Science Briefing: Eclipses Here and Beyond: Solar Eclipse, Exoplanet Transits, and Resources for Facilitators
Location
Virtual
Contact Information
About Event
In this edition of NASA’s Universe of Learning Science Briefings, we will discuss tools and resources to engage audiences as we approach the highly anticipated solar eclipse that will cross North America on April 8, 2024. Scientists will talk about eclipses, from those in our own Solar System to others that help us discover worlds beyond.
Dr. Alex Lockwood will talk about the solar eclipse geometry, safety, and how you can celebrate the solar eclipse with NASA.
Alison Duck will discuss how observing eclipses of exoplanets around their host stars can teach us about their sizes, masses, and atmospheres.
John Maple will share resources and activities to help you understand methods scientists use to study and understand eclipses.
About the Series
The NASA’s Universe of Learning Science Briefings are professional learning telecons for the informal science education community, done in partnership with the NASA’s Museum & Informal Education Alliance, now found on NASA CONNECTS. These monthly thematic briefings highlight current NASA astrophysics explorations and discoveries from across the suite of NASA astrophysics missions. NASA scientists and engineers provide contemporary science results, and are able to respond to listener questions during the telecon. NASA-developed education and outreach resources, matched to the monthly theme, are included in every briefing.
In order to participate in the telecon and ask questions of the scientists, please join NASA’s Museum & Informal Education Alliance.
Facilitator & Presenters
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Dr. Alex Lockwood is the Deputy for Strategic Content in NASA’s Science Mission Directorate. Previously, she was the Project Scientist for Science Communications on the James Webb Space Telescope. Alex holds her PhD from Caltech in Planetary Science and BS in Physics and Astronomy from the University of Maryland. Outside work, her passions are running, yoga, and her kids. -
Alison Duck is a fifth year PhD candidate in the astronomy department at Ohio State University, working with Prof. Scott Gaudi. Alison is from Maryland's rural Eastern Shore and completed her bachelor's degree at the University of Maryland, College Park. Her research focuses on quantifying the systematic errors present in transiting exoplanets and their host stars. -
John Maple is an Education Specialist in the Office of Public Outreach at the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI). He earned his degree in elementary education from Towson University in 2005 and leadership in teaching from the College of Notre Dame of Maryland in 2011. John has taught STEM in Baltimore County and has worked for STScI since 2014, where he supports the science of Hubble, Webb, Roman and the work of NASA’s Universe of Learning. -
Dr. Martha Irene Saladino is an Education & Outreach Scientist at the Space Telescope Science Institute, where she supports the outreach efforts of different NASA missions and projects, including the upcoming Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, and NASA’s Universe of Learning. Martha Irene obtained her Ph.D. in Astrophysics at Radboud University in the Netherlands, where she developed numerical simulations of evolved Sun-like double stars. Outside of work, Martha Irene enjoys running, reading, and digital illustration.