Nature Boost
SOLAR ECLIPSE 2024
JILL 1.WAV: HEY THERE AND WELCOME BACK TO NATURE BOOST … I’M JILL PRITCHARD WITH THE MISSOURI DEPARTMENT OF CONSERVATION. THIS IS A SPECIAL EPISODE OF NATURE BOOST … BECAUSE IT’S OUR 50TH EPISODE! IT’S HARD FOR ME TO WRAP MY HEAD AROUND … BECAUSE IT FEELS LIKE WE JUST STARTED PRODUCING THIS PODCAST … BUT NATURE BOOST TURNS FOUR-YEARS-OLD THIS YEAR. SO IT’S BEEN FUN TO LOOK BACK AT ALL THE TOPICS WE’VE COVERED … THE THINGS WE’VE LEARNED TOGETHER … AND EXCITING TO SEE WHERE THIS PROJECT GOES IN THE FUTURE.
ONE THING I’VE ESPECIALLY LOVED IS CONNECTING WITH LISTENERS … SO PLEASE GIVE ME YOUR THOUGHTS, SUGGESTIONS, ALL FEEDBACK. I WANT TO HEAR YOUR INPUT … SEND ME A MESSAGE ONLINE ON OUR LANDING PAGE. JUST GO TO MISSOURI-CONSERVATION-DOT-ORG … FORWARD SLASH … NATURE BOOST … AND SCROLL DOWN TO SEND US AN EMAIL.
AND A QUICK UPDATE ON NATURE BOOST SWAG … WE ARE IN THE PROCESS OF GETTING NEW T-SHIRTS. I APPRECIATE EVERYONE’S PATIENCE … AS WE WAIT TO GET SOME IN … SO STAY TUNED!
SO LET’S GET IN TO THIS MONTH’S EPISODE.
TRASITION/MUSIC
JILL 2.WAV: FOR A FEW PRECIOUS MINUTES … ON APRIL 8TH … NORTH AMERICA WILL ONCE AGAIN EXPERIENCE A SOLAR ECLIPSE. THE LAST SOLAR ECLIPSE MISSOURI EXPERIENCED WAS JUST IN AUGUST OF 20-17. IF YOU’RE WANTING TO SEE THE EVENT AGAIN … HEAD DOWN TO SOUTHEAST MISSOURI. TOWNS LIKE CAPE GIRARDEAU, DONIPHAN, AND POPLAR BLUFF ARE RIGHT ALONG THE PATH OF TOTALITY. ELSEWHERE IN MISSOURI … WE’LL SEE A PARTIAL ECLIPSE. YOU MAY WANT TO START PLANNING YOUR TRIP … AS THE NEXT SOLAR ECLIPSE WON’T HAPPEN AGAIN FOR ANOTHER 20 YEARS.
WE’RE LUCKY TO LIVE IN AN AGE WHERE SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY HAS TAUGHT US HOW AND WHY AN ECLIPSE HAPPENS. BUT WHAT DO YOU THINK OUR ANCESTORS THOUGHT WHEN THE MOON BLOCKED OUT THE LIGHT OF THE SUN? YOU CAN IMAGINE … THEY DIDN’T THINK THE ECLIPSES WERE NECESSARILY A GOOD THING. MANY THOUGHT THESE WERE FOREBODING EVENTS … EVEN SIGNIFYING THE END OF THE WORLD.
WHEN AN ECLIPSE OCCURRED AND DARKNESS SPREAD … PEOPLE IN WESTERN ASIA BELIEVED A DRAGON WAS DEVOURING THE SUN. THEY WOULD BEAT DRUMS … IN AN EFFORT TO SCARE THE DRAGON AWAY. OTHER CULTURES ALSO BELIEVED A MONSTER OR BEAST WAS EATING THE SUN. VIKINGS THOUGHT IT WAS SKY WOLVES … WHILE PEOPLE IN PERU THOUGHT IT WAS A GIANT PUMA. AND WHY DID OUR ANCIENT ANCESTORS THINK BEASTS WERE EATING THE SUN? RESEARCHERS SAY IT’S LIKELY BECAUSE OF THE SUN’S APPEARANCE DURING THE FIRST STAGES OF AN ECLIPSE … IT LOOKS LIKE THE SUN HAS A BITE TAKEN OUT OF IT.
