Jay Pasachoff, globetrotting solar eclipse expert, dies at age 79

Jay Pasachoff, a solar astronomer who witnessed 74 solar eclipses over the course of his life, died at his dwelling in Williamstown, Massachusetts, on Sunday, Nov. 21. He was 79 years outdated.

Pasachoff was Area Memorial Professor of Astronomy and Director of the Hopkins Observatory at Williams School. He was not solely identified for his skilled information of eclipses, but additionally for his priceless climate predictions. By combing by way of out there knowledge resembling climate almanacs, Pasachoff had a formidable monitor file for figuring out one of the best eclipse viewing websites primarily based on how probably they had been to host clear skies throughout totality.

“Jay Pasachoff was a towering determine within the astronomical group. Apart from his scientific achievements, Jay was an exemplar in selling citizen science and selfless together with his time,” Michael Zeiler, a maker of eclipse maps, tells Astronomy. “What I’ll miss most about Jay is his humanity and infectious enthusiasm about sharing the splendor of total solar eclipses.”

An early begin in astronomy

Born July 1, 1943, in Manhattan, Pasachoff’s mom was a trainer, whereas his father was a surgeon who later served within the Military Medical Corps throughout World Warfare II.

Pasachoff’s curiosity in astronomy developed at a younger age. After transferring to the Bronx, Pasachoff would take journeys to the Hayden Planetarium. And as a excessive schooler, he would start tinkering with constructing telescopes.

Then, as a freshman at Harvard (at age 16), Pasachoff took an astronomy course taught by solar eclipse skilled Donald Menzel. Pasachoff witnessed his first total solar eclipse only a few weeks later, when Menzel secured entry to a aircraft to let his pupil’s expertise totality from the sky.

Inside a decade, Pasachoff earned his bachelor’s, grasp’s, and Ph.D. in astronomy from Harvard. And over the following 50 years, he made each effort to make sure he might view greater than 70 solar eclipses.

A half-century of eclipses