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For years, small groups of astronomy enthusiasts have traveled the globe chasing the rare solar eclipse. They have embarked on cruises to the middle of the ocean, taken flights into the eclipse’s path and even traveled to Antarctica. In August 2017, millions across the US witnessed a total solar eclipse visible from Oregon to South Carolina, with a partial eclipse visible to the rest of the continental US.
The interest in astronomical events that this eclipse sparked will likely return with two eclipses visible in the US during the next year – the annular solar eclipse on October 14, 2023, and the total eclipse on April 8, 2024. But astro-tourism – traveling to national parks, observatories or other natural, dark-sky locations to view astronomical events – isn’t limited just to chasing eclipses.
According to a recent study, 80% of Americans and one-third of the planet’s population can no longer see the Milky Way from their homes because of light pollution. As a consequence, most people have to travel to witness meteor showers and other common astronomical events.
I am a space scientist with a passion for teaching physics and astronomy and photographing the night sky. Every summer I spend several nights backpacking in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California, where the skies are sufficiently dark to allow the Milky Way to be seen with the naked eye. My son and I also like to take road trips – often along US 395, the Eastern Sierra Scenic Byway – that coincide with eclipses and meteor showers.
There are two types of eclipses. Lunar eclipses occur when the full moon passes through Earth’s shadow. Solar eclipses occur when the new moon briefly blocks the Sun.
There are three types of solar eclipses. During a total eclipse, the Moon completely covers the Sun, with totality, or the time during which the Sun is completely eclipsed, lasting as long as seven minutes. During totality, those in the path of the eclipse will see the Sun’s corona, or its outer atmosphere, behind the Moon’s silhouette.
The Moon’s orbit around the Earth is an ellipse, so the Moon can appear to be 15% smaller when it’s at its farthest point from Earth, its apogee, compared with its size when it is at its closest point to Earth, its perigee. An annular eclipse occurs when the Moon doesn’t cover the entire disk of the Sun, leaving a ring of sunlight around the Moon.
Finally, a partial eclipse occurs when the Moon blocks only a part of the Sun’s
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Road trips in Montana really take you places. Massive mountains, glacier lakes, and wild rivers unfurl outside the window on the state’s wide-open roads, each diving into a state of exploration and pure natural wonder. And with plenty of Western scenery and outstretched landscapes along the way, road-tripping across Montana proves it’s all about the journey between destinations.
Ever wanted to wade into a cranberry bog? No need to audition for an Ocean Spray commercial—you can immerse yourself in a sea of burgundy berries by taking a cranberry bog tour. The best time to visit is during the cranberry harvest season, which typically occurs from mid-September through mid-November.
Nobody appointed Doug Michaels to serve as an ambassador of the human race. But the position, which he assumed in 1977, promised to have far greater significance than ambassadorships to China or the Soviet Union. He and co-ambassadors Alexandra Morphett and Robert Perry proposed nothing less than to develop diplomatic relations with a nonhuman species. Their seaborne embassy sought direct communication with dolphins.
When people talk about financial safety in Vegas, they’re usually talking about knowing when to walk away from the blackjack table. Recently, however, protecting your finances in Sin City has taken on a whole new (and even more serious) meaning. Over the past few weeks, some of Vegas’s biggest hotels and casinos were hit by a group of hackers who brought down gaming machines, disrupted websites, and stole a variety of personal guest and employee data at both MGM and Caesars, according to TechCrunch. The breach affected properties not only in Vegas, but the companies’ holdings around the world.
I loved participating in the Disney College Program — where students and recent grads can work at the theme parks for a semester — so much that I did it twice.
Delta Air Lines and United Airlines were ordered by a federal judge to face a consumer antitrust class action accusing major U.S. carriers of conspiring to drive up domestic airfares by reducing the number of available seats.
When people refer to “big” airports, they typically think of large hubs with huge numbers of passengers transiting through. But bigger doesn’t always mean busier. The biggest airports in the world are those that occupy the highest total acreage of land. And yes, some of the biggest are also some of the world’s busiest—but not always. Some are hubs that have big hopes for future growth, while others have interesting stories behind how and why they acquired and maintain such a large footprint.