MANSFIELD — Dr. Adrienne Hopson teaches biology for a living. But when she’s off the clock, you might just find her teaching a different type of science.
Hopson is a biology professor at the Ohio State University’s Mansfield campus. In her spare time, she volunteers for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as a solar system ambassador.
Richland Source sat down with Hopson for a brief chat about the different types of eclipses, citizen science projects and her ideal eclipse party.
Below is a transcript of that conversation, lightly edited for quality and length.
Richland Source: Before we talk about the eclipse, I want to ask you a little bit more about the solar solar system ambassador program. How long have you been a part of that?
Hopson: Just a year, actually. This is my second year. I just got my brand new ID card in the mail. I kind of heard about it through chance. Somebody sent me an email that said NASA was looking for volunteers. I filled out a very short, easy application talking about my own interest in science, my background in education and what I do now and that I thought our area could definitely use some solar system ambassadors. That was pretty much it.
It is a national program. NASA has them all over the country. We all kind of go out and just spread information about space and about NASA and different missions and upcoming events. It’s been a lot of fun.
Richland Source: Very cool. That’s probably not something you get to focus a lot on in your day job, right, since you teach biology?
Hopson: Not really. It’s nice to do something a little bit different, dive into a different subject. I used to teach middle school and high school science and earth and space science was one of my favorite units to do. So it’s a lot of fun to get back into that. I get mail from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory out in California, so I think the mailman thinks I’m way more interesting than I am now. It’s usually posters and stickers, but it looks impressive.
Eclipse 101
Richland Source: It sounds pretty impressive to me! Can you give us kind of a basic astronomical explanation of what happens during an eclipse and how this year’s is different from an annular eclipse or a lunar eclipse?
Hopson: This year we have a total solar eclipse that we’ll be able to see from here in Mansfield, and the northeast region of Ohio, which is really exciting because not everybody gets to see the total solar eclipse. The entire United States will be able to see some of it. But there’s actually a very thin swath that runs through the United States that actually gets to see the full total eclipse. So that part is really exciting.
We are having a solar eclipse, which means the moon is going to move in front of the sun in the day and block it out. For about three to four minutes, we will be plunged into nighttime darkness. Then the moon will move and the sun will be revealed again.
In a lunar eclipse, it’s actually when the earth blocks the sun from shining on the moon, so you can see the moon goes dark. That is also really cool looking. Oftentimes, you get kind of red-orange colors as opposed to just like it being completely black. So that’s a fun one to watch as well.
An annular eclipse is very much like a total solar eclipse in that the moon passes in front of the sun. The difference is, it’s not quite at the right distance to completely block out the sun. So you get this really cool-looking orange ring around the outside. It doesn’t get quite as dark as we get with a total eclipse since you do have a ring of sun that peeks out around the edge.
Richland Source: Will April 8 be the first total solar eclipse that you’ve seen?
Hopson: It will. I’m really excited. I’m really, really hoping the skies are clear enough. It doesn’t have to be perfect, just clear enough.
The partial solar eclipse in 2017 was very exciting. It was cool to see all the kids get so excited as well. In these last few years, Mansfield has been really lucky in terms of the eclipse department. We’re really checking all the boxes, which is a good thing, because it’s gonna be a while before we see anything else.
Richland Source: I remember hearing the talk you gave at the Mansfield/Richland County Public Library last month and you had mentioned that eclipses themselves aren’t actually that rare, but it’s rare that we get to see one. Can you kind of explain why that is?
Hopson: Yes, solar eclipses and lunar eclipses actually happen about twice a year on average. But oftentimes they occur in areas where there are no people to see them or over the ocean.
Sometimes they happen in places where you simply are not. It’s a very small area that actually gets to witness the total solar eclipse or even a partial solar eclipse. Oftentimes they occur in other countries, so people in Europe or Africa get to see it, but we don’t. If you’re on the wrong side of the world, you’ve just got no chance whatsoever.
I did have a student ask me just this week at another presentation, what people on the other side of the world get to see. I said ‘Oh, they actually don’t get to see anything. They’re facing the wrong way.’ They get nothing out of this unfortunately.
Scientist for a day: how to get involved in a citizen science project
Richland Source: Another thing I heard you mention at the library was that there are going to be a lot of scientists, both professional scientists and citizen scientists, who are collecting data during the eclipse. What kind of data are they going to be collecting? And how will that be used?
Hopson: There’s going to be one project called The Eclipse Soundscapes. That’s a group of scientists who want to study how the eclipse impacts natural sound production in the environment. So the scientists themselves, as well as all their citizen scientists all over the country, are going to be collecting sound data when the eclipse is happening — when we enter partiality, as we move into totality and then as we move out of totality. They’ll be recording the different sounds to see what an eclipse does to bird songs and if insects treat it like nighttime and just stop singing all together. They’re going to be looking at that data.
The GLOBE Observer project is another citizen science project where people can record basic atmospheric weather data. They’ll be looking at things like temperature, is it cloudy that day, gathering all the basic weather data from different areas around the country and looking at how much of the eclipse that particular area was exposed to. Is it an area that’s getting hit with totality or is it someplace further away that’s only going to be able to see 30 or 40 percent coverage? Is there any sort of correlation with weather and eclipses?
Those are some specifically geared toward the Eclipse but there are literally hundreds of different citizen science projects that people can do if they’re interested in that sort of thing. A really good place to start is citizenscience.gov. It not only lists all the U.S. government organizations that do citizen science — The National Weather Service, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), NASA — private organizations will list theirs as well.
Anything you’re interested in science-wise, you can pretty much find some kind of citizen science project to do. A lot of times they’re international and that makes it even more fun that you get to send your data off to some obscure place or some big university in another country.
How will the eclipse impact animals?
