Southeast offers classes, readies for research on solar eclipse

Southeast Missouri State University will offer solar eclipse-themed classes this spring, and some of the school’s students will participate in an eclipse research project, school officials said.

A total solar eclipse will occur in the region Aug. 21.

Southeast will offer “Astronomy in the Suburbs” An Introduction to Star Gazing” from 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday and again from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. Thursday.

Physics professor Peggy Hill will teach the sessions in Magill Hall Room 228, according to a news release.

Hill will discuss the constellations and how to use a sky chart to find stars and planets and observe the phases of the moon.

The August solar eclipse also will be discussed.

Cost for the class is $30.

A second primer is planned from noon to 1 p.m. Wednesday at Sadie’s Place in Kent Library.

Hill and chemistry professor Mike Rodgers will talk about the Citizen Continental America Telescopic Eclipse (CATE) project.

The project involves “citizen astronomers” who will record images of the eclipse as it passes over more than 60 locations across the United States, according to the release.

One of the CATE sites will be in Perryville, Missouri.

Southeast students and faculty will participate in the research project, the university said in the news release.

The National Solar Observatory with support from the National Science Foundation is funding the cost of equipment for faculty and students to use to collect data during the eclipse.

Images collected from each CATE site will be combined into a 90-minute movie to reveal how the solar atmosphere changed during the eclipse, Hill said in the release.

On April 10, Southeast will hold a continuing education class titled “Eclipse 101: Preparing for Darkness at Noon.”

The class will meet from 7 to 8:30 p.m. in Rhodes Hall, Room 121.

Hill will teach the session, which is designed to “help participants cut through the superstition and learn valuable tips for safe viewing” of the eclipse, the university said in the release.

Interested persons may register online for the March and April classes at eclipse.semo.edu.

mbliss@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3641