Press release form the SCMF:
Join the Southern California Mountains Foundation and the Big Bear Solar Observatory on Thursday, Jan. 16, at 4 p.m. at the Big Bear Discovery Center to welcome guest speaker Jay Pasachoff, a leading scientist on solar eclipses, in a presentation of “The Sun and Solar Eclipses.”
Combining his rare appearance with his devotion to teaching and sharing with the world the joys of observing eclipses, Professor Pasachoff’s presentation will be open to the public. Admission is free; seating is limited on a first-come basis.
“The Big Bear Solar Observatory’s (BBSO) telescopes can observe the everyday surface of the Sun every time the sky is clear, but the solar corona, the faint outer atmosphere of the Sun, is visible from the Earth’s surface only during total solar eclipses,” explained Pasachoff. “Before and since my stint at BBSO during 1970-72, I have observed 58 solar eclipses, 31 of them total, and I will describe the recent experiences and how the eclipse observations are linked with ground-based and space-based observations to give the most complete possible information about our Sun,” he added.
Pasachoff, an American astronomer, teaches at Williams College. He chairs the International Astronomical Union’s Working Group on Eclipses and is the author of textbooks and tradebooks in astronomy, physics, mathematics, and other sciences. Pasachoff has received the Education Prize of the American Astronomical Society and, this year, the Janssen Prize of the Société Astronomique de France.
He has taken a leading role in the science and history of transits of Mercury and Venus, as an analogue to exoplanet studies, leading up to the 2012 transit of Venus.
The Southern California Mountains Foundation, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, is committed to three initiatives addressing conservation/restoration, environmental education and responsible recreation on Southern California public lands. The SCMF brings communities of people, partners and funding resources to important projects and programming focused on health, stewardship and sustainability.
From Wikipedia:
The Big Bear Solar Observatory (BBSO) is a solar observatory located on the north side of Big Bear Lake in the San Bernardino Mountains of southwestern San Bernardino County, California, approximately 75 miles east of downtown Los Angeles. The telescopes and instruments at the observatory are designed and employed specifically for studying the activities and phenomena of our solar system’s star, the Sun.
Address: 40386 N Shore Ln, Big Bear, CA 92314
Phone: (909) 866-5791
You can find out more about the Big Bear Solar Observatory HERE.
You can find out more about the Southern California Mountains Foundation HERE.
You can find out more about Jay Pasachoff HERE.