Eclipse Excitement: Prepare Your Students for the Total Solar Eclipse of 2024 with Meteorologist & Astronomer Joe Rao

Welcome to "Classroom Dynamics," the podcast that delves into the thrilling intersection of technology and education. In this episode, we're honored to welcome a true luminary in the field of meteorology and astronomy, Joe Rao. With over 45 years of celestial exploration, Joe is a meteorologist and passionate amateur astronomer who has dedicated his life to unraveling the beauty and mysteries of the cosmos  and we're gearing up for one of the most anticipated events in the heavens this year – the total solar eclipse of 2024. Stretching from Mexico through the northeastern United States and parts of Canada in April, this stellar event is not only a cosmic spectacle but also a unique opportunity to engage and prepare students for an astronomical experience of a lifetime as they bask in the darkness of midday.  

Join us as we uncover Joe's fascinating journey, from co-leading eclipse expeditions to serving as an onboard meteorologist during eclipse cruises. Joe's commitment to bringing the wonders of the universe to the forefront is truly inspiring. As a renowned meteorologist and contributing editor for Sky & Telescope, along with writing a syndicated weekly column for Space.com and providing astronomical data to the Farmers' Almanac, Joe brings a captivating duality to his expertise that intersects weather and astronomy.

Recognized by the Astronomical League with the Walter Scott Houston Award, Joe Rao has spent over four decades promoting astronomy to the general public.

Embark on this celestial journey with Joe Rao as we explore how to bring the wonders of astronomy into your classroom. Get ready to be inspired by Joe Rao's enthusiasm so you can inspire and educate your students with the celestial magic that awaits us in the day, turned night sky on April 8, 2024! 

Chapters

• 3:29 Intro to meteorologist and astronomer Joe Rao
• 5:49 Welcome Joe Rao
• 7:39 How it all began
• 10:43 Basking in the darkness of midday
• 20:52 School opportunity
• 23:33 Safety and projects to see the eclipse
• 32:02 What you'll experience
• 41:47 Hope for kids and wrap

Transcript

0:00

I'm Adam Todd and welcome to Classroom Dynamics, a teacher podcast. I believe that the best way to engage students in a 21st century classroom is to immerse them with the transformative tools that will empower each and every one of them to excel in the future world that awaits. My focus is to ignite the spark that propels you and your students into an advanced tomorrow, and your journey into that future starts right now. Classroom Dynamics is supported by Logitech. As education continues to evolve, so does Logitech education, your partner in content creation for the classroom. With Logitech's cutting edge technology, students not only learn but also become content creators, whether it's in-person or online, Logitech's tools are designed to inspire educators and learners alike. Capture every educational moment in stunning detail and edit, produce and share your creative journey with ease. Logitech education, inspiring the next generation of creators. 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Always connected, always focused, always learning. The zone learn headset, your key to success. Welcome to Classroom Dynamics, the podcast where we get into the exciting world of technology and education. Hi everybody, I'm your host Adam Todd and today we're honored to feature a true luminary in the field of meteorology and astronomy. As Joe Ralew, a meteorologist and passionate amateur astronomer with over 45 years of celestial exploration is here to get into one of the most anticipated events that the heavens has in store for us this year. We're talking all about the total solar eclipse of 2024, which will be visible from Mexico through the northeastern United States and parts of Canada, this upcoming April and of course how you can prepare and engage your students with this stellar event for the ages. We'll also uncover Joe's journey and commitment to bringing the wonders of the universe to the forefront. Joe Ralew's interest in the night sky began decades ago, sparking a lifelong devotion to unraveling the beauty and mysteries of the cosmos, from co-leading eclipse expeditions to serving as an onboard meteorologist during eclipse cruises, Joe has immersed himself in multiple unique astronomical adventures. In addition, Joe balances his role as a renowned meteorologist and a contributing editor for Sky and Telescope along with writing a syndicated weekly column for the online new service space.com. He's even provided astronomical data to the farmer's almanac. Joe's journey intersects weather and astronomy bringing a fascinating duality to his expertise. Recognized by the Astronomical League with the Walter Scott Houston Award, Joe has dedicated over four decades to promoting astronomy to the general public and today's episode promises to unveil the passion that's earned him such a prestigious accolade. Join us as we embark on a journey with Joe Ralew into how we can bring the wonders of astronomy into your classroom. This is Classroom Dynamics, a teacher podcast. Stay with us, we'll be right back. For over twenty years, Higher Ground has designed functional technology protection, helping students to work or learn anytime, anywhere. I'm Mark, president of Higher Ground, and I want to share with you how you can get a free sample of any of our rugged shells, sleeves or clear backpacks. Visit hggear.com/sample and use your school's email and