¶ The Importance of Total Solar Eclipses
Hello Science Enthusiasts , welcome to SciChat . My name is Jason Zakowski , i'm a high school chemistry teacher and I'm the dog dad of Bunsen Beaker , the Science Dogs on social media .
My co-host is Hi there , I'm Chris Zakowski , and I'm the dog mum to Bunsen Beaker and the cat mum to Ginger .
Every week in SciChat , we bring you an amazing expert in a field of science to enthrall you with their area of knowledge . We are multi-casting on here on Twitter to Facebook Live and the POP-PAC our community . Our guest today is Dan Schneiderman . Dan , how are you doing , sir ? Pretty good , yay . Where are you calling in the show from ?
Where are you in the world right now , dan ?
I am currently in Rochester , New York .
You know , my wife and I arewe've beenwe made a list of places . In August we're thinking about taking a vacation to , and New York has come up a few times . So New York , new York , though maybe not Rochester .
It's only about six , seven hours away . I did live out there for a good two years and it's a short flight , but it's a slightly longer drive .
Gotcha Yeah , So you were living in New York , New York .
There were times when I missed it . I missed , you know , a lot of . There was always a lot of great food out there . I loved a lot of . The museums out there had a lot of great friends . But I love it even more here in Rochester .
Gotcha . Well , we'll get to what you're doing in a sec , because where you are in the world is really important to the main theme of the entire show . Do you have some training in science ? That's one of my questions is like whatdo you have any training in science ?
A little bit yes , a little bit no . So a lot of it is self-taught . I went to school for information science technology but I double-majored in political science with a focus on science and policy and science and history . I was about to say otherwise when I was young . A lot of it , you know , came from school . I did first robotics .
I grew up going to the Rochester Museum and Science Center where I now work . Just a lot of being surrounded by science as a kid .
When you were young , aside from doing the stuff with robotics and such , were you enamored by science .
Completely . I remember growing up looking up at the stars . I lived on the edge of a rural area so we had some gorgeous clear skies And it's like I remember this time of year later on in the summer looking up at the meteor showers and just always being in love with . Well , i grew up with Bill Nye , i grew up with the Magic School bus .
I grew up with Mythbusters , so I just kind of inhaled as much as I could . I , you know reading articles just starting to see , you know , the beginnings of science , communication on YouTube , all of it .
So this is a tough question for you , dan . You have one person to give you a science lesson . Okay , is that person ? you can only choose one . But between these two , is that person Bill Nye , the science guy , or Ms Frizzle from the Magic School bus ?
Oh , ms Frizzle , But I would be slightly worried about my life . Okay , there's only something slightly homicidal about Ms Frizzle .
Yes .
But I would easily do a lesson from her if I ever had the chance .
So I'm a teacher and when we take kids on field trips now because that's the whole premise of the Magic School bus is taking the kids on magical field trips There is an enormous amount of paperwork you have to do to explain how you were going to keep the kids safe and especially if you're doing stuff like that is outside the realm of walking on the street .
So when we take kids to the marine biology station on Banfield , i have to go into detail , like we're going to be on a boat . Here are all the different dangers you are going to have on a boat . Do you think Ms Frizzle just doesn't do the paperwork , or what's the deal with that ? How does she get by with her field trips ? I don't know .
I think she gets away with the paperwork . Sometimes the people who do the craziest of things honestly put in the work and put in deal with the paperwork . I've had to deal with some odd paperwork here and there and it's resulted in some really cool projects and really cool events . So I wouldn't be surprised if she put it through .
But she might also have the bus do its stuff and just print out the paperwork .
I feel like she's a bit of a loose cannon and she has many letters in her file from an administrator . That's what I feel .
I think it's magic .
Oh , okay , i think she got it .
Yeah , it's got it through with magic .
Well , I wish I had magic to get through all that paperwork . You took kids to Banfield too , Chris , with your school .
That was a bit Yeah , i heard it and I filled out the paperwork and I just filled it out and submitted it and they said awesome , have a great time . And we did .
So you love Science , dan . It was a big big deal . You're enamored by Bill Nye and the Magic School Bus . I think some people are talking about that in the chat . They kind of agree with you as well .
Now could you tell everybody what your current position is , because that's going to get into the meat and potatoes or the main course of what this side chat space is about .
So I am the Eclipse partnership coordinator at the Rochester Museum and Science Center , So basically my entire job is just focusing on the April 8th 2024 total solar eclipse .
Okay , So that is your . you are living , eating and breathing Eclipse . Is that true ? Like is that a good sum up of your job ?
Yes , And unfortunately I would even add dreaming to it . I may have had both pleasant dreams and unfortunate nightmares of every possible scenario for the eclipse .
All right Now let's get into why that's a big deal . First off , Dan , I was wondering if you could explain what the eclipse is like , what , what is it , before we get to why it's such a big deal . So ?
a total solar eclipse is when the moon passes in front of the sun , completely obscuring it , and cast a giant shadow down onto the earth , and those within that shadow are within the path of totality .
And what does that mean ? the path of totality .
So being in the path of totality means that A you'll get to observe the sun being completely locked out for some period of time from your perspective on earth , but it means you also get to experience temperature dropping on average about 10 degrees Fahrenheit . Animals thinking that it's nighttime birds go back to their nest , steer to the barn .
