Need Listeners' Astronomy Questions for “Fraknoi’s Universe”

With veteran talk-show host and ABC-radio newscaster Gil Gross, we are starting a new series of podcasts to be called “Fraknoi’s Universe.” (It helps to have an unusual last name!)

The pilot episode (made last summer about the total eclipse of the Sun): https://districtproductive.com/fraknois-universe/ was a success on a number of CBS radio stations, and on the Web. So we are starting to record further episodes, discussing the latest news and discoveries from the worlds of astronomy and space exploration.

As part of the program, we’d like to answer general astronomyquestions from interested members of the public. If you have a question (focused on astronomy and space) that you’d like to ask, please e-mail me at:

foothillastroprof@gmail.com

 Be sure you include your full name and home town, so we can mention it on the air.

Feel free to pass this on to others interested in astronomy.

When the shows are ready, we’ll announce them here and on other social media. 

Thanks very much.

A Short Eclipse Mega-movie Already Available

A first 2.5-minute version of the Google Eclipse Megamovie is now out and can be viewed at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7BCzm4IGpY

This is actually version 2, which shows a map at the bottom right indicating where along the path of the total eclipse in the U.S. each image comes from. The team soon expects to have a much longer version with many more pictures taken during the 1 hour 37 minutes that the eclipse was over the continental U.S. stitched together.

So far over 6,000 images from the serious photographer volunteers, over 11,000 images via the online image upload from the public, and over 45,000 images via the App the team developed have been received, according to a message I got minutes ago from project leader Laura Peticolas of the University of California, Berkeley's Space Sciences Lab. What a nice example of citizen science!

I hope you all had good eclipse viewing Monday. I was in central Oregon with family and friends, and got a spectacular view of the total eclipse, with beautiful red prominences (great fountains of hot material being driven outwards from the surface of the Sun) visible through binoculars. The attached image above, from one member of our group, Dr. Cary Sneider, gives you a little taste of what we saw.

The other attached image, below, by Anna Rich, shows a car on the highway, on its way home from Oregon, expressing a sentiment many felt.

For anyone who missed the lead-up to the eclipse, a fun way to get caught up might be my conversation with veteran newscaster Gil Gross, at: http://fraknoisuniverse.libsyn.com/website

This eclipse special might be the first of a series of podcasts we will do on astronomical news and ideas, starting later in the fall. Stay tuned for more on what the producer's are calling "Fraknoi's Universe."