A former NASA astrophysicist known as 鈥淢r. Eclipse鈥 for his many books and predictions on the phenomenon will visit the University of Louisville Oct. 13 to talk about the 2017 total solar eclipse.
Fred Espenak will speak at 6:30 p.m. about 鈥淭he Great American Total Solar Eclipse of 2017鈥 in Comstock Hall, School of Music. The free, is the 2016 Bullitt lecture in astronomy. The annual lecture and reception afterward are intended for the general public.
Espenak, who has witnessed 26 total solar eclipses, will discuss expectations for the Aug. 21 total eclipse, which will be visible from the contiguous United States for the first time since 1979. The maximum viewpoint for the totality of the moon covering the sun will be near Hopkinsville, Kentucky. Viewers can expect a daytime twilight effect and a glimpse of the sun鈥檚 corona.
The scientist retired from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration鈥檚 Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland and now lives in Portal, Arizona,聽where he operates the Bifrost Astronomical Observatory and runs three eclipse-related websites. His numerous books include 鈥淓clipse Bulletin: Total Solar Eclipse of 2017 August 21,鈥 鈥淭otality: Eclipses of the Sun鈥 and 鈥淕et Eclipsed: The Complete Guide to the American Eclipses.鈥 The American Astronomical Union named an asteroid after him in 2003.聽
UofL鈥檚 physics and astronomy department and the Gheens Science Hall and Rauch Planetarium present the annual Bullitt lectures through an endowment established by the family of former U.S. Solicitor General William Marshall Bullitt.