Back in 2017 , during the last big total solar eclipse in the US , you could even hear crickets and frogs starting to croak . It becomes very your shadows become very sharp , leaving into the moment forward And it's just an unbelievable sight that's just full of awe and wonder and just makes you just stop and observe the universe .
So that would be the part of . My next question is like why is this such a big deal ? But are these eclipses common , like do they happen all the time , or is this rather rare ?
Yes and no . So , technically , a total solar eclipse happens about once every 18 to 24 months somewhere on earth , but to be in that path where you are living is much more rare . It's about one every 375 years . Okay , that's a bit of a time period . I mean , there are people who are lucky , who you know .
We're in the past , in 2017 , and are in the path again for 2024 . That's really rare . But , for example , here in Rochester , the last time we had a total solar eclipse was back in 1925 . And the next time we get one isn't until 2144 . So we still have 120 years after this . Oh man , so that's a kids born on the day of the 2024 eclipse .
Their grandkids , kid or , more likely , their grandkids , grandkids , will be around for that .
Yeah , unless there's a big breakthrough with CRISPR , you and I aren't going to be around for the next one in Rochester . Is that what you're saying ?
Yeah , i mean I'm holding out to see the next one of the . there's another big one in the US in 20 , a little bit of one in 2044 , a much bigger one in 2045 . And then , you know , my probable last one will be 2079 . no-transcript when it hits New York State again .
Okay , there are already people asking some really good questions , dan , and normally if we can just do a little reset for folks that are maybe listening for the first time or joined SciChat , we have an expert Chris and I . Usually we ask some questions and then we open up the floor to the audience to ask their questions .
But one of my questions is actually one that somebody in the chat has already put in , and that's Dawn . Dawn is asking will the path of totality extend east to Syracuse , syracuse and Watertown ?
Syracuse , syracuse , sorry , syracuse and Watertown . Yes , syracuse is right on the edge of the path of totality . So they have it , for some will be blocked out for about a minute and a half in Syracuse , compared to in Rochester , it's about three minutes and 38 seconds . If they wanna go slightly further west to Buffalo , three minutes and 44 seconds .
It also hits Watertown as well , for which I know that there will be lots of fun activities in both areas .
Okay , so it's a big deal . While it happens on Earth , being in the area , it happens as rare . Where you're living it's not happening again for a while .
¶ Preparing for the Eclipse
I'm trying to think , chris , has there been a total eclipse in where we live in Canada ?
Jason , we saw . I think it was a partial eclipse .
Yeah , it was partial , it wasn't a total though .
No , because we did a bunch of kitchen gadget kind of science experiments . We used a strainer and we had goggles and the whole nine yards , but I remember it just showing kind of the moon shape , the crescent shape .
Yeah , it did look weird , but we didn't get anything near like the total eclipse .
That was probably the 2017 eclipse that I had to take a good guess , Yeah .
Bunsen was a puppy . If I remember we got Bunsen , he was a puppy , puppy . And then I have a photo of him wearing the special glasses that you look at the eclipse with when he was a little puppy . So question for you If people wanna see this eclipse , where is it in the United States , is it ? I'm trying to look .
I think I see there's like a map of it , but I was wondering if you could kind of verbally explain that , as it's an audio platform .
So it starts down in Mexico , in Mazatlan , and then moves its way north through Texas , a little bit of Oklahoma , arkansas , missouri , a bit of Kentucky , in Illinois , in Indiana , eventually hitting Ohio , new York , where I am , vermont , new Hampshire , maine , and then it actually does hit Montreal and Canada as well .
So we're back in 2017 , the path of totality only stayed within the US , so it was called the Great American Eclipse . This time it's the Great North American Eclipse , as it does it in Mexico , the United States and Canada .
It peaks into Quebec for a little bit and says , bonjour , chris .
I like that . That's awesome .
The sun says hello . right , Dan , what are some of the things that you're prepping for beyond the event , Like what's , if you're like the thing is coming , what's so all encompassing with your job about this eclipse ?
So a lot of it is just getting the word out and making sure that we are prepared . In the Greater Rochester region we are expecting anywhere between 300 and 500,000 additional visitors to the area , and that's in addition to the 1.1 million residents who are already here .
But we just need to make sure that everyone's has the right equipment to safely view it , that they are knowledgeable , that they know when and where to look , that it's as accessible as possible .
So a lot of my work has been also getting documents translated , making sure that everyone from senior homes and hospitals are prepared , all the way through preschools , surgeries , k through 12 and universities .
been talking to businesses to make sure that they have enough materials , hotels to make sure that they're prepared for the influx , restaurants for all the food that they're gonna need . No two days are the same . I have had it with so many different groups and there's been so many different rabbit holes to go down .
So , dan , like should people , is everything already booked up ? or like should people , if they're wanting to see this and you're not from that area , like should you be on this right now or is it toast ? Like , is the whole area toast ?
Oh no , there's still plenty of time and there's even a lot of .
What I've been doing is I've been even traveling about an hour and a half the two hours south and all across the Finger Lakes to make sure that , like even hotels outside the path of totality are prepped and that all of their transportation folks are ready , because it's gonna be a lot of people coming through .
