Chasing the Moon's Shadow: The Total Solar Eclipse of April 8, 2024

Join the UMass Department of Astronomy at the Integrated Sciences Building Auditorium (Auditorium, Room 135) for a conversation with Dr. James Lowenthal, the Mary Elizabeth Moses Professor and Chair of Astronomy at Smith College, on Wednesday, March 27 at 8 p.m. 

Total solar eclipses are among nature's most glorious spectacles, and they visit any one place on Earth only once every 360 years on average. In preparation for UMass’s celebration of the total solar eclipse coming to northern New England on April 8—the last total solar eclipse visible from anywhere in North America until 2044—Professor Lowenthal’s March 27 talk will take attendees on a guided tour of total solar eclipses: how and why they happen, phenomena to watch for, and how to prepare for and safely watch the eclipse on April 8.  

About Dr. James Lowenthal 

Dr. James Lowenthal, Mary Elizabeth Moses Professor and Chair of Astronomy at Smith College, uses large telescopes in space and on the ground to study the formation of galaxies in the early Universe, and employs Smith's rooftop telescope with a team of students to study exoplanets orbiting stars in our Milky Way galaxy. He works locally, nationally, and internationally to protect the night sky from light pollution and satellite constellations. He is a veteran of eight total and annular solar eclipses, and is the author of the book The Hidden Sun (1985). To view pictures of the 2017 eclipse collected by Professor Lowenthal, click here.