address. One thing, don't tell Alex because he'll be stuck with all the paperwork. Request yours and see for yourself how Higher Ground can help save your students and school, downtime and money. Just remember, don't tell Alex. Mark, we're on the sample request filling my inbox. Are you a dedicated educator searching for fresh and engaging resources to inspire your students? Look no further than highly motivated on teachers pay teachers. Discover a treasure trove of easy to use lesson plans, vibrant visuals and interactive activities designed to captivate young minds and ignite their love for learning. Unlock the potential within your classroom with highly motivated from differentiated laptops to test prep passages on a multitude of topics. Our wide range of materials catered to most elementary and middle school grade levels. Join the community of passionate teachers who have already transformed their classrooms. Visit highly motivated on teachers pay teachers and get ready to inspire, motivate and empower your students like never before. Highly motivated on teachers pay teachers where knowledge meets inspiration. He's an eight time Emmy nominated meteorologist and a space.com skywatching columnist as well as an occasional guest instructor and lecturer at New York's Hayden Planetarium. I'd like to welcome my very special guest, Joe Reo to Classroom Dynamics. It's awesome to have you on with us today. Thanks for joining us. Well, it's a great honor to be here. And it's going to be wonderful to be able to spread the word about this amazing event that's coming our way on the second Monday and April of this year. You know, I would be remiss if I didn't take this opportunity to start by saying a happy belated weather person's day. And of course, to congratulate you on the birth of as you now see other day, a new star in your family, the birth of your first grandson. So congratulations. Well, thank you very much. It was a very exciting time when it happened on Friday. And we're all very happy that it turned out well and that he's healthy. And I'm all set to spoil him to death as my first grandson, my first grand child in the days, weeks, months and years to come. So how ironic was it that it was on Groundhog's day? Well, yeah, because of course, for over 40 years, I was a broadcast meteorologist on radio and television on television in the Lower Hudson Valley on news 12 Westchester and Hudson Valley. And yeah, weather is kind of my forte, although I also had a very, very strong interest in astronomy since I was very young. And that's why I'm very excited about what's coming our way in April within a clips of the sun, a total eclipse of the sun, not for the immediate New York City area, but you don't have to go over to a tremendous distance to get into the zone where the eclipse is going to be totally. Yeah, we'll get into exactly that point in just a moment. But before we even do that, I just want to go back a little bit, you even just mentioned it. You're journy into two, even of my personal favorite science topics, which is weather and astronomy. I think they go hand in hand a lot for you began over 45 years ago. What sparked your initial fascination with the night sky and even weather phenomena? And how is that passion evolved over the years for you? It got started when I was almost seven years old. There was a partial eclipse of the sun that was going to occur on a Saturday afternoon in July in 1963. And my grandfather was the one who directed my attention to this that particular morning. He said, you know, we're going to have an eclipse later today and I was seven years old. I didn't know what an eclipse was. And he took the salt and pepper shaker off the shelf in the kitchen and he said, the salt shaker is going to be the moon. The pepper shaker is going to be the earth and my fist is going to represent the sun. Of course, I was a wise guy even back then, seven years old. I said, grandpa, that can't be the sun, your fist. And he said, why? I said, because the sun doesn't have any knuckles. But anyway, he'd line them up in a straight line, put the moon in between or the pepper shaker between the salt shaker and his fist and said later today, the moon is going to come in front of the sun and block out the sun, not completely mind you, but almost completely. And we're going to have a chance to see a solar eclipse. And we had about 90% coverage in New York that day. And after the eclipse was over, I was so fascinated by it. I was really, I was like, as my grandmother would say, I was a chatterbox at dinner time. And that's when my grandfather said, I made a big mistake. We should have taken you up to Maine where the eclipse was total. And then he told me the story about how when he was 16 years old, there was a total eclipse of the sun over New York City that he observed from the Upper East side of Manhattan. And he said, oh, it was a grand and glorious event. It was spectacular. And then he said, I'm going to take you to see a total eclipse. I don't know when or where, but we're going to go. And sure enough, nine years later in 1972, he piled me my little sister, Lisa, my mom, my grandmother and himself. We all took a leisurely 900 mile drive in his beat up climate fury up into the gas bay peninsula of Quebec where we observed and saw an eyewitness, my very first total eclipse of the sun. And that was it. I was hooked on eclipses. And now to this day, I have seen more than my fair share. And I've seen 13 and so the one coming up in April will be my 14th eclipse. And I've traveled all over the world. I mean, I've chased