Now , chris and I had actually talked about going to this like last week . Chris , right , we could use some of our PD funding to go . So that's good that we still have time to book stuff , because we haven't done that yet .
We have done zero things . We've just talked about it .
I'm kind of kicking myself . The 2017 one . We could have drove to it because it was way south of Southeast of us , like it would have been a big driver , we would have had to fly , and my sister , she and her husband they went to it , they flew and they said it was totally worth it . So I am kicking myself a bit .
So I think , because it's kind of rare in Canada and especially like where we live . I think this is the one we're gonna go see . So you are a bit biased towards your area , but is your area a good place to see the eclipse because of like weather conditions ?
So we have about a 52% chance of a sunny day . Here in Rochester . We get this question a lot for the entire Northeast . A lot of people are looking at Texas and Mexico and Arkansas as the chances of clouds reduces .
However , where we are in New York state is actually fairly good due to the microclimate of where we are on Lake Ontario , where if you're right up against the lake , the chances of clouds reduces a bit even there , and even if it is a cloudy day , we still have a good chance . The main location that I tend to site is Homestead National Monument back in 2017 .
Massive National Park . They had about maybe 10,000 , 15,000 people . Bill and I . The science guy was actually there and there's a lot of YouTube footage but it was just thunderstorms and heavy rain for a good chunk of the day And at the last possible seconds the clouds parted and you were able to see totality . So you never know .
Oh man . Okay , I have a couple more eclipse questions . You I do know the answer , but I'd like , maybe you to explain it . What are some things that you should be prepping for for the eclipse ? Like , let's say , you're in the area or you're gonna go ? what are some things you could be prepping for ?
So the first thing you're gonna wanna do is make sure that you have eclipse glasses . That is the only way that you could look directly at the sun , except during totality , when you can actually remove your glasses .
But any other time you want to look at the sun , to view the partial phases or , honestly , any time of the year , you must wear certified eclipse glasses .
Where can you ?
get those .
Those aren't just like sunglasses , right ? People can't wear this .
Those are definitely not sunglasses . Sun glasses just are not rated . There's a couple of manufacturers that I personally recommend online . I don't recommend buying them directly from Amazon , as there were some issues back in 2017 and there's already been some issues caught now .
Like scammers , like they're just not up to stuff .
Yeah , there have been scammers and they actually had to put out a notice back in 2017 saying , hey , we can't guarantee your safety .
Oh , wow .
Yeah . Dan what about It was bad .
Dan , what about welding glasses ?
So as long as they are I've been reading up on this recommend it for level 13 or 14 , they should be fine .
Okay , because when I was a child , my grandpa there was this older eclipse in British Columbia and or it could have been a partial , and we looked at it through welding glasses that he had . So he's like these are fine , but that was my grandpa . He you know , everything was fine .
Yeah , as long as it's around shade 13 or 14 , you should be fine , which is the correct rating for it , where you still see it and you can view it safely . but not too much has been taken away .
There are other good ways to view , and you already mentioned one of using a strainer as a pinhole viewer , and there's lots of other pinhole viewers that you can create . you know everything from using a cereal box I've seen people use pegboard , seeing people use a hole puncher into cardboard or 3D printed a pinhole viewer .
You could even use some food , like rit crackers and saltines , because it's still a small pinhole . The trick is you do not look through the devices up at the sun , but look towards the shadow .
Yeah , i remember doing that with the strainer . Chris , i think did I get asked by the local paper for what I was doing ? I think I got interviewed and I'm like I don't know what I'm doing . I'm just stealing this off the internet .
I'm not an eclipse guy , but I was like the science guy for the city , so maybe that's why the pickens were slim during the last partial eclipse for us . So , dan , just to recap , you can't just peek at the sun and look away , right , you can't just like check it out .
You can't be like Except if you're in the path of totality , and only for that short amount of time .
How do you know when it's not safe ? like the sun during the totality will suddenly just start getting brighter And you're like , ooh dang , put my glasses back on . I'm just puzzled by that .
You're going to want to have a timer or look up ahead of time and know , almost set an alarm for a few seconds beforehand , because if you are looking up and you don't have your glasses back on in time , it's almost like an ice pick of light that hits you And you'll realize how strong the sun really is during a total solar eclipse .
Okay , i have heard that the sun is a deadly laser . I think that's in a YouTube video . nevermind , it creates star damage . star damage . We have a bunch of people with questions about the eclipse , but you know what , i think we're going to leave that for the audience question segment .
So that includes people that have DM me , and there's a couple of really good questions on Facebook Live and then within the chat . So we'll get to your questions , but we'll save that for the time when we normally ask questions . Chris , before we wrap up , do you have any more eclipse questions ?
Not about the eclipse , no .
No , not about the eclipse .
No .
Okay , so do you think we should use our PD funds to go see this , Chris ?
100% . We should .
I think so too . All right , Chris , you can go with the next question .
¶ Big Head Boxes and Science Experiments
I'm just wondering what's a big head box ? This is a lot of .
So in addition to all of this Eclipse work , i have also helped produce the Maker Faire here in Rochester and this has been one of my favorite projects .
So a big head box , or sometimes a big face box , is you take a Fresnel lens and you put it in a cardboard box after you cut a hole out so that the lens can kind of sit through , you add in LEDs or some sort of light to light up your face and you put it on your head and watch people's reaction .
