Dr John Mason MBE has all the time had the celebs in thoughts. When he was a baby, he wrote to TV astronomer Sir Patrick Moore and requested him if he should purchase a telescope. ‘No, purchase binoculars,’ was the well-known astronomer’s reply. ‘I saved my cash from my paper spherical and acquired a pair from an ex-military store,’ Dr John recalled.
When the famed TV astronomer moved to a city simply down the street from John, 14 on the time, it was prefer it was, effectively, written within the stars. He reached out once more and was invited to have a look by way of Patrick’s telescope. ‘It was a life-changing second,’ John recollects.
Since then, Dr John has gone on to a profession as an astronomer and utilized physicist. He was the principal astronomy lecturer at a famend planetarium within the UK and infrequently seems on TV and radio within the UK to elucidate the most recent astronomical occasion.
When he’s not within the public eye, John is main expeditions around the globe – chasing photo voltaic eclipses, recording the northern lights and observing meteor showers. And now he’s on the brink of take a gaggle of Intrepid travellers on a one-off journey to New Mexico and Texas for the subsequent photo voltaic eclipse because it sweeps throughout the USA.
That magic second when all of it aligns
‘The factor that’s fantastic to me when you have got a complete eclipse… is that pink, that crimson of the chromosphere [from the sun’s second layer of the atmosphere]. It’s an unbelievably pure color.’
The magic of this upcoming eclipse could also be tough to think about, however Dr John desires you to know that this chance happens once-in-a-lifetime and shouldn’t be missed. ‘In the UK, we had a complete eclipse again in 1999. The following one isn’t till 2090. That’s a 91-year hole, so take your possibilities,’ he says. ‘We’re so lucky to be dwelling at a time once we can see these occasions.’
Dr John can’t assist however clarify. ‘These are stuff you would by no means see with the unaided human eye had been it not for the unimaginable cosmic coincidence of a complete eclipse. The moon is 400 instances smaller than the solar, and but it’s 400 instances nearer to us. When the 2 objects seem precisely the identical measurement within the sky and match over each other, it’s a tremendous circumstance and distinctive in our photo voltaic system.’
On this 16-day journey, travellers can even get to stargaze in an Worldwide Darkish Sky Park close to Santa Fe, New Mexico – a protected space that preserves websites from extreme synthetic mild. ‘If you go to a darkish sky reserve or darkish sky park, you get a view and expertise of the true night time sky that almost all of persons are unable to entry.’
In response to Dr John, these locations are distinctive as a result of ‘many individuals have had their view of the night time sky taken away from a mix of sunshine and air air pollution.’ The expertise is in contrast to going to a planetarium, the place air pollution can nonetheless be a difficulty.
When you have by no means seen an eclipse earlier than, you’re in for a deal with. For the novice, his greatest recommendation is to ‘hold an open thoughts, be ready to see and expertise issues that you simply may not count on.’
To get probably the most out of the eclipse, Dr John suggests discovering a darkish sky reserve or park and travelling to a zone the place totality – when the moon fully blocks the solar – could be skilled. That’s whenever you see the solar’s vivid crimson plasma chromosphere that’s usually hidden from the bare eye. Earlier than the eclipse reaches totality, he stresses defending your eyes. Nevertheless, you may look immediately by way of your binoculars throughout totality.
Hold an open thoughts, be ready to see and expertise issues that you simply may not count on.
For those who’ve seen an eclipse earlier than, this one shall be completely different. He notes in 2017, ‘the whole eclipse within the USA went from northwest to southeast. This one [in 2024] shall be entering into precisely the wrong way.’ He expects totality to final 4 and half minutes throughout this eclipse, which is for much longer than the three minutes noticed in 2017. He casually mentions that this shall be his twenty first whole eclipse, and each is a brand new expertise.
A lot multiple second
Nevertheless it’s not solely the astronomy on this journey that shall be enriching. ‘It’s a mix of scientific websites, the historical past of spaceflight, native North American tradition, and the tradition of that individual a part of the USA.’
Even in his retirement, he tells me, ‘I spend my time speaking to younger folks and older folks – folks of all ages – attempting to enthuse them about why astronomy and house are so thrilling, attempting to get them within the universe round them. We’re all a part of it, and it’s essential that individuals perceive what’s going on there.’