On Wednesday, May 24, 2017 at 7 p.m., astronomer Andrew Fraknoi of Foothill College will give a free, illustrated, non-technical talk on:

“The Sky Event of the Decade: The August 21 ‘All-American’ Eclipse of the Sun”

in the Smithwick Theater at Foothill College in Los Altos. The talk is part of the Silicon Valley Astronomy Lecture Series (https://foothill.edu/ast/), now in its 17th year.

NOTE: Everyone attending this lecture will receive a free pair of certified eclipse-viewing glasses courtesy of Google.

On August 21, 2017, there will be a rare eclipse of the Sun visible throughout the U.S. and all of North America. People in a narrow path from Oregon to South Carolina will see a spectacular total eclipse, with the Moon briefly covering the Sun, and day turning into night. Everyone else (an estimated 500 million people, including all of us in the Bay Area) will see a nice partial eclipse, where the Moon covers a good part of the Sun. The talk will describe how eclipses work, why they are one of nature’s most spectacular sights, what scientists learn during eclipses, exactly when and where the eclipse of 2017 will be best visible, and how to observe the eclipse safely.

After the talk, Fraknoi will be signing his new children’s book about eclipses When the Sun Goes Dark (2017, NSTA Kids) in Appreciation Hall across the courtyard.

Andrew Fraknoi is the chair of the astronomy department at Foothill College and the co-author of Solar Science: Exploring Sunspots, Seasons, Eclipses, and More, a book for educators. He appears regularly on local and national radio, explaining astronomical developments in everyday language, and was named California Professor of the Year in 2007. He is also the lead author of a free, electronic, college textbook, Astronomy, published last year by OpenStax. With three colleagues, he is leading the effort to distribute 2 million eclipse glasses through public libraries, with support from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation and Google.

Foothill College is just off the El Monte Road exit from Freeway 280 in Los Altos. For directions and parking information, see: https://foothill.edu/news/transportation.php

For a campus map, see: https://foothill.edu/news/maps.php

The lecture is co-sponsored by:

The SETI InstituteThe Astronomical Society of the PacificNASA Ames Research CenterThe Foothill College Astronomy Program.

We get large crowds for these talks, so we ask people to try to arrive a little bit early to find parking. The lecture is free, but there is a charge of $3 for parking on campus and exact change is appreciated.

Past lectures in the series can be found on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/SVAstronomyLectures

Edward Miller

Bay Area Physics and Astronomy Society

Science & Education

Astronomy

Bay Area Physics and Astronomy Society

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