On April 8, 2024, Moultonborough will experience a solar eclipse at a 97% of totality. Join us for a talk by astronomer Dr. Douglas N. Arion, Executive Director, Mountains of Stars. Learn how eclipses happen and what to expect on April 8. 

"Darkness in the Daytime - Total solar eclipses are rare events - any one location on Earth can expect to see one every 300 years or so. And one is coming to New Hampshire this year! Eclipses connect us to the greater Cosmos in unique and special ways. Our talk will discuss the upcoming eclipse, the workings of the Sun, and the connections we get by experiencing this amazing event."

Register AND attend the program to receive solar glasses for safe eclipse viewing. We have a limited supply of these glasses from NASA and will distribute ONLY to registered attendees at the event while supplies last.  

Presenter bio:

Douglas Arion, PhD, is the director of Mountains of Stars, a public science outreach and education program that engages the public with ‘environmental awareness from a cosmic perspective’. He is Professor Emeritus of Physics and Astronomy and Donald D. Hedberg Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Entrepreneurial Studies at Carthage College. He founded the college’s Griffin Observatory and led observing programs at Yerkes, Steward, and Kitt Peak National Observatories. Previously, he was assistant vice president and head of the Applied Physics and Engineering Division of Science Applications International Corporation, where he directed programs in national defense.

He co-founded Galileoscope to provide high quality, low cost telescopes for worldwide promotion of science education. Initially launched for the International Year of Astronomy 2009 and the International Year of Light 2015, more than 270,000 are now in use in over 110 countries, and a new edition featuring solar filters for the upcoming eclipses is now available.

Arion led the effort to create the AMC Maine Woods International Dark Sky Park, which protects over 100,000 acres in Maine – the last substantial dark sky region in the eastern 2/3 of the US. He launched the production of Defending the Dark, a documentary on dark skies in Maine that has been shown on PBS across the US and at several major film festivals.

Arion is a Fellow of the American Physical Society, a member of the American Astronomical Society and the International Astronomical Union, has received the Distinguished Service Award from Sigma Pi Sigma (the physics honorary society), the Volunteer Leadership Award from the Appalachian Mountain Club, and the Dark Sky Defender Award from the International Dark Sky Association. He serves on US and international commissions on protecting astronomy and space environments.