Rice University professors of physics and astronomy Patrick Hartigan and Patricia Reiff are available to discuss the Oct. 14 annular eclipse.
The eclipse will be widely visible in Texas, Oregon, Nevada, Utah and New Mexico as well as some parts of California, Idaho, Colorado and Arizona.
Both Hartigan and Reiff are nationally recognized experts on eclipses and have done numerous public talks, educational outreach and local and national media interviews discussing a wide variety of topics relating to them. These include how to view eclipses safely, how annular eclipses differ from total eclipses, the rarity of different types of eclipses , optimal viewing locations and more.
Rice will host an open house to view the partial solar eclipse on the morning of Oct. 14. Hartigan will give a talk in Brockman Hall for Physics, Room 101 , from 9:15-10:15 a.m., and attendees will go to the terrace to observe the eclipse afterwards, weather permitting.
The partial phase begins at 10:27 a.m., reaches a maximum of 85.1% obscuration at 11:57 a.m. and finishes at 1:38 p.m. The public is free to come and go as they please, and attending the lecture is not required to view the eclipse.
A map of campus is online at https://map.concept3d.com/?id=473#!m/119182?s . Media interested in speaking to Hartigan or Reiff and/or attending the talk may contact Amy McCaig, senior media relations specialist at Rice, at 217-417-2901 or amym@rice.edu.