OTHER CULTURES INTERPRETED THE EVENT AS A SIGN OF ANGRY GODS … AND THE BEGINNINGS OF DISASTERS AND DESTRUCTION.
OF COURSE … NOW THAT WE KNOW WHAT’S HAPPENING DURING AN ECLIPSE … THEY’RE MUCH LESS SCARY … AND EVEN SOMETHING TO LOOK FORWARD TO.
TRANSITION/MUSIC
JILL 3.WAV TO LEARN MORE ABOUT HOW AND WHY AN ECLIPSE HAPPENS … I MET UP WITH MDC ST. LOUIS MEDIA SPECIALIST DAN ZARLENGA. DAN IS A SELF-PROCLAIMED “ASTRONOMY NERD” … AND ALL AROUND WONDERFUL HUMAN.
DAN.WAV
[3:58]
>> All right. I am here with Dan, Dan, the Media Man, Zarlenga. Dan, thank you so much for meeting with me today. I'm really excited to talk about this upcoming solar eclipse and I wanted to talk to you about it, because you are such a talented photographer, and you do a lot of really cool night sky photography and you are always very knowledgeable about what meteor showers are coming up and what celestial happenings that we have on the calendar. First off, I want to start off with: why does a solar eclipse even happen?
>> Yeah, so I mean, I'm a real astronomy nerd, so I really get into this stuff. This is one of the most coolest, the most awesome astronomical events that could possibly happen, and that is a total solar eclipse. A lot of folks know that the moon revolves around the earth in an orbit. We both revolve around the sun. So, it just so happens that a solar eclipse occurs whenever the moon, in its orbit, comes between us and the sun. Basically, the moon blocks out the sun for a brief period of time. During the total solar eclipse, where it completely blocks out the sun, it creates essentially, almost like an artificial night. It's not really artificial, it's natural. But it creates like a night-type condition where everything gets dark and it looks like the sun is setting, only it is actually being covered by the moon. It's a really incredible sight to watch.
[5:23]
>> Now, people may recall we did have a huge event in Missouri with the total solar eclipse that we had back in 2017. It got me thinking, okay, that was only like seven years ago. So how common are these solar eclipses?
>> So, it's kind of a complicated question. So, if you ask just simply how common are solar eclipses, they are very common. They happen all the time. It is not the frequency of the solar eclipses that are rare, it's the fact that whenever a solar eclipse occurs, it only really impacts a small portion of the globe. It's basically the moon's shadow as it covers the sun, falling on the earth. The moon's shadow is much smaller than the entire earth, so it only impacts one small area. Considering that about 70% of our planet is an ocean or a sea or something, it's got only one third of a chance it's even going to happen on land. Then an even smaller chance it's going to happen where you are. So, what's incredible - you mentioned the solar eclipse of 2017, and then we're having another one seven years later. So, it makes it sound like it's pretty common, but it's not for any given area.
[6:29]
So, the solar eclipses are not uncommon, but to have it happen in any given area is rare and then to have it happen twice within seven years, even rarer still. So that's why that is kind of a really special thing. But the neat thing about this eclipse that's going to happen April 8th is, it's going to be longer totality for us than the last one was. So, it should be - assuming the weather cooperates - it should be an even more spectacular eclipse than the one we had seven years ago. So, the entire eclipse event really starts when the moon first starts to cross the sun's disc. It will gradually look like little bites are being taken out of the sun. That will start around 12:40pm in the afternoon, when they start happening. And then gradually, more and more of the sun will get covered until we reach the point that we call totality, where the moon now completely covers the sun's disc. That totality is going to occur, depending on where you are, around 1:55pm.
[7:21]
So, it's going to vary whether you're more southern, a little bit more south or a little bit more north and east, but somewhere around 1:55. And then we have what we call the centerline, which is the exact middle of the moon's shadow. So, on that centerline in Missouri, we're going to experience - again, it slightly varies depending on where we are - but about four minutes of totality. In some cases, slightly more. Whereas in 2017, there was just a little over two minutes that we experienced.
>> So, something that is different about this is, I think -- remind me in 2017 it was a big portion of the state of Missouri that was in the path of totality. Wasnt it?