them. I've gone up to the North Pole, the South Pole, Turkey, Montana, South America. You name it. I've been there simply to position myself in the shadow of the moon, basking in the shadow of the moon, basking in the darkness of midday to see a total eclipse of the sun. I love how you just described that. Everything in the darkness of midday. That is it. That really sums it all up, doesn't it? It sure does. It's nothing like you've ever seen. If you've never seen a total eclipse of the sun, there's no way for me to convey to you what it's like because it's impossible to describe. I'm sure we've all seen beautiful sunsets and sunrises. I'm sure we've seen spectacular rainbows. Maybe you've even been fortunate to see the Aurora Borealis in the nighttime sky. But to try to describe to you exactly what a total eclipse of the sun is like is close to impossible in one moment. It's daytime. And then within like 30 seconds, it's suddenly deep twilight. You're suddenly under a sky where you can see stars, even though it might be two or three o'clock in the afternoon. You see the beautiful corona, the outer atmosphere of the sun shining around. It's always there. The corona is. You can't see it because the sun is so blindingly bright. But when you move the moon in front of the sun and block out the sun completely, this spectacular crown as it's called suddenly flashes out into view and around the rim of the dark and sun, around the rim of the moon, you can see prominences, gigantic tongues of hydrogen gas lifting off the surface of the sun. It is just an amazing, an amazing sight and it doesn't last very long. In the longest case, it lasts seven and a half minutes, but when we will have a chance to see on April the eighth, Monday, April the eighth, will be a total eclipse, which depending upon where you are along the eclipse track, could last that darkness at midday, could last as long as four and a half minutes, which is pretty long for a total eclipse of the sun. That's amazing. So as you said, you're trying to describe it and I know you can't. It's so hard to put those words into play. This upcoming April does promise, hopefully, whether permitting to showcase a celestial event for the ages. Of course, the solar eclipse that's going to take place is going to be an event. For teachers who are going to want to build a science unit around it or even just do a science lesson for them, especially for this once in a lifetime event, they to capture that moment and prepare the kids and really get them excited. How would you explain to them besides in just layman's terms, what a solar eclipse is? And I know you kind of said that with your the salt and pepper shaker and your grandfather's fist example. What could you do to prepare them for teachers to get them excited about that? Well, I think the best way to get people excited about this, and by the way, if the excitement is already happening, the American Astronomical Society recently made it happen. Made an announcement on the internet saying that we have 15,000 pairs of special solar eclipse glasses. Very important because you don't want to look directly at the sun for the for the eclipse. Except during the total phase when it's in totality, yes, you can take your your glasses off and you can look at the sun directly, but only during total totality. But during the partial phases as the moon is covering the sun, you need these special glasses to block out the visual part of the sun, the very bright part, and also the infrared and ultraviolet radiation of the sun. So these glasses do that. And so the AAS, the American Astronomical Society recently said, hey, we've got 15,000 glasses and we'd love to distribute them to civic groups, to libraries, to schools. Just contact us and they gave an email address. And within a matter of days, all 15,000 glasses were gone. And they're even getting requests for those glasses and they don't have any more to give. So you could see that people are already getting really hyped up and excited about this. And it's all really the science of shadows. On that day, two shadows are going to pass over North America, a big broad shadow called the penumbra from the penumbra, you see a part of the sun covered, not all of it, but just a part of it. And then there's the umbra and that umbra shadow, which is going to be about 125 miles wide, the penumbra is going to be huge. The penumbra is going to be almost 6,000 miles wide. And at one point, all of North America is going to be underneath the penumbra and all of North America, most of North America is going to see at least a part of the sun being covered by the moon. But that umbra is only going to be about 125 miles wide. And you have to be in that dark central shadow in order to see the sun completely and totally eclipsed by the passing moon. And because the moon goes around the earth at such a very rapid speed, the moon goes around the earth in its orbit around the earth at a speed of about 2,200 miles an hour. So what are we talking about? We're talking about a shadow, about 120 miles wide, moving at a speed of over 2,000 miles an hour. You can see now why during totality, the total phase can't last very long because that shadow is just whizzing along the surface of the earth. And so you have three, maybe over 4 minutes to enjoy while the shadow, as I mentioned earlier, basking in the dark shadow of the moon to see that spectacular instance of a total solar eclipse. So that's really what it is. It's nothing more than the science of shadows. We are going to be experiencing on that day the shadow or shadows of the