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Eclipse
Blue Mountain Eagle
ECLIPSE
Continued from Page A1
“They’re trying to get a
continuous stream of photo-
graphs,” Smith said. “They
were missing a section of Or-
egon, and I got a call asking if
we’d be interested in partici-
pating.”
In June, Smith was trained
for the project by a scientist
with a doctorate in astronomy.
On July 31, Smith and two
of her sophomore students
Gage Lambeth and Donavan
Smith and former student
Declan Jensen, a 2017 Grant
Union graduate, met to prac-
tice setting up the telescope
before the big day.
Jensen’s friend Anthony
Allen of Rocklin, California,
also joined in the process.
The telescope and a laptop
were set up on private property
near John Day.
“The sun is hard to center
in the telescope,” Smith said,
as they worked to fine tune the
settings.
Once the image of the sun
was focused, Smith sent the
settings to scientists involved
The Eagle/Angel Carpenter
Grant Union science teacher Sonna Smith, back right, works with, from left, Gage
Lambeth, Donavan Smith, Anthony Allen and Declan Jensen, preparing to participate in
a nationwide solar eclipse experiment near John Day.
in the project to double-check
for accuracy.
Donavan said he hopes to
gain “more know-how about
astronomy and the eclipse”
from the experience.
Lambeth said he was look-
ing forward to having a close
look at a career he plans to
pursue.
“It’s going to give me an
idea of what it will be like,”
he said, adding he’d like to be
involved in astronomy in some
way in the future.
Sonna said she chose some
younger students for the proj-
ect so they can train other stu-
dents to use the equipment.
Jensen said she hopes to
learn how to properly use a
telescope.
She attends Lane Com-
munity College and plans to
NASA scientists are
studying eclipse in Unity
Wednesday, August 16, 2017
transfer to University of Or-
egon in Eugene to pursue a
physics degree.
Scientist Tom Schad will
also work with the group.
Sonna said she looks forward
to having his assistance with
the project to make sure it
goes smoothly.
David Anderson is another
scientist with the project who
will set up near Mt. Vernon.
Sonna said a bonus to par-
ticipating in the program is
the opportunity to keep the
equipment, including the tele-
scope, camera attachment and
laptop.
“They’re giving the school
access to free software, in
case we have students who
want to do presentations
about the eclipse or more re-
search about the eclipse,” she
said.
Dr. Matt Penn, who is the
principal investigator for the
program through the National
Science Foundation’s Nation-
al Solar Observatory, said he
expects the nationwide exper-
iment to provide an extraordi-
nary dataset.
“Normally during a solar
eclipse, we get about 2 min-
Navigating the eclipse
Road closures and parking
restrictions in effect
By Rylan Boggs
Experiments
planned before,
during, after
By Angel Carpenter
Blue Mountain Eagle
Unity’s wide-open spac-
es are attracting NASA as-
tronomers to the area for the
eclipse.
Although the town pop-
ulation is just around 100,
with an enrollment at Burnt
River School of 35, the
school will host 40 astrono-
mers from NASA and Virgin
Galactic, a company that of-
fers space adventures.
Burnt River’s sole sci-
ence teacher Tonia Humbert
said she’s looking forward
to the experience.
“NASA has established
our school as an educational
outpost,” she said. “They’ll
be performing different ex-
periments with the students
before, during and after the
eclipse.”
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Although students start-
ed school this week, on
Monday the school will be
closed due to traffic and
safety concerns. Students
are invited to join the scien-
tists and soak in the knowl-
edge they’ll share.
On Sunday night, a pro-
fessional astronomer will
host a stargazing event.
There will also be astro-
physics lectures.
The astronomers will
talk about their official
positions and give an
eclipse folklore presenta-
tion, covering the histo-
ry of humankind and how
they’ve viewed these astro-
nomical events, Humbert
said.
They will also demon-
strate how to make pinhole
cardboard viewers.
She said eye safety is an
issue.
“The glasses that are be-
ing marketed are designed
for a full-size human face,”
Humbert said. “There is a
lot of peripheral space that
could cause children to in-
jure their eyes. They advise
they use a pinhole camera
instead.”
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In addition to the presen-
tations, a tethered hot air
balloon will be in town on
Sunday, although Humbert
was unsure if balloon rides
will be available to the gen-
eral public.
Humbert said the pre-
sentations are by invitation
only. Community members,
both close and extended,
have been invited to the
event.
“This is an amazing op-
portunity. However, there
are obvious safety and se-
curity concerns, not only
involving the students but
also the integrity of the ex-
periments done by the scien-
tists,” Humbert said. “This is
such a rare event. They can’t
put (their scientific work) in
jeopardy.”
