An Eclipse Double-Header: Two U.S. Eclipses of the Sun in 2023-2024

On Wednesday, May 10, 2023 at 7 pm, astronomer Andrew Fraknoi will give a free, illustrated, non-technical talk on

“An Eclipse Double-Header: Two U.S. Eclipses of the Sun in 2023-2024” 

in the Smithwick Theater at Foothill College, in Los Altos (directions below). 

NOTE: Everyone attending this lecture will receive a free pair of certified eclipse-viewing glasses courtesy of the Gordon & Betty Moore Foundation. 

 * We ask that attendees be vaccinated and boosted against COVID-19 and wear a mask while indoors at the event. Extra masks will be provided.  Thank you. 

The recording will be on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/SVAstronomyLectures   

The talk is part of the Silicon Valley Astronomy Lecture Series, now in its 23rd year. 

Two eclipses of the Sun are coming to North America during the 2023-24 school year – an annular (“ring of fire”) eclipse Oct. 14, 2023 and a total eclipse Apr. 8, 2024.  People in two narrow paths will have the full eclipse experience each time. 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 come to be (and why they are total only on Earth), what scientists learn during eclipses, exactly when and where the eclipses of 2023 and 2024 will be best visible, and how to observe the eclipses and the Sun safely.   

Andrew Fraknoi retired a few years ago as the chair of the astronomy department at Foothill College and still teaches short, noncredit courses on astronomy at the University of San Francisco and SF State.  He is the co-author of Solar Science: Exploring Sunspots, Seasons, Eclipses, and More, a book for educators, and When the Sun Goes Dark, a book for children. He appears regularly on local and national radio, explaining astronomical developments in everyday language, and was named California Professor of the Year in 2007.  With several colleagues, he is leading the effort to distribute 5 million eclipse glasses through 10,000 public libraries across the nation, with support from the Gordon & Betty Moore Foundation. 

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/parking/  Parking is free during the Spring Quarter.  For a campus map, to find the Smithwick Theater (Bldg. 1000), see: https://foothill.edu/map/   

The lecture is co-sponsored by:  

• The Foothill College Science, Tech, Engineering & Math pision  
• The SETI Institute  
• The Astronomical Society of the Pacific  
• The University of California Observatories (including Lick Observatory).  

Past lectures in the series can be found on YouTube at: http://youtube.com/svastronomylectures   

and as audio podcasts at: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1805595