moon being thrown on the surface or projected onto the surface of the earth. And that, people say it's a rare event and eclipse. It's not a rare event. Eclipses happen of the sun at least twice a year. Sometimes we have as many as five eclipses of the sun in a single year. The problem is we live on a rather large planet, which is three-quarters water. And more often than not, the shadow will fall over wide open, open, expansive the oceans. Over areas where very few people live like Siberia or Patagonia or Antarctica, it is very unusual to get the shadows to move over a densely populated region. And that's exactly what's going to be happening in April. There are 32 million people that happen to live in that narrow zone, which will run from Texas up through the Tennessee Valley, Ohio River Valley, Eastern Great Lakes, upstate New York, Northern New England, and on into Atlantic Canada, also in a portion of Northern Mexico. 32 million people. And if you don't live in the shadow, a path, of course you'll want to travel. And normally we're used to the fact that we hear every year around Thanksgiving that the most heavily populated time of the year is the days leading up to Thanksgiving. Everybody wants to go to grandma's house to think, no, not this year in 2024. I predict this year in 2024, the most heavily populated time of the year will be the weekend because April 8 is a Monday. So I predict that beginning Friday, the 5th, Saturday, the 6th, Sunday, the 7th, you're going to see millions more people on the roadways, on trains, on buses in the air, all trying to get into that totality zone to experience a total eclipse of the sun. It's really in the case of most people, it is a once in a lifetime event. So once every 18 months, somewhere on the earth, there's a total eclipse of the sun taking place. But for a specific geographic location, a specific spot like where you might live, for that place to experience a total eclipse of the sun, that's something totally different. If you stay where you are, a total eclipse of the sun will come your way about once every 375 years. So that means if you want to see one, you're normally going to have to travel. Those 32 million people who live in the track of the total eclipse in April, they are exceedingly lucky because they happen to, well, they're beating the odds, so to speak. They are getting it. It's not to have to travel. They live in a zone where the eclipse is going to be, hey, coming, coming to them. Let me ask you this. So if you wanted to be in that perfect zone of totality, does it matter where in that 120 miles you are or is the most perfect center, the most perfect center? If you travel into the zone of totality and you, let's say you're traveling in your car and you know where the path the totality is and you get into the boundary zone of the total eclipse, the southern limits, so to speak. If you're right at the limit of the eclipse and you get out and you say, okay, I'm going to see totality, totality from that point is only going to last maybe a couple of seconds. You have to continue traveling until you get to the middle of the path. So I said, this is about 120 miles wide. So you have to go 60 miles in, right? And the middle of the totality zone, that's where the eclipse will be at its maximum. That's where you'll get three and a half, four, four and a half minutes of total eclipse. And if you would continue up to the northern edge of the shadow track, right on the northern limit, once again, you'd only see maybe a few seconds of totality. So you want to get into that zone of totality, but you also want to go as far into the totality track as you possibly get to as near the middle of the track is the best place to be with the eclipse, the total phase will last the longest. That's interesting. I didn't realize that I mean, you would think it would be the most perfect center that you could find, but that's really interesting. And I'm also really glad that you pointed out the fact that you really shouldn't be looking, especially for the kids, if classes are going to be going out or if parents are taking their kids out, not to look directly into it. I'm glad you mentioned the glasses as well. I hope that schools all across the country allowed children to see the eclipse and watch the eclipse or give them specific instructions on how you can safely watch an eclipse. In 1984, I traveled to see an eclipse in Greenville, South Carolina, Greenville, Spartanburg, South Carolina. And the track of the eclipse passed right over a middle school. So me and a bunch of other people, we went to the school, we met with the principal and the principal said, yes, I will give you permission. You can set up your equipment on this in the school yard to watch the eclipse. And I said to the principal, I said, well, that's great. And said when the kids come out, it was right around noon time or whatever, when the kids come out for their lunch or whatever, or a play, we'll be very happy to show them the eclipse. We had telescopes, we had binoculars, we had special filtration, everything else. And the principal said, no, I'm not allowing any of the kids to go outside for the eclipse. In fact, we're even going to lock all the doors up and they'll watch the eclipse on television on CNN. They have TVs in the classroom. And I got kind of upset by that. I said, you got to be kidd me. You got to be kidd me. This is right in the middle of the zone on the eclipse. And you're not allowing the kids to watch. And the principal was saying, oh, well, you see it's a liability issue. We don't want anybody to