The International Astronomical Union’s Working Group on Solar Eclipses

The International Astronomical Union’s Working Group on Solar Eclipses of Divisions C (Education, Outreach, and Heritage) and E (Sun and Heliosphere) has the following tasks: (a) Working with the general public, providing materials and links to explain why eclipses are interesting to watch, how to observe them safely, and what science is being studied; and (b) Working with professional astronomers from around the world, to help coordinate their expeditions to total solar eclipses, including helping them work with customs in various countries about the temporary importation of scientific equipment. With our especially easy-to-remember website URL of http://eclipses.info, we endeavor to be a one-stop location for a wide variety of observing aids for professional and amateur astronomers. We link, for example, to the major sites for eclipse mapping. For professionals, we hope to be able to advise on the temporary duty-free import of equipment for eclipse observations. We provide links to books and summary articles about solar eclipses, and information about safe observing of solar eclipses (while trying to explain their excitement and value to the general public). • Members: Jay Pasachoff (USA, Chair), Iraida Kim (Russia), Jagdev Singh (India), Vojtech Rusin (Slovakia, through 2021), Yoichiro Hanaoka (Japan), Zhongquan Qu (China), Beatriz Garcia (Argentina), Patricio Rojo (Chile), Xavier Jubier (France), Fred Espenak (US), Jay Anderson (Canada), Glenn Schneider (US), Michael Gill (UK), Michael Zeiler (USA), Bill Kramer (USA); associates: Michael Kentrianakis (USA), and Ralph Chou (Canada). • For the 2019 and 2020 total eclipses in Chile and Argentina, Patricio Rojo (U. Chile) and Beatriz Garcia (Pierre Auger Observatory, Argentina) were added to the Working Group.• For the next triennium, September 2021-September 2024, given visibility of totality from Learmonth, Western Australia in 2023, we propose adding Terry Cuttle (public outreach, Australia) and Michael Wheatland (U. Sydney; an editor of the journal Solar Physics). We also propose adding Andreas Möller (Germany; who will collaborate with Bill Kramer on an archive of eclipse publications and maintain the eclipse-chaser.com website). Prof. Wheatland is an IAU member; Mr. Cuttle and Mr. Möller would be associates. Also we add Costantino Sigismondi (Italy), Robert Walsh (UK), and Kevin Reardon (US National Solar Observatory, USA). For the three eclipses in Spain (two total and one annular) in 2025-2026-2017, we add Mohamad Soltanolkotabi (Spain). We also look ahead to eclipses in Australia in 2028 and 2030. The 2027 eclipse continues from Spain across North Africa. The 2030 eclipse that reaches Australia starts over South Africa. • JMP represents this IAU Working Group on the American Astronomical Society’s Solar Eclipse Task Force for the 2023 and 2024 eclipses (see http://eclipse.aas.org): Solar Eclipse Across America. Each year, we provide “Eclipses” for the International Geophysical Calendar (International Space Environmental Service), http://www.spaceweather.org/ISES/info/geocal/geocal.html • Acknowledgment: JMP’s current solar eclipse activity is sponsored in large part by grant 1903500 of the Solar Terrestrial Program, Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences Division, NSF.