[8:00]
>> Yeah, so in 2017, in the path of totality - again, where that moon shadow travels across the earth. It kind of went from west to east, right sort of in the middle of Missouri. Places like Columbia and Saint Louis and all that were directly in the shadow. This year, it's going to be different. It's going to be coming from the south upwards and it's going to impact southeast Missouri. It's going to enter the Arkansas border near towns like Thayer and Doniphan. Then it is going gradually move farther east and we're going to get Poplar Bluff, eventually to Cape Gerardo and Saint Genevieve. They're all going to be impacted. Then it will leave the state and go into Illinois and go further east and north.
[8:40]
>> Okay. Alright so that's good to know. Thats why I wanted this to be our episode for March to give everyone a heads up, if you want to travel to see this, it will give you time. Our next solar eclipse won't be for - what another 20 years or so?
>> Yeah, it will be 20 some odd years. I don't believe it will be visible in this area either. So, again, that doesn't mean we're not going to have a lot of solar eclipses between now and then, but they're not going to be visible in North America. There are people who are very dedicated people called Eclipse Chasers that will find out where they are around the globe, and if they got the money and the means and the time, they'll go travel to find these eclipses. Sometimes in the middle of the sea and they will be on the cruise ship or something. But they do spend a lot of time trying to find them. But if we want to stay close to home, this is our last chance.
>> So, with you being a self-proclaimed astronomy nerd, would you categorize yourself as an Eclipse Chaser?
>> No, I'm not. I have the excited, interest part but I don't have the means part, no. And the time. No, I don't.
>> I would think that would probably be kind of a small group of people. [Laughing] With you being such a talented photographer, I do really want to get your guidance for people who would like to take pictures of this event, if you have any tips. But, before we get into that, let's talk a little bit about safety. You can't be staring straight at the sun.
[9:58]
>> True. True. So there's a couple misconceptions that people have about the solar eclipse and safety. First of all, the solar eclipse is no worse of a time to look at the sun than any other time. It is no more dangerous. Which means it is always dangerous to look at the sun. Whenever you are looking at the sun, you should always have a proper filter of some sort. Even if it you do it today, it is just as dangerous to look at the sun as the solar eclipse is. You need proper solar eclipse glasses that are ISO certified. Get them from a reputable place like a planetarium, school or library. You can order some online as well, but a lot of places give them away. They look like little tinfoil things, almost. They actually let only one millionth of the sun's light through, so they make it safe for you to view.
[10:44]
That is what you want to view during the partial phases, when the moon is creeping over the sun's disc but we're still seeing most of the sun. So that is what you want to do to protect your eyes. However, when we actually reach totality where the moon's disc is completely covering the sun, you can actually take those glasses off. That is the only time during those four minutes, or however long you have of totality, that it is safe to look at the sun with your naked eyes.
[11:11]
>> But what if you're looking at this event through your camera lens? Do you still need to have that protection on?
>> If you're looking at the event with any kind of ocular aid - binoculars, telescope, telephoto lens, camera - you must have a similar kind of solar filter for your lens, your camera, your binoculars, that you have, that the glasses have. Don't attempt to look in the sun without any kind of optical aid, without a filter. And that filter must go in front of the lens. Some cheap telescopes have little filters that screw in the back. You don't want those. You want to stop the light from even entering the device. However, once again, during totality when the sun is completely covered by the moon, you can take those filters off and view and photograph. This is the coolest part of the eclipse. When the moon's disc is covering the sun, now that revels the corona, who is the outer atmosphere of the sun, which is really spectacular. That you can view with your eyes, because it is a lot dimmer than the sun. We normally don't see it, because the sun's light blocks it out. But when the moon is covering the sun, now we can see that corona and it is really spectacular.
>> And the corona, you say, is just the outer ring or outer circle? I'm sure if people have googled solar eclipse online, that is what they are viewing whenever it is that circular light.