From your friend's point of view it will look like your head just got super big , almost like some of the old video games of how big your head really is , and you will just start cracking up from this .
Oh , i remember in GoldenEye for N64 , you could turn on big head mode . That was exactly what I was thinking . Oh , really , i'm funny . What the heck's a Fresnel lens ?
Well , Jason , you had one .
Well , i know , i know , but it was for everybody listening .
Oh , okay , i'll just tell you down what Jason did with it . He used a TV lens that he thought might be a Fresnel lens It was a Toshiba big lens and he put it in a wooden frame and then he melted pennies with it with the sun .
Yes , but Nana's hot . It turned rocks to lava . That's how hot this thing was .
In fact , i recommend not using these outdoors any time because of how strong these lenses can be , and in fact , i even accidentally started having these cardboard boxes smoke just as I am loading them into a car . So I had to learn to invest in a blanket to cover this thing up before I even brought it outside .
Yeah , So , Jason , you should always adhere to the don't try this at home .
Try it at a friend's house .
Try it at a friend's house .
That's what I tell kids .
Or try only with safety measures in place .
Oh , you're a party , have a fire extinguisher . Yeah , i know .
Hey , you can do crazy cool things as long as you don't mind having a fire extinguisher next to you . This is true .
So , Dan , can you explain the science behind the Fresnel lens ? then to us .
So a Fresnel lens is kind of bringing a large aperture into a short focal length . They're usually fairly flat . The most common place that you would probably find one is either out of old projection screen TVs or in overheads in classrooms .
Overhead projectors Chris .
Well , we know where to get those .
I was about to say . If your school still has them , i recommend you know . If the overheads aren't being used , just kind of pop off the lenses and use them for projects .
So I asked the person in charge of our school and we have retired all of the overhead projectors and they're sitting in this decrepit room . So I have probably about 30 or 40 lenses at my disposal . So yeah , making some big head boxes .
Jason , that's amazing .
What if you stacked like two or three You could like ? would it melt the lens below it or make like a crazy strong beam of light , I wonder ? Probably would just melt the lens below it .
If you were to use the power of the sun , but if you were to use a flashlight , it might magnify . I have used my big head boxes during a power outage to help light up rooms . Good grief .
That's amazing .
It's just one of those . Hey , as long as I have this line around and it's dark out , i might as well use this with just a basic flashlight .
It worked perfectly in a pinch . I still have that lens in the shop , Chris . It's somewhere back there .
No , it's not in the shop , it's in our bedroom .
What ? No , it's not .
Yes , I have hidden away .
Oh my God , Chris , it could burn down the house .
It will not .
There's no way it's in our bedroom . It's enormous , is it ?
under the bed .
No , What It's in our bedroom . No , wonder I went out to the shop for the last three years and I couldn't find it . I was like , oh well , I've lost this , like 10 foot lens or something .
No , you just have to ask me where our stuff is .
Oh my God . Okay , Well , mystery solved everybody There you go . I'm going to go melt some pennies tomorrow . I'll film it . Actually , you have to be careful with that because it overexposes your camera . It's so bright .
It is pretty bright Anyway , Dan , what other exciting things have you been involved with in your work ?
My work at the museum or my work in general , of all sorts of crazy science events .
Any kind of projects that you would like to share with us . Anything that you would like to share would be amazing .
I have worked on a number of hands-on science-based activities that I've brought to Maker Faire , that I've brought to the Science Museum , which is how I first started getting involved there . I've done everything from a light-painting photo booth where you take a long exposure in a dark room and wherever the light moves it's recorded into the camera .
It's kind of like a drawing in mid-air photo booth . That's been fun . I have brought these big head boxes to different places Years ago and I don't think I've mentioned this one I made for our local TEDx event . their theme was flip .
I made this giant board with I think it was around 400 toggle switches that if you flip the right ones it would spill out the word flip through the toggle switches . Then also to do the reverse of that light up LEDs . that spelled out flip . I was just playing too much off of wordplay there . I've done a lot of projects like that .
A couple of years ago at the Rochester Fringe Festival I built a green room for them out of over 1,151 gallon milk jugs and a chandelier out of recycled soup containers and tasting cups . The idea was to have a quote-unquote green room , so both environmental and just a general room to hang out . I love , just kind of playing with science .
I've done everything from wearables , a lot of cardboard workshops , just kind of getting people to try to play with the materials around them . It's been a lot of fun .
I love that . Also . I saw that you retweeted about the Rochester Fringe Festival . I think that's like a festival that we have here in Edmonton and Red Deer . We call our one in Red Deer Center Fest .
You're a banana .
Yeah , that's Gustavo , but they do like juggling or other fun activities . Are you going to be a presenter there or do you have a session there ?
We will be doing something big at our local fringe festival this year , though I am not allowed to announce it , unfortunately .
Until Thursday morning There's going to be a big announcement going on .
We're doing something completely new that's been on my list . Yeah , that's okay .
Don't get yourself in trouble , it's all good .
But I will say it is something that I've been thinking about and wanting to do in the Rochester region , especially at the Fringe Festival , for years , and I probably tweeted this idea maybe five , six years ago .
Oh , so we go down the rabbit hole of your threats Or tweets . maybe we can figure this out before Thursday .
If you go far enough , yes .