look up at the, we don't want the kids to see it. It's to blind themselves. And I said, then I got to blind themselves because we're going to be showing them how to, well, we're not going to do it. I got into a big argument. Finally, the principal said to me, he said, look, he said, I'm allowing you and your group to come and set up on our school yard. I could just very easily say to you right now, forget it. Don't go on our school yard. I won't allow that. He said, you understand? And I said, all right, all right. And so we watched it and it was a beautiful, beautiful eclipse. And especially so, this was a school that was surrounded by shade trees. And during the maximum phase of the eclipse, well, almost the maximum, when the sun was cut down to a narrow crescent, the light coming through the little gaps between the trees acted as pinhole cameras. And on the ground, you were able to see hundreds of crescents. And that was not going to harm your eyes at all. And in fact, even more beautiful was the fact that there was a light breeze. And so the crescents seemed to come and they go, almost they were twinkling, if you will. And I'm standing there looking at this and I'm just amazing sight. And I'm saying, meanwhile, the kids are locked up in the school, not allowing to be allowed to see this. And of course, after the eclipse was over and we're breaking down our equipment, what happens? It's three o'clock. The kids are now going out. Of course, they know what was happening when they were locked inside. And what do you think almost every kid did when they stepped outside? And of course, the eclipse is long over by that time. What did every kid do? They looked up directly and straight up at the sun. And I'm saying, don't look at the sun. You can't do your blind yourself. And it's true. If you spend time, if you look at the sun or stare out of like 15, 20 seconds, just that you risk putting a hole on your retina. And that is of course what the lawyers tell the teachers or whatever, and the American optimistic association. Don't look at the sun. Don't look at the eclipse. Watch it on television. That's a safe way of doing it. But this is a natural event. And this is such a teachable moment too. It is. And even with the kids can make an eclipse projector by taking a box, a regular corrugated cardboard box, you put a hole in one side of the box. Actually you cut, let's say, a square out and then put a piece of aluminum foil over the square. And then just put the box over your head and aim the box in such a way so that the sun is coming through the hole that you just punched through the aluminum foil and have it shine through the hole onto the opposite side of the box. Maybe you put a piece of white paper on the opposite side. And there you have an image of the eclipse on being projected on the other side of the box. And you don't even have to use, do that. You have a mirror? Do you have a little hand mirror or whatever? Take a hand mirror and put a piece of construction paper over the mirror and punch a little hole in the mirror and project the sun's image from the mirror through the hole and onto a wall, maybe 20 or 30 feet away, bingo. You've got a projected image of the sun. I call that a pinhole mirror. So there are ways that you can safely look at the sun or look at the eclipse. And again, those glasses. Now with the glasses, you may not be able to get any from the American Astronomical Society. Of course, they were giving them away from nothing. But if you go online on Google or Amazon, type in Eclipse Safety Glasses or Eclipse Glasses. Amazon and other places will sell you a pair of glasses for a couple of bucks. I'm sure everybody can afford that or even a four pack for like $10 or $12. You better do it now because I'm sure that in the week or two before the eclipse, a lot of these places are either going to be sold out or they're going to tell you there's a long waiting list and yours may not be delivered until after the eclipse is over. There's one company, by the way. I'll give them a plug. It's a weird name for a company that sells Eclipse Glasses, but they've been doing it now for 30 years or more. And they are the place to go for the best type of Eclipse Glasses. The name of the company is just a rainbow symphony. That's why. Strange name, rainbow symphony and rainbow symphony.com, they sell Eclipse Glasses and you can get them from rainbow symphony and all kinds. You can get them mounted in a piece of, you know, on a cardboard frame or you can even get for a little bit more, maybe if they're like $10 or whatever, they sell Eclipse Glasses. They look like sunglasses. And these are safe. They are certified. Make sure that when you get in a pair of glasses that you have what's called an ISO number, that is the certification that indicates to you that the glasses are safe enough. Now, these glasses, again, are made of a special dark plastic called Polymere, which will deflect or reflect both the exceedingly bright light of the sun and also the infrared and ultraviolet radiations. And that's a sad part about it is that people, "Oh, I've got a pair of sunglasses. They're very dark. I can look at the sun with that." Yeah, you can probably. You could probably look at the sun and it looks rather dim. The problem is that while the bright light is being diminished, the ultraviolet rays, the radiation that gives you a sunburn and the infrared rays are coming right straight through those pair of sunglasses and burning your eyes without you immediately being aware of it. Of course. You don't want that to happen. Get special glasses