>> Yes. It's a halo around the sun. It's very complex. There's streamers and different structures and bands and stuff that you will see in that. It is pretty amazing to see. So, that's perfectly fine to view. Now, here's the thing where you do need to be careful. Don't get so caught up in viewing it that you forget that the moon's going to move again and reveal the rest of the sun. So you want to make sure that you put your solar filters on or look away or whatever, before the moon leaves the sun's disc. You can do it with a timing app. There are some apps you can download. You can set your stopwatch or different things. If you're not sure, only look at it for three minutes, and then take your eyes away. Then you don't have to worry about being there. Because once you hit that four minutes, or whoever your totality ends, bingo. The sun's going to appear again, and you don't want your eyes looking at It.
>> Yep. Yep. That's a very good point. Can you walk us through a little bit of the sequence of the solar eclipse?
[13:13]
>> Sure. Like we already mentioned the partial part where the moon starts to take little bites out of the sun, will start around 12:40. These are approximate, it will vary a little bit to your location. You can find this information online or with apps and stuff, too. First, you won't notice anything. If you're not paying any attention, it will look like a normal day. As the moon progresses over the sun, it will gradually get a little darker. But even then, your eyes adjust, and you probably wouldn't notice if you didn't know what was going on. As we approach totality, when will be again at approximately 1:55pm, at that point, so much of the sun's disc has been blocked that you will start to notice. Kind of like a cloudy day, or things are starting to look a little weird outside and all that. The last moment or so before totality, you will feel a drop in temperature and all of the sudden, when that moon covers that sun, you will now feel a temperature drop and you will see the light drop. You will actually start to see some - possibly some of the brighter stars and planets like Jupiter and Venus will be visible and things like that. That is when you will also see the corona around the sun. There are other things that might be happening, too, with birds and crickets and stuff like that. I think you will talk about that a little bit later with Erin. That is a really cool time to be experiencing it.
>> For those of us to want to take pictures of this event, what kind of tips do you have?
[14:51]
>> Sure. The only way to get a decent closeup picture of the sun, like you've seen where the moon is covering the sun's disc and it's spectacular corona images, you have to have a pretty long telephoto lens, something like 500 millimeters ish or more. You need that proper solar filter we discussed. You need a sturdy tripod. A lot of things. It's kind of more advanced photography for that. What I would recommend -- chances are folks doing that already know what they're doing. But for other folks who might just have a smart phone or something, I think the most interesting thing that you can do is get a little clamp for your smartphone so you can attach it to a tripod. Take some photos during totality when you have that eerie twilight look.
Another cool thing to look for is, basically when you have a 360* sunset or sunrise, where you got orange and colors all around the horizon. I think that's probably the most interesting to try to capture with the cell phone. A wide angle shot of all of that. Another thing you might do if your cell phone’s got the ability to do like a timelapse, do a timelapse video of it.
[16:00]
That way you can just set it and then you can watch the eclipse and not worry about fiddling with taking pictures or anything. So those are a couple of things. Honestly, there will be thousands of people taking closeups of the sun with the corona and all that. I think when you can capture the wide-angle view from wherever you are and see that 360* sunset, maybe see Jupiter and Venus, that I think is just as cool as any picture with a big telephoto lens.
>> It kind of reminds me of [laughing] whenever you are at a concert, and you take a video and you full well know you are never going to watch that video. And it's almost one of those things where it's like, why can't you just be in the moment and enjoy it and make a good memory? You don't need to take a video. But it would be cool to take a video of this. I don't want it to be a concert video, you know? I want to see this again. Like we said, for where we are in our geographic location, this is not going to happen again for a very, very, very long time. So, it would make a great memory and something good to look back on. So yeah, I do not have a telephoto lens. Not really sure what that means, Dan! [Laughing.] For those of us - most of us - we will be taking videos or pictures. A panoramic thing, a panoramic like wide angle picture, could be really cool.
>> Yeah, and a lot of phones now have wide angle lenses. Gopros, if someone has a GoPro, that's another good tool to use to get a time lapse of the whole sequence. I would go ahead and set it. Like we talked about the partial begins around 12:40. I would set it around 12:30, let it roll for 2 or three hours, and then we have the totality starting close to 2:00 that lasts about four minutes or so. Then, you will have the opposite happen on the other end. You will have the moon moving away from the sun and gradually getting larger and larger. Then the partial phase ends around 3:15 or so. So, you could document that whole two-hour sequence or so, three-hour sequence, with time lapse. That would be really cool, actually.