Okay , sounds good . I think the fringe is a little different than Center Fest . The fringe has arts and drama shows and improv , chris and Edmonton . Center Fest is , i think is , more street performers .
Oh yeah .
Yeah , is Gustavo still doing stuff ?
He's got to be old , though , because the I don't know , i'm not sure , but another thing , dan , that you talked about is the letters in STEM , and I noticed it's open to educators in all 50 states And it sounds like an exciting thing to get people involved in STEM . Can you tell us a little bit more about that ?
Yes , So STEM , I actually even extend out to STEAM because I love mixing the arts and the science ones . So STEM , science , technology , engineering , arts , math it's kind of been this whole movement over the last maybe at this point decade could be longer of just these concepts that are heavily done in school .
It's become a fun buzzword there , But when you bring it out into the field you can really just start to play with hey , I want to mix engineering and art and see what people can create . Or tech and art , or engineering math . It's just a different way to break down concepts that will help cover a number of subjects throughout life .
That's awesome . I think I will put that up in the nest your letters to a pre-scientist in case we have any educators here in the space that are in the States . It's not a open to Jason or I here in Canada , but I think it's important to get that into more classrooms .
It's something that I was looking up to grow up with . There was even this series of classes that I could take in high school called Project Lead , the Way that allowed you to go into more specific engineering classes . I remember doing one on digital electronics and playing with chips and being able to learn binary .
I did a whole class on the very basics of civil engineering and you could even take tests to have some of these classes there . Quite an applied to college , which was really cool .
Yeah , that's amazing . Getting involved and being able to experience a lot of different areas of science is just amazing .
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Skip the big box stores and check out the amazing deals and awesome stuff at Barkandbeyondsupplycom . You'll see a link in our show notes and use the coupon code Bunsen for 10% off at Barkandbeyondsupplycom . Click the link . skip the big box stores . How about the little guy ? Yeah , i so appreciate what you're doing with hands-on stuff .
It brings out the kid and everybody . I can't tell you how many times I've gone to the Space Science Center and I've been the person like I just can't . I'm like I got to touch all the stuff and as soon as it's hands-on , it makes everything so much more real for everybody . and you can't do that with every type of science , but with with some science .
I think that's so important .
It's amazing how much more you'll pick up when you can see concepts in action . You know , at the museum it's so much more hands-on , it's so much more immersive . I'm lucky enough that I also get to work in our planetarium , so we have the stars right there , not quite , you know , hands-on , but still to be surrounded .
And you know , as an adult going to visit a museum , that is still so much fun to get to be a kid again to learn . We actually have 21 and older events at our museum , as a number of science museums do , yeah , across the world .
I think our next one is a murder mystery where I've been able to help out a little bit with this , but we had a long discussion about what would be the best murder weapon out of our entire collection , oh , which I think all one of them was like a narwhal tooth , a telescope from the late 1800s , a classic car from the 1920s , like you could just go through
all sorts of different items in your collections , and one of the kind of best well-known not really secrets about museums is that we only have like a small fraction of our collections and our archives out on display at any given time , and there's so much more that you could just go discover and play with .
Hmm , that's so cool . Though , if you do murder somebody with a narwhal tooth , you have to have some kind of like one liner after like now that's a hole in one , or something like that . You know , after you've stabbed somebody with the narwhal tooth , that doesn't hurt a bite , something like that . What do you think ? Chris , you're good with the puns .
Yeah , i'm just trying to think of that . I was just thinking of some timeless quotes that we could , that we could do .
Yeah , but now you're just trying to horn it in .
Oh yeah .
Very good , dan , very good .
¶ Eclipse Safety and Viewing Locations
We've been lucky enough to get asked to two different adults , only science things . It's not like it's like anything inappropriate , but only adults get to go at the two science centers . And we did meet and greets with Bunsen and it was like Bunsen and Beaker , it was so fun . I did a talk and the one in Emmaton was was crazy .
I thought only like 10 people would come , but so many people wanted to come see Bunsen and Beaker . I guess they listened to my talk as a way to get to them . Maybe I don't know , but yeah , it's a different side of those science centers Spark after dark , that's what they call the one in Calgary . Well , dan , let's get to some questions from the audience .
Chris , do you want to read the rules or would you like me to ?
I can just say that we are a community minded space and we enjoy all questions and we would appreciate questions that are in Dan's area of expertise . And then if we don't know you or your account or your DMs are turned off , we may not allow you up to speak . Just DM us or we'll DM you to see what you want to say .
Right now . Some people have been waiting already with questions , so we're gonna go to them first . The first one is from DMs from VZTO . Oh , vzto is coming up so we can let VZTO ask the question . That's perfect . And then the Facebook live folk .
I see your questions there and we'll get to you , though I think yours is the same as VTO , vzo , vzto , vzto go ahead .
Oh , thank you so much . First of all , i live in Toronto , so pretty close to the zone , and I spent a fair bit of time trying to figure out where I would go .
And I have been to Rochester , been to the Science Museum , the Planetarium , and I know they're big with the telescopes there , and I just thought , wow , it's gonna be so busy and crazy and Rochester I better not go there . I'm going to go to Buffalo , which is a little bit closer but , i think , still a pretty good option .