Richland Source: That sounds really fun. Will you be collecting any data that day?
Hopson: I will not be. I will be organizing a school activity for the day, but I will absolutely be following what kind of data they get back for the eclipse soundscape study. Soundscapes is my personal area of interest in study as well. So I’ll be interested to see what they find out in terms of how all the animals react to an eclipse.
Richland Source: I’ve heard that house pets can get a little weird. They get a little confused and act funny. I don’t know if it’s true, because I haven’t lived through an eclipse with pets.
Hopson: I haven’t either. But sometimes, especially since the darkness comes on so suddenly, it can be disorienting for pets and wild animals too. It’s very different than a setting sun, where it gradually gets dark. Even though partiality does gradually begin and then you get to totality eventually, the actual loss of light is pretty quick. And the fact that it’s happening in the middle of the day, even though they can’t read a clock, animals are pretty good at keeping time and usually that’s based on things like light. So when the light suddenly disappears when it’s not supposed to, that’s a little disconcerting for them.
Richland Source: If we do get cloudy weather, is that going to pretty much diminish the experience? Or will there still be things that are unique that we can witness?
Hopson: The one part that will still really be visible to people is the change in light.
If it’s really thick clouds and you can’t see the sun at all, you’re not going to be able to see the moon pass in front of it. But even in cloudy conditions, you will definitely see a change in light because it really does go from the middle of the day, bright sun that we’re all used to, to looking as if the sun has set in a matter of minutes. We might not be able to see the movement of the moon if it’s cloudy, but we will absolutely be able to see the change in light that happens.
If it’s a cloudy day, I encourage people to go to the NASA website or National Geographic. They’ll be live streaming, so you can still watch it. Then be ready to look out your window or go outside and watch that change in light that will be happening a little bit before 3:15 p.m.
Tips for photographers
Richland Source: Everybody is stressing the importance of safety glasses for your eyes. Can you talk a little bit about if people have cameras, is it safe to photograph the solar eclipse on a smartphone or a professional camera?
Hopson: If you have a professional camera, it’s really important to use the correct solar filters and make sure it’s the right one for your camera and your model. Because you can still get too much light power through your camera if you’re looking through your camera directly at the sun. And if you aren’t using the right filter, you can actually damage your equipment. Most cameras work on some kind of photo or light sensor as part of their photo-taking capabilities. Trying to photograph the sun directly in the middle of the day, it’s just too bright. That’s why they sell solar filters. Absolutely get one.
If you want to use your cell phone, it’s the same thing. You need to use some kind of a filter. They do actually sell filters that you can buy to attach or clip onto your camera. Honestly, during the last eclipse, I just held mine up and looked through my solar glasses and took pictures that way and they all came out.
If we have a nice clear day and you want to take pictures, make sure that you’re using the right equipment and definitely safety glasses, even if you’re looking through your camera.
When you hold it up to your cell phone camera, you still need to make sure that you are also looking through the glasses as well so that you don’t damage your eyes. People really underestimate the amount of damage that can be done by looking at the sun, even during an eclipse. Especially as partiality is happening, it often looks like it’s not that bright, but it’s still too bright for your eyes and so people still need to wear the glasses and look through the glasses.
Technically when totality hits and the sun is completely covered and all you see is the kind of white corona around the outside, you can take your glasses off and look at it then. But be ready to pop them right back on as soon as the moon starts to shift.
Richland Source: Is there anything else that you would like to share with folks about the solar eclipse or about the NASA program?
Hopson: I hope people do use the day, have a good time with it and go out and view it. If you haven’t gotten glasses yet, go out and get some safety glasses. Make sure you’re getting the right kind. They should have an IOS signia on it indicating that they’re actually rated to handle a solar eclipse.
Have a good time because the next time one will hit the United States is 2044 and it will not be anywhere near Ohio. It’s actually only going to hit Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota. The next one is a long way off and it’s not going to be anywhere near us, so take advantage of the fact that we’re actually getting this really great experience.
Eclipses through the ages
Richland Source: What did people think of the eclipses in ancient times? How did they explain it before they had science?
Hopson: Different parts of the world thought a lot of different things. For a lot of history, it was seen as the sign from the gods. Depending on who was looking, some people saw it as a very negative sign. Other people saw it as something very positive. They thought it was something that indicated that they were going to have a bountiful harvest the next year or that it meant ten years of bountiful crops and lots of babies being born in their village. Other people saw it as a sign they had done something wrong and the gods were punishing them by blocking out the light for five minutes at a time.
Interestingly, there’s lots of documentation of eclipses in ancient texts and through other civilizations. People did pay a lot of attention to them and document them, so we actually do have a lot of information about when eclipses occurred and what happened. We didn’t know a whole lot about them, but people were still keeping track of them thousands of years ago.
There are still some places that have traditional activities that they might do when an eclipse comes, whether that’s a celebration or a religious event. There are still lots of places and people who take part in cultural activities that surround an eclipse as a way to celebrate it or to counteract what negativity they think it might be bringing.
Richland Source: Does that happen much in the United States or is that more in other parts of the world?
Hopson: That’s usually in other parts of the world. In the United States, we do often have eclipse parties. They’re not super culture-related. It’s really a great excuse to get together with friends and family and eat a lot of food and have some good drinks and hang out.
Richland Source: What would your ideal eclipse party look like?
Hopson: Probably one someplace where I had a really good view of the sky. Definitely some good food on hand to eat, because I would probably be out in the middle of nowhere. Bug repellent is also key and some cold drinks for sure.
Richland Source: That’s such a practical, scientist answer. ‘I’ve got to have my food. I’ve gotta have my water. I’ve got to have my bug repellent.’
Hopson: Exactly, you’ve got to be ready.