News and Media

Dynamic Eclipse Broadcast Initiative, Totality Town, published March 13, 2023. The Dynamic Eclipse Broadcast (DEB) Initiative will be perhaps the biggest solar eclipse citizen science project for 2023 and 2024. What’s it about? What will DEB be doing? We are still looking for participants. Interested in being part of the team? That’s all covered here!

Eclipse Science: Looking Back at Citizen CATE and Forward to the DEB Initiative, Totality Town, published January 27, 2023. In 2017, the Citizen CATE Project was the biggest citizen science project related to the total solar eclipse. This video recaps the project and a few of its result. We then turn our attention to a preview of the next big citizen science project for solar eclipses: the DEB Initiative (2023-2024). Come join the fun!

Matt Penn, The Dynamic Eclipse Broadcast Initiative, The Astro Imaging Channel, Streamed live on Jan 30, 2022 #astrophotography
Matt Penn of the Tucson Amateur Astronomy Association tells us about the experience and results of the Dynamic Eclipse Broadcast Initiative.

Dynamic Eclipse Broadcast Initiative – Astronomical League Live 13 – Explore Alliance Streamed live on Dec 3, 2021 #solareclipse #AL #astronomicalleague
With the upcoming 2024 total solar eclipse in mind, Matt Penn presents “The Dynamic Eclipse Broadcast Initiative”

Matt Penn became interested in astronomy when his parents bought him a telescope while he was in third grade. He earned a bachelor’s degree in astronomy from Caltech, and worked at Caltech’s Big Bear Solar Observatory for two summers. He was awarded a master’s and PhD in astronomy by the University of Hawaii, and did his dissertation research about oscillations in sunspot umbrae using the Mees Solar Observatory on Maui. In 26 years of solar physics research, Matt worked at solar observatories in New Mexico, San Fernando CA, and most recently Kitt Peak near Tucson. He has published many papers and worked with many excellent students. In 2014 Matt developed the Citizen CATE Experiment for the 2017 total solar eclipse. The collaboration involved 286 volunteers and included 117 students, from graduate students to middle school. The results of CATE were published in 2020, and now Matt is working with friends and colleagues on a follow-up project entitled the “Dynamic Eclipse Broadcast Initiative.” This talk will describe the improvements being made from lessons learned in the 2017 eclipse, initial results from the DEB-Initiative core group, and how you can get involved in the DEB-Initiative today!