publisher: Astronomical Society of the Pacific • NASA’s Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth: Editor: Linda Shore http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/SearchPhotos/photo.pl?mission=ISS006&roll=E&frame=5064 Designer: Leslie Proudfit http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/SearchPhotos/photo.pl?mission=ISS012&roll=E&frame=21351 One copy of this article may be downloaded on any http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/SearchPhotos/photo.pl?mission=ISS031&roll=E&frame=67742 single computer and/or printed for your personal, non-commercial use. No part of this article may be • Astronomy Picture of the Day, reproduced in any form, sold, or used in commercial August 30, 1999: http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap990830.html products without written permission from the April 4, 2006: http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap060404.html Astronomical Society of the Pacific. For information about becoming a member, visit • CNES/J.P. Haignere, 1999: https://cnes.fr/fr/photo-mystere/eclipse-tache-sombre-terre astrosociety.org/membership • NASA Eclipse Web Site: http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEgoogle/SEgoogle2001/ The Astronomical Society of the Pacific increases the SE2017Aug21Tgoogle.html understanding and appreciation of astronomy by • NASA Eclipse in A Different Light by Sun-Earth Day: http://www.sunearthday.nasa. engaging scientists, educators, enthusiasts, and the public to advance science and science literacy. gov/2006/events/webcasts.php • NASA Astronaut Biography of Dr. Ron Parise: http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/PS/parise.html • Ted Pedas, Astronomer and Astronomy Theme Cruises: http://www.nauticom.net/www/ planet/files/jul30odys.html#HAM F astrosociety.org © 2016, Astronomical Society of the Pacific 390 Ashton Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94112

Save the Date! Please join us December 8–9, 2016, at the Moonrise Hotel in St. Louis, Missouri, for the ASP’s 128th Annual Meeting, which will be a special STEM outreach conference focused on preparations for the 2017 solar eclipse that will be visible across North America. www.astrosociety.org/meeting

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