[18:04]
>> I do want to make a note. I think we did touch on this earlier, but it is such a small portion of the state that's going to be experiencing this down in southeast Missouri, as opposed to the 2017 eclipse where it was a big part of the state that got to see it. For those of us not in this path of totality, is it just going to get a little dark outside? Maybe you will see a little bite out of the sun?
>> Yeah, so the way the path of totality works is, you got the center like, where you will get the most darkness during totality. Then, as you go away from that centerline, there's another band where you will still experience totality, it just won't be as long. Once you get outside that band, you won't experience totality at all. But what you will see is kind of what we talked about with the partial phases, where the sun looks a little bit like it has a chunk taken out of it. Most of the state will at least be able to see that, if they don't get to see totality. So once again, if you got solar glasses or proper protection, go ahead and watch that, even if you live north of that area. You will be able to see that, at least.
>> Dan, you're a St. Louis native here. Will you be traveling to see this Eclipse?
>> Oh, yeah. [Laughing.] I will be trying to get as close to centerline as I can. Plans are still in flux, but I definitely want to go. It's really -- from the St. Louis area, it's about a 3-to-3-and-a-half-hour drive to get to the centerline, depending on where you go. Actually, it will be crossing St. Genevieve, so that's not too far from St. Louis. A lot of folks go to St. Genevieve for a day trip on the weekend. So, you can definitely see it. Then, of course, there will be places in illness like Carbondale and stuff like that, that will also be in the path. Cape Gerardo will be pretty much right on it, Poplar Bluff, some of those cities there. So folks can go there as well.
>> Will you be sending us those photos so we can share on the Nature Boost landing page?
>> I'll tell you after if they turn out or not. [Laughing]
>> I have a good feeling. I have a good feeling. Dan, is there anything else you would like to add about this upcoming celestial event?
[20:00]
>> Just that it is a really cool event. I encourage people to go out and watch it. It's an amazing coincidence, too, it's just a cosmic coincidence that the sun is much bigger than the moon, but it just happens to be that much farther away, too, so the moon's disc is almost exactly the same size as the sun. That's an amazing cosmic coincidence, because it didn't have to be that way. No other planet in this solar system probably has that alignment. Most of their moons are way smaller than the sun, they wouldn't do this. Only on earth can you see this. That's pretty amazing.
[20:32]
TRANSITION/MUSIC
JILL 4.WAV WE NOW KNOW WHAT’S HAPPENING DURING A SOLAR ECLIPSE … BUT HAVE YOU EVER WONDERED HOW IT EFFECTS ANIMALS? I GOT THE SCOOP FROM URBAN WILDLIFE BIOLOGIST ERIN SHANK.
TRANSITION/MUSIC
ERIN.WAV
>> Here, also, with us today is the wonderful urban wildlife biologist, Erin Shank. You will remember Erin Shank from one of Nature Boost's early episodes. We spoke to her about pollinators and bees. Erin, it's been so long. I'm so happy you're here today.
>> I'm so happy to be back. Thanks, Jill.
>> Well, will you be viewing the upcoming April 8th solar eclipse?
>> I would not miss it. I am letting my whole family take the day off from school and work. We're going to head down from St. Louise. I'm not sure exactly where yet, but we will be in the path of totality somewhere to view.
>> Well, I am really happy you are here because I need to know what happens to wildlife whenever these solar eclipses happens. That is a cool thing to know. What do you think they think is going on? That it's all of the sudden nighttime? What do you think?
>> It can be very confusing for animals, especially that use light for navigation. When that light is suddenly taken away in the middle of the daytime. So, mainly insects is what I am talking about. They can no longer navigate as that light disappears. They take shelter under a flower, or they return to the places they would spend the night, typically.
[22:08]
>> I didn't know that insects used light as navigation. That is kind of cool.
>> Right. It depends on the size of their ocelli, or their simple eyes on the top of their head, how much light they need to navigate. For example, we have talked a lot about bees. They can't really navigate until the sun is quite high in the sky. We say that bees keep banker hours. They can't navigate in the low light of early morning or early evening. So, they especially will not be able to navigate during totality.
>> What else do you think people, like during those few moments, what can they expect wildlife to do? Like do birds stop chirping?
