Image: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Eclipse Chaser: Science in the Moon's Shadow by Ilima Loomis with photographs by Amanda Cowan. 80 p. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, December, 2019. 9781328770967. (Review of finished copy borrowed from public library.)
Happy Friday! Skies were clear last night, but I didn't see any sign of the aurora borealis. Bummer. Maybe some day. Let's turn our attention from the night sky to daylight. Fact Friday features Eclipse Chaser: Science in the Moon's Shadow by Ilima Loomis with photographs by Amanda Cowan. Many of you know of my love for the Scientist in the Field series. Each well-researched book highlights the work of a scientific specialty with vivid writing and spectacular photographs and this book is a worthy addition to any collection.
Shadia Habbal is an astronomer and solar physicist. She and her team travel the world in order to study solar eclipses. It's expensive to haul around the many computers, cameras and other equipment necessary to record eclipses. Sometimes the weather or other conditions do not cooperate. It might be too cloudy to see the eclipse or, in the case of one trip, wind kicked the desert sands up so much, visibility was decreased. Most of the book describes the team's work during the eclipse of August, 2017. Not only does Ms. Loomis vividly describe the actual eclipse, she also eloquently depicts the teamwork and collaboration on the part of the team.
There will be a full solar eclipse on December 14, but unless you're traveling to southern Africa, South America or Antarctica, you won't be able to view it. The next eclipse that will be viewable to those of us in North America will be on June 10, 2021. In the meanwhile, get your hands on this book to learn all about the work of the scientists who study the sun.
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