that take care of both the visible, the ultraviolet and the infrared rays of the sun. And that will be the safest way if you want to look directly at the sun during the partial phases of the solar eclipse. Also, I think that there are some companies, like the American Astronautical Society, there's some companies that are actually been distributing glasses for three, Pacific groups and also the libraries. I mean, you might want to check around on the internet and see what you can do. Maybe you can find one of those companies that does that. So this way, you don't have to... If you want to give it out to, let's say, 100 people and you don't have the bucks to do that, there are companies that have been distributing for free solar eclipse glasses to the masses for no charge at all. That's really great information. Let me ask you this. Let's take New York City, for an example, because you mentioned it before one of your first ones that you saw was in New York City. People who live in New York City don't usually get to see and soak up astronomical events such as meteor showers and things like that, because it's usually too bright because of city lights, but in this case, it's going to be daytime. So if families wanted to take this opportunity to just jump on this and take advantage of the event, whether permitting, if they wanted to go upstate and take that drive for the day with their family or the weekend, where in the path of totality would the best closest city be for them to go? Well, in New York City proper, we're going to get 91% of the sun covered. The peak of the eclipse in New York will be at 325 pm that Monday afternoon April the 8th. Now some of you may say, "Well, why should I even bother traveling? 91%?" That's good enough for me. It may be good enough for you, but it's not going to be good enough for the show that awaits you if you went into the zone of totality. With 91%, you'd be very surprised even though more than 9/10 of the sun is going to be obscured by the moon, the sky will be just a little bit darker. The blue of the sky, if we have a sunny blue sky, the blue will appear richer or darker. It will feel kind of eerie or it will almost be like a cloudy day, except again, if the sun is out, it's bright and sunny. It's kind of a, I can't even describe the oddness. Maybe I can call it kind of a semi-counterfeit twilight. It will be interesting for a few minutes during the midpoint of the eclipse here in New York, but consider that the fact that astronomers and scientists sometimes travel halfway around the world to get into the zone of totality. Here, you, a New Yorker, had the ability to see that same spectacle, the total solar eclipse, all you have to do is just get in your car and travel a few hours north of New York. You'll have to get on probably the best route would be interstate 87. You go north, past Albany, past Glynne's Falls, past Lake George, the first town that will be in the zone of totality. That will be right at the bottom edge of the edge of totality. It will be a little town called Shroom Lake. If you continue traveling north on 87 past Shroom Lake and get all the way up to the city of Plattsburg, and by now we're talking about almost to the Canadian border, Plattsburg will be in the totality path near the middle of the path, and they will get about three minutes and fifty seconds of total eclipse. Other cities in New York state that are in the totality zone include Buffalo, which is again almost on the middle of the eclipse track. Niagara Falls, Syracuse, Watertown, New York, these are places that Rochester, New York, these are all places that are in the totality zone and will experience the incredible sight of a total solar eclipse. What happens during totality as I said within a matter of thirty seconds to a minute, the sky goes from relatively bright daylight conditions down to the darkness of the sky and you could see this for yourself. Check this out. Any morning, go outside, step outside about forty minutes before sunrise or this evening go outside about forty minutes after the sun has gone down. It gets about as dark as that and it all happens within a matter of let's say less than a minute. It's almost like somebody is turning a giant dimmer switch or a reostat in the sky and the sky gets dark with a frightening rapidity and you say, oh my god, look what's happening, look, look at what's occurring. It's getting dark and then of course then the stars pop out, the sun gets totally covered, the corona comes into view and also all the way around the horizon, all the way around. You have this weird looking sunrise or sunset color effect but they're not sunrise and sunset colors that you're accustomed to seeing. The colors that you're actually seeing around the horizon are more along the lines of a saffron or yellowish color or maybe the color of an iodine or a beer bottle. It's those kind of colors that will be occurring and it's changing moment by moment. Remember, this is the shadow of the moon passing over you at 2,000 miles or more an hour. So everything is changing literally moment by moment. The colors are changing, the illumination is changing, you're leading up and all around. I tell people, they say, how can I photograph this? They said forget about photography. If you have to photograph it, set your iPhone or your camera up on a tripod, turn it on, let it go and you just sit back and you watch and enjoy because you just drink it all in. And again, when you are in totality, that is the one time and the only time during the eclipse that you can look at the sun either with