>> For sure they do. Smaller birds, especially, will return to trees where they take shelter during the night. They will stop singing. Insects that you might hear during the day will stop singing as well. You may hear crickets and other nighttime insects start to make sounds during totality. Especially in this eclipse with the totality being as long as four minutes, that is is much more significant amount of time than, say the totality of 2017.
>> So, a little different. Because I remember, obviously, the one in 2017. It was in the summer. Will crickets be chirping in April anyway?
>> That's a good point. It does depend on how warm it is as well. In April, the temperature can be quite variable. If is too cold, insects aren't going to be active.
>> So, Erin, what about nocturnal animals? Is there a chance they would suddenly come out? Would I hear an owl hoot during this event?
>> It is certainly possible. I am not sure it would be likely, given the short amount of time. It is absolutely possible that you would hear nocturnal animals be activated by that change in daylight. I tend to think that - and I don't know this of course, because who knows what is going on in the mind of an owl or any other critter, but that to them it probably mimics a lot of what they would experience during a quickly moving storm. Where we would see on a bright sunny day, and all of a sudden, a big thundercloud comes in and it gets dark and the temperature drops. So, I think that's probably my best guess at how it is experienced for critters.
[24:30]
>> That's a really good way to put it, because there have been some really severe thunderstorms that roll through, and it does look like it is already the dead of night. Then bam, it goes through. So that's a really good way to compare it.
>> Yep. We have done bee surveys and accidentally got caught in a quick moving summer storm, where it was bright and sunny and just within a few minutes, it got dark and cold. The bees actually return to the underside of flowers where they will hold on with their mandibles. They're basically asleep at that time, that you could actually just pick them up with your hands. That's how immediately they kind of deactivated. So, I would expect that to happen for sure during totality.
>> So, what do you think people should keep in mind while they're viewing this? What would you tell them to notice with regard to our wildlife?
>> Everything. Pay attention to the sounds and the movements. Sounds probably especially. I know there are some citizen science projects that anyone can participate in with wildlife sounds during the eclipse. That is a neat way to contribute to what we know and how we are learning about wildlife responses to eclipses. Sights and sounds and movement for sure, to pay attention to what is around you.
>> What are you most looking forward to about it?
[25:59]
>> Oh, I don't even know! Certainly, totality is just so awesome. I also really in 2017 was struck by the change in light, the 45 minutes or so before and after totality, just the really weird . . . I don't even know how to describe it. It felt like somebody put a filter on the sun. I just thought that was really neat, too. I'm just so excited to experience it again.
>> Is there anything else you would like to add?
>> Well, having an eclipse along a major migratory path during a major time of migration for neotropical migrant birds in particular, I think is really interesting. I don't think we know a lot about how that might trigger some birds that migrate at night. Do they suddenly start preparing? You know, do they flock up and think it's almost time to take off? I don't think we know the answer to that. But it is an interesting timing in my mind. I would love to know more about that and migratory birds that are on their long journeys, transcontinental, and how this might impact them if they're sleeping in a tree one day, and a 1:00 suddenly it gets dark, and they think, "Well, I better wake up and get moving." I don't know. It is really a grand intersection of a lot of amazing forces of nature. You know, from the celestial beings to migration. Yeah. There's no lack of wonder to be had on the day of the eclipse.
TRANSITION/MUSIC
JILL VO (123): DAN RECOMMENDED A FEW WEBSITES TO CHECK OUT FOR MORE INFO … MO-ECLIPSE-DOT-ORG … AND TIME-AND-DATE-DOT-COM. AND BE SURE TO CHECK OUT THE NATURE BOOST LANDING SITE TO VIEW DAN’S IMAGES OF SOLAR ECLIPSES … FIND THOSE AT MISSOURI-CONSERVATION-DOT-ORG-FORWARD-SLASH-NATURE-BOOST.
A BIG THANK YOU TO ERIN SHANK AND DAN ZARLENGA FOR APPEARING ON THIS EPISODE … AND TO NATURE BOOST PRODUCER PEG CRAFT. AND THANK YOU TO LISTENING TO NATURE BOOST! I’M JILL PRITCHARD WITH THE MISSOURI DEPARTMENT OF CONSERVATION … ENCOURAGING YOU TO GET YOUR DAILY DOSE OF THE OUTDOORS.