And so I had two questions One does Dan think that Buffalo is still a good option ? and the second question just some specific option about the right kind of protective eyewear . I saw one called Celestron from a what looked like an astronomy store . So I'm just those are the two things .
I'm gonna have some kids with me , 11 and 13 years old , and we're pretty excited because I think the last one happened when I was in elementary school , like I don't know 10 years old or so I'm 54 now and we weren't even allowed outside the school . I mean , i don't think that we would have seen very much like we watched it on the TV in the school .
I was like 12 or 11 , something like that anyway , so I'll just let the answer .
So I have to say Buffalo is an excellent location to go . A lot of us across New York State chat a lot . I sit in on Buffalo's eclipse planning , on their planning meetings , and they sit in on ours . We collaborate , we share a lot of resources . We've been chatting with a lot of the same people statewide . Actually , i owe them several emails .
Buffalo is full of wonderful people . I just recommend getting there ahead of time , as if you're coming from Toronto , the rainbow bridge is going to be a madhouse And part of that is because the eclipse can be seen over horseshoe falls .
Yeah , so we've got the hotel already booked the day before and the date to the day after , and I imagine that we'll be heading out pretty early even so .
That is definitely the right move , as for and you're gonna have a wonderful time on the Buffalo . As for the glasses , celestron's a great resource of where to get them .
They make telescopes and I actually think they also might make microscopes as well , but I know them for telescopes , for solar filters , for glasses , solar filters for binoculars , for telescopes all of that . They are one of the trusted resources . I recommend also rainbow symphony , thousand oaks , optical eclipseglassescom . All of them are trustworthy .
There's actually a group called the American Astronomical Society and they have an eclipse page , and off of that page they have a area just dedicated to manufacturers who have been certified . So that would give you a full list of all sorts of folks who produce glasses that I would just outright trust .
Thank you so much .
Dan , could you say that last thing one more time ?
It was the American Astronomical Society Eclipse website . All right , so if everybody- .
Other known as AAS . And then eclipse . Okay , so I'm just typing that in and see Yeah , solar eclipse across America . So , yeah , there's links there . Everybody I-Safety Yeah , good call , love it .
I will put that link into , because Madison on Facebook that was her question was about the glasses , so I'm just gonna put that link in there for Facebook and Chris has put it into the chat on Twitter . Look at that , go team .
And I'll move it up into the nest .
Go team . Well , thanks , vzto . Is there any other questions from the audience for Dan about the eclipse or some of the other things ? We'd love to have some audience participation . All of the questions so far have been about the glasses and the safety .
Safety is one of the biggest issues .
Yeah , you know what ? I did hear that some that in the past they just kept all of the kids inside . Maybe they didn't have the proper mass produce , the proper eclipse glasses and they were scared kids were gonna look at the sun or something .
That actually had . That was a big inspiration for us , as here in Rochester , with totality taking place at 320 . That's a common time for kids to be getting out of school and we didn't . And it's a Monday that day . We didn't want kids to be stuck on buses and missing the and missing totality . We didn't want kids to be kept in school and missing out .
So we actually had almost every school in our nine county region cancel school that day .
Oh my goodness . So instead of a snow day , it's a Sunday .
Exactly , and that's just the cherry on top .
Amazing .
Jason , you missed it the cherry on top of the Sunday .
Oh .
That is awesome . Thanks , Dan , you are my hero .
We love a good pun .
The amount of time we spend on Warplay within the museum industry is really high .
Is that like an hour of every meeting ? We're like , okay , the new skeleton exhibit is coming in . We need all of the puns go .
You're not terribly off .
Oh , my goodness .
Not every meeting , but a number of them .
That's not unlike how I write texts from Bunsen . you guys , i get Chris pitches me puns sometimes when I need some help . She's like my personal chat GPT for puns . We'll go to Dr Liz . Hey Doc , how's it going tonight ? So you got a question for Dan .
Yeah , it's probably a dumb question , but you know I'm good at those . Well , you guys were talking about the glasses I distinctly remember , with no long-term side effects of my knowledge , but in middle school so this would have been somewhere between 92 and 95 , there was an eclipse and we all went outside .
But don't worry , we rolled up pieces of paper to look through in order to be able to see it . I don't really know how good of an idea that was , but so my question is . So I'm Like you .
Okay , you rolled it up , how Like you rolled it into a tube and you made a little telescope .
Yeah , it's like a toilet paper tube .
Yes , So you were .
Galileo , frying your eyes .
I don't know , we just Well , Dan , is that safe ?
It doesn't sound safe .
It does not sound safe at all . I'm like mentally going through it . I can tell you that was probably 1994's annual eclipse , but I can't tell you if that was safe or not .
Okay , Probably not , but we didn't care about that ?
Probably not Exactly .
So here's my dumb question . You may have answered it and I was just doing my Zoom session for students Why is the eclipse only going to be visible and like it looks like an X pattern ? Like shouldn't everybody be able to see it if it's covering the ? You know what I mean .
Like Like how come it's a normal day for red deer and then if you're in Buffalo , it's the world is ending , because the sun disappears . Yeah .
And why can't I see it down in Virginia ? I'm not that far from New York , so what's the science behind that ?
So that's based off of the size of the shadow , which is about , on average , 110 to 120 miles wide for this eclipse , and that's all dependent on how far away the moon is from the earth , because the moon goes back and forth between being closer and farther away from us , which is also why we have annular eclipses . So that's part of the reason .