binoculars or if you have a telescope even better, take a telescope and look directly at the sun because then during that total phase, you get a chance to see close up the corona, those hydrogen, alpha flares, call prominences, those wid tongues of flame emitting off of the disc of the sun. It is just an all out, amazing, incredible event. And I warn you now, you get addicted because the first thing that comes out of your mouth after you after totality is over, the first thing that you say is, I've got to see another one of these. I've got to see another one. This is, this is incredible. It's just absolutely amazing. And you're looking at somebody who said that in 1972 in Canada and again, all of these years later, along with that first one in Canada, I've added now 12 others. And I'm a piker, by the way, I'm nothing. You know, you say, wow, Joe, you've seen 13 eclipses. That's nothing. There are people who I know, good friends of mine, scientists and astronomers who have traveled around the world and have seen 20, 25, 30. And in fact, one of my lifelong friends who I grew up with in the Bronx is named as Glen Schneider. Now, Dr. Glen Schneider, Dr Schneider has traveled to 35 total eclipses. Whenever there was a total eclipse, it didn't matter if it was a Siberia, it didn't matter it was over the South Pole, North Pole or whatever. And sometimes you would go on planes or on ships anywhere to just see an eclipse of the total eclipse of the sun. So you see, it is sounds impressive that I've seen over a dozen of these. Many people have not seen there, even their first one yet. But there are those umber files, as we call them, eclipse chasers who have seen many, many, many eclipses. They build their vacations around the next area where the eclipse is going to be occurring, where it's going to be in totality. I was going to ask you, does each one stand out on its own or just is it as magical as ever no matter what? Oh, each one is as I say, after each, each eclipse is I, it never gets old. And after the last eclipse, I saw the 2017 eclipse that passed from one coast of the United States to the other. I saw that from an aircraft. I saw that from the plane about a thousand miles off the coast of Oregon. And after it was all over, I said to on one television interview, I said, it's going to take a better part of the week for the adrenaline to drain out of my, my body. I'm still wired after seeing what I've just seen, whatever. Yeah, they all stand out in one way, shape or form. The one that stands out in my memory, probably the best is the first. It's like when you get your first kiss, it's always the one that stands out above all the others. But in 1979, I was in Montana and watched as a shadow of the moon came toward us from, from the Rocky Mountains, from the Judith Mountains, which was a branch of the Rockies. It looked like there was a tidal wave of darkness heading in our direction as a totality approach. And you know, that's again, that's a scary thing. You have no control over this. And this wave of darkness just approaches you from, from the West. 1971, I was on board a ship off of the big island of Hawaii. That stands out for the eclipse, but also it gave me the opportunity to make friends and become acquainted with a man who certainly is a historic figure. Michael Collins, the man who was in the command module of Apollo 11, the first flight, the first man flight to the moon. He sometimes has referred to as the forgotten astronaut because while Neil Armstrong and Ed Aldrin co-ordered on the moon, he was stuck in the command module going round and round and round. But still the fact that he was able to go all the way to the moon and he was on that same cruise that I was, we got to be good friends during the eclipse. I was so sad when he passed away a couple of years ago at the right, the old age of 90. So that's another eclipse that stands out. All of these eclipse stand out. There are things that have happened in every single eclipse that, you know, you think about it, think back upon them with fondness. And you mentioned before about weather permitting, weather permitting, so far the weather, out of the 13 that I've seen, the weather has permitted in 11 out of the 13 that I've seen. I have been clouded out twice. Once in Columbia, South America, that eclipse lasted only 38 seconds, but it was, it was a bitter defeat for me because 85 or 90 percent of the sky was blue and beautiful and clear, but there was one cloud that like a blimp just happened to pass in front of the sun during that short period of totality. And so I missed totality then and my wife and I were on a cruise to Antarctica in December of 2021. We were invited on board. I was invited to give lectures for the eclipse. I initially, I passed, I passed up the offer. I said, you're crazy. It's going to be cloudy. Everybody knows that the weather is bad at that time of the year in Antarctica and the, the cruise line came back and said, well, the eclipse would be the icing on the cake. It's the trip to Antarctica. How many times Mr. Rayo is anybody going to offer you a trip to Antarctica? A chance to see the Antarctica and I said, you know, you're right. You're right. So I, my wife and I spent two weeks in Antarctica. We coverted around with the penguins, which by the way, we were told by the cruise line, don't go up to the penguins, especially so because some penguins are sitting on their nests and so stay away, stay at least 15 feet away from the penguins. Somebody forgot to tell the penguins that because the penguins, I said later on, it was kind of like, it