Right in the path of the annular solar eclipse, Odessa will be abuzz with activity Friday and Saturday.
There are many activities scheduled for the weekend from the Ector County Library to Ector County ISD, University of Texas Permian Basin and other locales around the region.
UTPB is hosting festivities starting at 6 p.m. Friday.
There will be a watch party Saturday with NASA and Gordon Center.
STEAMfest, an interactive science and art fair, will follow on campus from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Scientist Hugh Hudson will give a special lecture on solar eclipses at the CEED building, North 1310 FM 1788 in Midland.
On Saturday, at 9:30 a.m., meet at the UTPB Quad in the center of campus and the Mesa Deck at the Mesa Building for the best seat in the nation to watch the solar eclipse. Scientists from UTPB, NASA, and the Gordon Center will launch scientific balloons into the sky.
From 10:18 a.m. to 1:20 p.m., people can see the eclipse at UTPB. Safety glasses will be provided.
Hudson will be coming from the University of Glasgow, but he works with a group from Western Kentucky University on the SunSketcher app, which can be used to take precisely timed photos of the event.
“They are astrophysicists. … They are studying the surface of the sun because they’re trying to get images right before and right after to get that edge,” Biology Lecturer Irene Perry said.
Perry traveled to Kentucky for a total eclipse in 2017. Odessa is even on the SunSketcher webpage at sunsketcher.org/news.php
“The plan is to get all the bugs out of this app in October for the eclipse in the spring. There’s a total (eclipse) that’s going through Texas, not over us, but San Antonio is in the cross hairs,” Perry said.
Dozens of students will be coming to UTPB, some of whom have been working on the SunSketcher app.
“(Hudson) is going to be presenting about some of his work in general,” she added.
The annular eclipse means it’s like a ring of fire.
“The moon is not large enough to totally cover the sun, so it’ll be like 90% covered,” Perry said. “There will be an edge of the sun that will be visible around.”
Perry said she was super excited about the response to the coming eclipse.
“I traveled in 2017 for the total eclipse to Kentucky … I’ve never been in a total one before. I had heard about this one a while ago. In fact, I wrote myself a note so I would remember last year. Then this summer when we were contacted by these different groups (to see) if they could come to our campus to host their studies, I was super excited. I’m like put me on the list. I will help out. The two other groups that are coming are ballooning groups and they’re launching weather balloons to look at measurements of the atmosphere. One group was coming from Oklahoma, and then one from Western Virginia,” Perry said.
They will be launching weather balloons. One group will be launching every hour on the hour from midnight to midnight.
“They want 12 hours before and 12 hours afterwards. The second group is going to be launching one mid-morning to be at peak during the maximum of the eclipse,” Perry said.
The annular eclipse will run from 10:18 a.m. to 1:21 p.m. It will be full 11:42 to 11:48 a.m. and it will gradually recede.
Perry said eclipses happen all the time, but not over this much landmass where she lives.
For the phone apps, your phone needs to be at 48 degrees because it’s going to be at 42 degrees coming off the horizon. The maker space at the library is making the phone holders.
“We want a 90 degree angle with the picture. We are printing out these phone holders for our volunteers. They’ll have their phone at the right angle and then point it at the sun, so they’ll get the right orientation for it,” Perry said.
She acknowledged that it’s like the Super Bowl “for nerds.”
“We are very excited to have all these people here and then to be able to share the amazing celestialness of what’s going to be happening on campus,” Perry said.
People are welcome to bring their cameras or telescopes and set them up on the Mesa Deck as well.
She added that they are asking for volunteers and there is a link on the UTPB website to sign up.
“We’re asking for volunteers to host and then particularly for the STEAMfest to be involved in the different things. We’re trying to get students that will be here to greet our visitors,” Perry said.
Telescopes will be set up on the second deck of the Mesa Building.
“We’re working to stream that,” Perry said.