The other part is just where we are within the rotation of the moon around the earth and the earth around the sun . Everything just kind of has to line up correctly , and both the sun and the moon are a lot smaller in the sky from our point of view than you would think .
So if you're to put on eclipses glasses and look up on any sunny day , you'll notice that the sun is , you know , maybe about the size of your thumb if you were to hold your arm all the way out away from you , and it's just not the right path . And how fast the shadow is moving . It's all about how everything is rotating around each other .
That's why we have different cycles . There's this thing called the saurocycle , which happens what is it Every 18 years , 11 days and eight months that the same path will happen for a total solar eclipse , and every cycle it moves over about 120 degrees on the latitude . So I know that was kind of a random way of saying everything is in motion .
No . so is there because everybody's hyping this one up and I don't know if the big deal is because it's an opportunity to do it too much , but is there going to be one that , like the lower half of the states , is going to be able to see sometime , or Not , for another Part of the reason why this one is being hyped up so much is that while we had we
recently experienced one in 2017 , the next big one in the continental US won't really be till 2045 .
So we all have to wait a good 21 years and that one will go through more of the southern part of the United States , Though I don't think it would hit Virginia as well .
The only place I remember from this one is well , I remember it starts on the West Coast again very similar to 2017 , except for it goes through Florida , because I know it goes right over Orlando . There's a couple of us , you know , jokingly calling that one the Epcot Eclipse .
What a spooky day at Disneyland , Disney World .
I'm sure you could already get your tickets for them .
I don't even want to think about what a one ticket , one day ticket at Disney World is going to be in 2044 there Dan $20,000 , or one Bitcoin or whatever Bitcoin is at .
You save a couple of cents a day , every day , for the next 21 years .
There you go . Liz , did that answer your question , okay ?
Yes , sir , thank you .
You betcha , i've already talked to Dan for a full interview for the Science Podcast and we're going to get to Paula right away here . But one of the things I didn't know that you mentioned that is wild is the Earth and the Moon and the Sun .
The way everything is set up , just by happenstance , random chance , how the universe , how the solar system is created , it is perfect for a solar eclipse , like the Moon and the Sun are their exact right size for how far away they are from each other to the Earth . That's something you mentioned . Am I on the right track , dan ?
Yeah , basically as far as we know , we are the only planet out there that can have total solar eclipses . Other solar eclipses can happen on other planets .
In fact , we recently observed one on Mars back in I think it was 2022 , 2021 , thanks to one of the rovers , but it because of the size of Mars' moons and their distance from the Sun , they will never get a total solar eclipse . It is such a rarity for us .
Right . Phobos and Deimos are like asteroids compared to the Moon . It probably was like a little speck going over across the Sun .
It was still noticeable .
Oh , it was Okay , all right , cool cool . Enough that a rover could pick up on it . Go , rovers . Okay , we'll go to Paula . Thanks for waiting , paula , and then we'll finish with some of the questions in the chat and on Facebook . Hey .
Paula Hi . How are you doing , Dr Dan Oops ?
Can you hear me ? Yeah , you're good Paula . You're good Paula .
I'm sorry .
¶ Solar Eclipses and Nature's Effects
My question is I think there was a total eclipse . Was it in the 60s ? maybe I don't know I'm dating myself here , but I can remember my dad making a pinhole in a paper and then putting it on another paper , so you know the Sun would go through it and then you could see it getting dark .
But it is a very weird sensation because in 2017 , i remember the birds started getting very quiet And I was just wondering what does that do to the balance of nature ? Does it really screw up their bio-rhythms ? Or , you know , do birds get like wicked , confused , and animals Like ? does it freak them out ? Do you know any studies of that ? That ?
you know what are the effects of these total eclipses on nature ?
So first of all , the one in the 60s might have been 1963 . I was able to just pull up a quick list of total solar eclipses in North America . But for animals I mean a lot of them just think that it's nighttime , but admittedly it doesn't get midnight dark out , it's like an hour after sunset . It's a deep dusk .
As far as I know , it doesn't screw up their rhythm during , you know , after totality . But I'm pretty sure there are still being studies done . I know one of the popular places to go observe a total solar eclipse is from a zoo , as Larry will be recording how a lot of animals react to the eclipse .
They're like oh , time to go to bed . Just kidding .
I love it . That's really neat Because , yeah , you kind of think , you know , like you said , it's a very dark kind of dusk kind of look . But I can , you know , I can really recall how eerily strange that feeling is in the middle of the day . It's quite something else . I hope you and Chris get to go , Jason , because it is really cool .
And thank you very much , It's been very interesting .
Awesome . Thanks , Paula . The question that Paula answered asked that Dan answered , was actually the one that Madison asked on Facebook And then from Dr Nancy in DM . She was asking about the pinhole camera , which is what Paula also mentioned , which I built .
You like poke a hole in paper And then you project this kind of like the light from the sun onto the paper through the hole . So that's , I believe , what you were talking about , Paula . And then Dr Nancy mentioned Coyote started howling during the last eclipse four years ago . That's wild .
