Gerard van Belle
Astronomer, Lowell Observatory
1400 W Mars Hill Road
Flagstaff, AZ 86001

I'm an astronomer at Lowell Observatory, in Flagstaff, Arizona, building & using the highest resolution optical telescopes available on the planet.

I use these telescopes to learn about the sizes, shapes, and surfaces of stars, and to look for planets orbiting those stars.

Eclipse Resources

• Lowell Observatory Solar Eclipse Experience - if you're not with us in Madras, OR, for the first, best opportunity at totality, you're missing out
• Interactive eclipse Google Map - find the stats on duration of totality and times of first/last contact for your location
• Current UT Time? - Helpful in converting UT to your local time
• AAS Solar Eclipse Across America page - Comprehensive eclipse resources from the American Astronomical Socity
• Solar Eclipse Timer - a talking timer app designed for solar eclipses
• Heavens Above - a great web page and Android app for finding satellites at night, with info on the eclipse as well
• The Great American Eclipse page - includes expectations for traffic, etc.

Phenomena to Look For During the Eclipse

• Baily's Beads - See the Sun as it starts to peek between the hills & craters of the moon
• Chromosphere - The solar chromosphere, a layer that sits right above the photosphere (the shining surface of the sun), is normally obscured from view by the overwhelming brightness of that photosphere
• Corona - The solar corona, a multi-million mile, million-degree superheaded aura of plasma that surrounds the sun

Citizen Science

• EclipseMob - Measure the effects of the eclipse on the Earth's ionosphere!
• Additional NASA Resources - A variety of eclipse-related citizen science opportunties

Eclipses in History

• The 1868 Solar Eclipse - Jules Janssen took spectra of the solar chromosphere during an eclipse and found features that had been previously undetected, due to a previously unknown element - helium
• The 1919 Solar Eclipse - Taking advantage of the conditions of an eclipse, two expeditions definitively proved Einstein's general relativity, catapulting him to international superstardom
• A 1946[?] Solar Eclipse - A solar eclipse saves Tintin, Captain Haddock, and Professor Calculus!