Color photo of my daughter watching the total solar eclipse back in 2017. She wears a red shirt that reads “I ⚛ Science” and a headband to hold back her long hair. The light is dim but not yet dark. She is holding an eclipse filter up to her face, and looking at the Sun as the eclipse approaches totality.

Notices where this attachment appears

1. Robert McNees (mcnees@mastodon.social)'s status on Thursday, 01-Aug-2024 16:17:45 UTC Robert McNees

   in reply to

   Helen Sawyer studied chemistry at Mount Holyoke, but two things made her switch to astronomy. First, as part of a class with Dr Anne Sewell, she viewed the total solar eclipse of 1925.

   "The almost incredible beauty and grandeur of a total eclipse, tied me to astronomy for life."

   Imo, every awestruck kid looking up at the sky during a total eclipse is a new astronomer being born. Here’s mine, back in 2017, at Manhattan Project National Park in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.