Well , fully believe that , and I wouldn't be surprised if there were , you know humans also howling , just as a you know gut reaction , because I mean , i have known people who have , you know , broken down into tears or just started laughing , overcome with joy . Some people have said that there's a you know fight or flight feeling that kind of moves through them .
Others have said that everything else has disappeared except for the sun , the moon , the earth and themselves . It is such a personal experience to go through a total solar eclipse .
Well it's , it's our star , right Like it's our . It's the thing from when we were born that gave the world light And it's going away for a little bit , like that's spooky , that that's got to move you , that's got to do something to your soul , almost spiritually .
It is one of the earliest feelings you'll ever get to experience on earth .
Can you imagine how ancient people with no space programs or telescopes , like it was the first time it happened to their tribe , because you know ancient civilizations and early civilizations they , they started to chart when the eclipses happened , right , they I do believe even the Egyptians were able to make prediction , predictions .
But I'd imagine there's some like some tribe , you know some ancient folk , and it just happened and they thought everything was over , like the . That was the end of everything . Was the sun going away ? like that .
It's impacted just about every culture , every religion , moments throughout history of you . Know how people react . You know there's been different mythos of the sun being eaten of gods fighting in the sky . A lot of people said doom and gloom , even as far as saying that pregnant woman shouldn't be outside during a total solar eclipse as it might infect the baby .
It's one of those natural phenomena that you could just find everywhere , and it was a lot of civilizations predicted eclipses . They were fairly easy to trace when they would happen , but that did not stop the mythology around it .
I just can imagine some you know early somebody who's with it and has read the history books or listened to the verbal stories , because they could tell that they could maybe predict the week or the month that was going to happen .
And you would look like you had a hotline to your God if you could predict the sun was going to go away , like the people of that time would just think you were the , the cats , meow , you know , like the sun's going to go , the sun's going to go away tomorrow , and it was like okay , bill , and then it does that That is one of the big plot points in
Connecticut , yankee , and King Arthur's court .
Oh , by Mark Twain , i mean , that's how he was able to escape .
Oh , because everything went dark and everybody was stunned . Banana probably .
Yeah , basically he said I don't some reason the main character's name is escape me , but he said that if you don't free me , i will make the sun disappear .
Oh my God , What a threat to ancient person . Oh , wow , Well , Dan , I think we've answered all of the questions and there's no more speakers coming up and we're just past the top of the hour And I'm so glad we had some time to just really do a deep dive about the solar eclipse that's coming up and let everybody know . In North America it's a thing Now .
I say North America it's mostly the United States , it's a little sliver of Canada and Mexico . But hey , check it out , Dan . Thanks for being sorry , go ahead .
I was about to say . my one last piece of advice is you know , if you , whatever you can do , if you can get to the path of totality awesome , no worse if you can .
we know not everyone can travel , but whatever you do is just make sure that you experience the eclipse with the folks that you love , with your friends , your family , whoever you are with during the eclipse , you will forever remember being next to them .
That is my one bit of advice no matter what is just be with the ones who you want to be with , as if at all possible . I'm personally going to be next to my wife , holding my daughter in my arms . That's going to be a place that I will forever remember And I encourage folks to think about that as well .
I couldn't have wrapped up any better . Thanks , Dan . Thanks for so much for being a guest on SciChat tonight . This has been amazing . Thanks again for having me , Chris . any closing words ?
I'm just wondering , Dan , on the Science Podcast , will there be a pet story that you shared with Jason that our listeners can look forward to ?
Oh , very much so yes .
Okay , so make sure that you listen to the Science Podcast to get that pet story .
Yeah , I'm not sure when the full interview with Dan will be out , but this recording will go out tonight or tomorrow morning .
Great , and it's something for them to look forward to , just like the solar eclipse .
That's right . All right , we're going to wrap up . Thanks for coming
¶ SciChat Updates and Future Plans
to SciChat . We took a bit of a break due to what was the last Tuesday was July 4th . It was a big celebration down south there , So SciChat is back . We're so happy to be back . And once again to Dan , thanks for being our guest today . Do we have any information items to tell people about ?
I don't know . We could tell Indra , tell people about Indra's space is coming up .
That's right . So I think I put her space up in the nest , is it there ?
Indra is our partner .
Yeah , go ahead , Chris .
And she runs spaces on health and wellness And now that we're not teaching all day , we are able to attend them and participate .
You betcha Up in the nest , you'll see her space . So if you click on Indra's profile , give her a follow . She always has awesome little reminders about how you can join her space . The next space is called overcoming limiting beliefs . That's deep . I like that . Overcoming limiting beliefs . We'll have to check that out . That's tomorrow , Or is Beaker ?
are we going to be dock diving with Beaker ? We might be back by then .
We might be back by then .
We might be back by then . The guest next week is Nora , dr Nora , who is an astrophysicist . She studies very complicated physics and outer space , but she also makes everything super accessible through her social media channels Nora's guide to the galaxy . So we're going to talk to Nora next week about all of that .
July 25th we have Dr Isabel Romero-Shah , who is an awesome scientist as well , so we are going to be taking some time off in August . So there will be about two or three side chats we'll be missing , as Chris and I are going to be taking time off totally from everything Side chat , pet chat , all of that just to have a bit of the summer to ourselves .
Thanks for coming everybody , and we have some really exciting things to announce in Pet Chat on Saturday . So we'll see you for our