was kind of like when you go to Central Park with the pigeons and they wanted to up to you for, for, for bread crumbs or whatever, the, the penguins were waddling up to us. You know, you couldn't help, but, you know, oh, hi, you know, like, I was thinking about that Bugs Bunny cartoon when he was trying to bring a penguin back to the South Pole, you know, yeah, let's see what kind of a boy you are. Oh, you're a penguin and penguins live in the South Pole, South Pole. Oh, I'm dying. And I, I thought about that cartoon many times when I was in Antarctica for the eclipse and I'm saying to myself, who would have thought you lived it? You lived it in cartoon. But I'm 10 years old. I'm, I'm watching this cartoon and here I am now all these years later at the South Pole in Antarctica, cavorting with the penguins waiting for a total eclipse of the sun, which was also clouded out, but still it was making adventure. Uh, you know, that's such a great segue to my last question here because educators, you know, like myself and yourself do play a pivotal role in shaping young minds. How do you envision the impact of exposing students to a solar eclipse, like the one we're about to have? And what advice do you have for teachers who are aiming to ignite that sense of wonder and enthusiasm that you share with their classes? Because for me personally, when I was growing up, it was the shuttle program that got me hooked on space. That's, that's what got me hooked on it. I was, I was born 1974 in the late 70s and early 80s. It was the, it was the space shuttle program. And then in 1985 when Hurricane Gloria came over New York with the eye passing over, I believe it was the Bronx and Queens that day, that got me hooked on weather. And so here I am probably in that, you know, 10, 11 years of age range, similar to you when you were younger with your grandfather. Those kind of things definitely sparked interest in kids. How do you, how do you view that? Those, those kind of events? Well, I'm hoping that the eclipse, this upcoming eclipse is going to spawn a tremendous interest in science and space and astronomy. Well, this was such an inspirational and fun conversation to have today. I'm really glad that we had the chance to learn more about the upcoming total solar eclipse from Joe Rayo and all of the fascinating information about this once in a lifetime bucket list event for so many people to potentially enjoy. Before we go, I want to thank Joe Rayo once again for joining us and taking the time to just be so enthusiastic about this amazing event that we could all enjoy coming up this spring. And for those of you who have been listening today, thank you for tuning in. Make sure that you share what you've learned or any takeaways or reflections that you've had and tag us on Twitter at class dynamics or Instagram at classroom dynamics podcast. We always look forward to hearing your thoughts on the episodes and sharing the different ways in which you're using what you've learned. You can also help support classroom dynamics with this little list $3 a month at classroom dynamics podcast dot bus sprout dot com. Once again, I'd like to thank the very enthusiastic Joe Rayo for joining us today on classroom dynamics. It was a pleasure having him and I hope he'll be able to join us again in the future. And that brings us to the end of this episode of classroom dynamics where knowledge and inspiration meets innovation. I hope you've enjoyed today's discussion and founded both insightful and uplifting. As always, my goal is to provide you with practical strategies, engaging stories and powerful insights that can fuel your motivation as an educator. I believe that when knowledge and inspiration do come together, incredible things can happen in your classroom. And for all of you who may feel that it's too late to strengthen your craft, I challenge you to make it your mission to do so. You've worked hard to get to where you are today and it's never too late to infuse new life into your work. So why not make today that day to do so? I'm Adam Todd and you've been listening to classroom dynamics, a teacher podcast. You can follow classroom dynamics on X at class dynamics or on Instagram at classroom dynamics podcast. If you haven't already, go to Apple Podcasts and subscribe, rate and review this podcast. And if you know a teacher who may benefit from today's show, please share it with them. We'll be back soon with more captivating conversations, inspiring stories and strategies that you can implement into your everyday routines. Until then, keep igniting that spark in your classroom and never stop believing in the incredible impact you have as an educator. You're more powerful and inspirational than you think. If you enjoyed this episode, you'll enjoy Moby diversity and professional growth, navigating BrainPop with Dr. Barbara Hubert. In this enlightening episode of classroom dynamics, join us as we dive into the dynamic world of educational technology with the renowned Dr. Barbara Hubert, the senior director of Learning Design at BrainPop. Dr. Hubert shares her expertise on the innovative features that make BrainPop a transformative learning tool for students and educators alike. But there's also a real intentionality behind the learning design of not just the movies, but all of the learning activities that are connected to the movies in that topic. And so we know that, again, background knowledge is super important for how you're going to engage in texts in the world, and I mean within a school context and outside of a school context.(upbeat music)(soft music)