Abstract

We introduce the first special issue of the BAAS publication, Celebrating Science in the Shadow. All articles are free to read and download. We invite individuals to consider submitting their own piece for the next issue.

1. Introduction

The confluence of two solar eclipses visible in the continental U.S. within months of each other provided a special opportunity for professional scientists, educational outreach professionals, community scientists, teachers, students, amateur astronomers, artists, park rangers, other professionals, and individuals of all ages to share their experiences to not only celebrate their eclipse experiences but to provide guidance for future eclipses. This special issue is the first in a series of celebration and sharing about the solar eclipses past, current, and future. If you have an eclipse experience to share, resources for others, or lessons learned, we invite you to contribute to a future issue.

When starting this project, our vision was to have a place where the full community could share and freely read what was shared by others. We are grateful to the BAAS for giving us a place to realize our vision and specifically to Julie Steffen and August Muench for all their support as we brought this to reality. All submissions were solicited from the community and authors did not incur any monetary cost for inclusion in this issue. All papers were edited by volunteer editors. All articles are free for anyone to read. Authors were given the option for a dual-anonymous peer review of their submission; these are in a special section of the issue. Lastly, all images you see in the issue are from the authors of the papers.

2. Sections

This special issue includes a wonderful variety of papers organized into seven sections:

Personal Narratives that share individuals’ experiences getting ready for and experiencing a solar eclipse.

Viewing the Sun Safely that shares resources and tips for viewing the Sun safely during the eclipse (and any day!)

Eclipse Science and Investigations that shares eclipse science, ways to get involved in collecting data, and investigations you can do yourself.

Eclipse Education and Outreach Tools and Resources that includes papers that share education and outreach tools and resources that you can use for your own events.

Reports from the Field includes papers that discuss plans and results for solar eclipse events at various locations. While each event was unique, they offer lessons that will inspire and inform future events.

Human Perspective Under the Shadow includes papers that use or present data and observations that aid in understanding individual experiences during solar eclipses as well as understanding about solar eclipses.

Peer Reviewed Papers include submissions that have gone through a dual annonymous peer review process.

3. Acknowledgements

This project would not have been possible without a dedicated team of volunteers who edited papers. We want to publicly acknowledge the contributions of: Charles Law, Murti Nauth, Ronald Snarr, Nathan McGregor, Olivia Wilkins, Kamil Stelmach, Andy Shaner, Rhianna Absher, and Nhaturie Atkinson. We will be soliciting and including more volunteer editors for the next issue.

We are also grateful for our team of peer reviewers who we want to publicly thank. They include Craig DeForest, Nicholas Gross, Frank Sienkiewicz, Jeffrey Baumgardner, Erik Brogt, Matthew Wenger, and Elise Bostic.

Lastly, we want to thank all of the authors who trusted us to share their work.

4. Invitations for Future Submissions

We invite you to share these articles widely and consider your own future submission. We are accepting a wide range of articles that include science, description of events, personal narratives, eclipse imagery, images, videos, and other creative products.

It is our honor to share this with you as a gift from everyone involved. Let it inspire you as you go out, look up, and look forward to all the eclipses in your life.