The Solar Eclipse of April 8, 2024, will bring some early afternoon darkness to Southeast Texas, and Prairie View A&M University will be the only HBCU with an on-campus observatory capable of viewing the partial solar eclipse. “For the second time this academic year, the Prairie View Observatory Complex will be open to faculty, staff, students and the community for a partial eclipse viewing”, states Dorie J. Gilbert, PhD, Dean of the Marvin D. and June Samuel Brailsford College of Arts & Sciences, which houses the University’s Physics program.
Last semester, on Oct. 14, 2023, a spectacular solar eclipse, often referred to as the “ring of fire,” graced the skies, and “more than 200 individuals came out to witness the event at our one-of-a-kind and world-class facility”, Gilbert adds. For the April 8 eclipse, the PVAMU Society of Physics Students, led by Christopher Williams, and physics faculty have partnered with NASA for the PV eclipse viewing. NASA has been instrumental in facilitating student involvement according to Peter Intsiful, PhD, PVAMU physics lecturer for over eight years. Dr. Intsiful collaborated with Leslie Garrison, NASA Heliophysics Outreach Lead for the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, earlier this year and notes that “NASA has been instrumental in our journey leading to this anticipated cosmic event, including hosting a workshop to students, providing eclipse viewing glasses, and sponsoring a bus to bring Texas Southern students to our campus on April 8”.
“Solar eclipses occur when the Moon, moving directly between the Earth and Sun, casts its shadow on Earth”, explains Brian Cudnik, physics lecturer and observatory coordinator, who has been with PVAMU for almost 25 years. The shadow consists of two parts: the umbra or dark central shadow, and the penumbra or gray outer shadow. From the vantage point of being in the umbra, the Sun appears completely blocked by the Moon; from the much larger zone covered by the penumbra, only part of the Sun appears blocked. The most spectacular views come from within the umbra, where the Sun gets fully covered, leaving a pearly-white crown surrounding the lunar silhouette- the solar corona.
The path of the April 8 total eclipse will come onshore in Mazatlan, Mexico before crossing into south central Texas, where San Antonio lies just outside the path of totality. The path continues northeastward through parts of Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio, northern New England, and New Brunswick and Newfoundland before heading out to sea in the North Atlantic. Those viewing the eclipse from within the path of totality will see the Sun completely covered by the dark silhouette of the New Moon for up to 4 minutes 28 seconds. Day will turn to evening and sunset colors will ring the horizon during the climax of the event.
Outside of this path, all the continental United States will experience a partial solar eclipse. This zone includes nearly all of Canada, all of Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean. The closer one is to the path of totality, the deeper the maximum partial eclipse will be.
At the maximum point, the path of totality will be 122 miles wide, narrowing to 108 miles wide when it gets into Canada. The length of totality is maximum along the center line, but even along the center line, the duration shrinks from 4 minutes 24 seconds in Kerrville, Texas; to 2 minutes 56 seconds in Newfoundland. The duration also decreases away from the center line.
From Kerrville, Texas, the eclipse begins at 12:14 pm, reaching totality at 1:32 pm. Totality lasts 4 minutes and 24 seconds, ending at 1:36 pm. The eclipse ends at 2:55 pm, for a total length of 2 hours 41 minutes. From the Prairie View Solar Observatory, the partial eclipse begins at 12:19 pm, is at maximum (96%) at 1:39 pm, and then ends at 3:00 pm. The eclipse at PV will last a total of 2 hours and 41 minutes.
The PV Complex currently boasts three domes, each housing a unique telescope, allowing our researchers to study solar activity, lunar meteor impacts, and low light deep-space objects, such as distant stars and galaxies. The East Dome telescope actively collects daily solar observations, providing valuable data for solar physics research. Premkumar Saganti, PhD, physics professor, recounts that “the Prairie View Observatory Complex is the result of the restoration of the Solar Observatory building in 2017 and the construction of a new Observatory building in 2019 with two identical piers”. The only other observatory that has two identical piers is located at the space imaging satellite facilities operated by the U.S. Department of Defense. These efforts were made possible through funding from NASA, the former RaISE Chancellor’s Research Initiative, the Department of Education, and Texas Permanent University Funds.
Kevin Storr, PhD, Associate Professor and Coordinator of the Physics Program along with other physics faculty will be on site to welcome visitors, provide brief lectures, and position the various scopes for the April 8 eclipse viewing. And by the way, for the next coast-to-coast total solar eclipse like we’ll see in April, we will have to wait until 2045.
The Observatory Complex welcomes guests to observe the partial eclipse between 12 noon and 3 p.m. on Monday, April 8. The observatory is located next to the Carden-Waller Cooperative Extension Building on E.N. Norris Street.
By Kerry Laird & Brian Cudnik