She added the scientists
will involve participants to a
certain extent.
“It’s just a once-in-a-
lifetime opportunity to
get a personal look at pro-
fessionals in this area,”
she said. “How often can
you have a conversation
with a NASA scientist?
I’m beyond excited at the
opportunity.”
utes of data in that region
closest to the photosphere
(solar surface),” he said. “But
Citizen CATE will allow us
to get an hour and a half of
data.”
He said the 90 minutes of
continuous, high-resolution
and rapid-cadence images
will detail the sun’s inner co-
rona, providing information
about a region of the solar
atmosphere that is typically
challenging to image.
“Thankfully, there is noth-
ing typical about this eclipse,”
he said.
Sonna said she was glad
Allen, who has an interest
in astronomy as well, joined
their group.
Allen, a 2016 grad, said
being involved in the total
solar eclipse project is a good
experience.
“It gives me a way to make
it more memorable,” he said.
“Otherwise, I’d put on these
(solar eclipse) glasses, look at
it and say ‘neat’ and go back
inside.”
For more information
about the upcoming eclipse
and Citizen CATE, visit
eclipse2017.nso.edu/online.
Blue Mountain Eagle
One of the most important
things people can do during the
eclipse is to be patient, Grant
County Emergency Manage-
ment Coordinator Ted Williams
said.
Longer commutes and con-
gestion, especially on Highways
26 and 395, are to be expected.
Williams urged people to
stay on main roads, despite po-
tentially long waits.
He said parking will not be
allowed on Main Street in John
Day, and the county airport
would only be open for emer-
gency and fire personnel. The
county is prepared for fuel short-
ages and has 2,000 gallons of
fuel stockpiled for law enforce-
ment and medical emergencies.
“This is going to be fluid
right up until the time it hap-
pens,” Williams said.
If an emergency occurs, vol-
unteer first responders such as
firefighters and search and res-
cue members respond to their
bases in personal vehicles with
hazard lights flashing. Visitors
should yield the road to these
first responders, despite the lack
of sirens and typical emergency
lights.
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County roads 2, 57, 46A,
52, 43 and 20A will be closed
to all but local traffic Aug. 17-
23 during the eclipse by order of
the Grant County Court.
These closures were brought
forward by landowners to Grant
County Roadmaster Alan Hick-
erson and then to the county
court for approval.
A request from Grant Coun-
ty Undersheriff Zach Mobley to
close County Road 77, which
leads to the Canyon Mountain
Trailhead, was also approved.
Hickerson said resources to
enforce and patrol these roads
would not be available during
the eclipse, but the road depart-
ment would be able to place
concrete barriers if needed.
The People Mover, Grant
County’s bus system, will be
running eight routes connecting
John Day, Mt. Vernon, Prairie
City, Canyon City and Dayville,
according to Angie Jones, the
transportation manager at the
People Mover. For a complete
schedule and fare costs, visit
grantcountypeoplemover.com/
solar-eclipse-2017.
John Day city employees
will be directing traffic and
ensuring things run smoothly
during the eclipse, according to
city manager Nick Green. Over-
flow parking will be available at
the Industrial Park and the Ore-
gon Pine property, if it is needed,
Green said.
To assist with public safe-
ty for the eclipse, the Malheur
National Forest has issued tem-
porary road and area closure or-
ders, effective through Aug. 25.
The affected roads lead to eight
fire lookout towers and one
communication site.
The roads closed to motor-
ized travel are Forest Service
roads 2610 and 759 leading
to Dixie Lookout, 71 leading
to Black Butte Lookout, 537
leading to Indian Rock Look-
out, 1370 leading to Table Rock
Lookout, 607 leading to Fall
Mountain Lookout, 820 leading
to Dry Soda Lookout, 819 lead-
ing to Flagtail Lookout and 2150
leading to Aldrich Lookout.
Also in effect through Aug.
25 is a closure order that prohib-
its camping within 1,200 feet of
lookout towers and guard sta-
tions located within the path of
totality.
For a detailed list of affected
roads and areas, along with cop-
ies of the closure orders, visit
fs.usda.gov/Malheur or call the
Malheur National Forest office,
541-575-3000.
Due to expected large
crowds, the Oregon Department
of Transportation urges people
to treat the three-hour eclipse as
a three-day event.
The department recom-
mends carpooling, arriving early
and staying late to avoid traffic
jams.
The shoulder is for emer-
gency stopping, not parking or
eclipse viewing, and blocking
the shoulder could keep emer-
gency vehicles from reaching
victims, according to ODOT.
Eclipse viewers can get a
birds-eye view of traffic speeds
anywhere in the state by visiting
tripcheck.com.