On Monday, Qutb will be staring at the sky again as another total solar eclipse marks its path across much of the United States. This time, she will travel hundreds of miles with Georgia Tech students to witness the peak of this unusual event.
Credit: Miguel Martinez
Credit: Miguel Martinez
Some Georgia universities are planning on-campus events to view the partial solar eclipse and watch a NASA livestream, but about 100 students at the science-focused Atlanta campus are , embarking on a multi-hour road trip to observe the multi-minute solar eclipse from indoors. The path to wholeness.
A 55-passenger bus chartered by the Physics Department heads to Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge in southern Illinois for the total solar eclipse. The Georgia Tech Astronomy Club quickly filled 55 more seats on another bus bound for a campground near Eminence, Missouri. Other students and professors carpool or make their own travel plans.
“My school actually paid for me to go see the solar eclipse, so as a broke undergraduate student, it was the most exciting thing in the world,” he said in rural Harris County. said Kutb, a fourth-year student who will be participating in the event. Physics school bus.
President Ethan Atkinson said the astronomy club began planning the trip about two years ago. To cover the costs, which he expected to run from roughly $6,000 to $7,000, the club raised dues slightly, recruited more members and sought support from the Student Government Association.
They also sold T-shirts and baked goods. On Pi Day, March 14, a fundraiser was held featuring a club leader who was hit in the face with a paper plate full of whipped cream.
Credit: Miguel Martinez
Credit: Miguel Martinez
Club members will camp out in tents the night before the eclipse and return to the Atlanta campus before sunrise Tuesday. Atkinson, a senior physics major from Richmond Hill, will be absent from his fraternity's official attendance on this occasion.
For students who similarly miss class, he is working to have their absences excused. “But I was going to skip it anyway,” Atkinson said. He brings astrophotography equipment to take images of the sky. The club will also have an 8-inch Celestron telescope with a solar filter available for members to use.
Atkinson wants to sit back and take in the eclipse when it happens. For the 2017 solar eclipse, his high school planned to give the students glasses so everyone could go outside and observe. The weather didn't cooperate.
“I missed it because it was cloudy and raining. I couldn't see it. That's why I'm so excited about this time,” he said.
The faculty are equally enthusiastic. Physics professor Dragomir Davidovich said the school's buses will be filled primarily with graduate students, who don't necessarily have the opportunity to spend time together socially. He also developed friendships and helped coordinate trips.
The group has the flexibility to detour to other locations in the event of inclement weather at their chosen location near Marion, Illinois, where the total voyage will last just over four minutes.
When Davidovich watched the 2017 solar eclipse from North Georgia, she thought it might be overwhelming. Rather, he was shocked by the phenomenon.
“As soon as that eclipse happened, I immediately looked into when the next eclipse was,” Davidovich said.
Jim Sowell, an astronomer and astronomy club advisor at Georgia Tech, also began planning for this year's eclipse several years ago. He plans to join some of his longtime friends from college in Texas to watch the eclipse.
Before the bus leaves, Mr. Kutb plans to meet him to hone his telescope skills and help operate the group's equipment.
Kutb knew she wanted to be an astrophysicist since she was six years old after watching Jodie Foster in the movie “Contact.” She's looking forward to making core memories like 2017 again. On Monday, she will be surrounded by her fellow “nerds” who also enjoy cracking physics jokes and casting her eyes skyward.
Sowell hopes the students, especially those who will be up close to their second total solar eclipse in seven years, will fall in love with the experience.
Qutb agrees that a fleeting eclipse can have lasting effects. She thinks it can inspire the next generation of scientists.
“…Fortunately, more children will look up at the sky during the eclipse and be interested in science and want to pursue a career in science,” she said.
