13C-1 - EM2024: Lessons Learned

Abstract: eclipsemegamovie.org

Eclipse Megamovie 2024 (EM2024) is a NASA-funded project working with hundreds of citizen scientists from within the line of totality during the April 8, 2024 eclipse. These photographers followed EM2024 protocols to acquire and submit tens of thousands of photographs of the eclipse and a similar number of calibration images that will be processed to study solar plasma transients in white light in a region normally blocked by coronagraph discs in space. These data can be combined to create a video of the coronal activity as the moon’s shadow crossed the Northern American continent, which we call the “Eclipse Megamovie”.

EM2024 is a follow up to EM2017, a similar project led by Oliveros and Peticolas during and after the August 21, 2017 “Great American Eclipse”. EM2024 focuses on characterizing transient plasma flows and jets in the chromosphere and corona. In order to achieve this, technical procedures were developed and 100 Arduino-controlled equatorial mounts were designed, produced, and shipped to Science Team Alpha Recruits (STARs), members of the subsection of the Photography Team. Other EM2024 volunteers included teams that developed machine learning algorithms, contributed to project discussions, and provided content to social media sites and newsletters.

This talk will present lessons learned from both eclipse experiences, including promising best practices in recruiting, training, and supporting volunteers. Reflections on social media strategies that connect EM2024 team members and organization of the campaign will also be presented.

This work was supported by NASA award number 80NSSC23K0947 to Sonoma State University, working in partnership with the University of California, Berkley. Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.