Decatur Plastic Surgery

08/21/2023

The other night I gave an eclipse preparation talk to the Von Bruan Astronomical Society in Huntsville, AL. I used some updated graphics for the eye safety portion of the talk, and I thought it would be good to make up a basic and concise YouTube video providing an overview of the 2023 and 2024 eclipses, using solar glasses, and eye safety.

For everything you need to know about preparing for the 2024 total solar eclipse visit my website and take advantage of the two excellent tools I offer for e...

05/27/2023

A lady ordered a second copy of the print version of my eclipse book yesterday. Before I shipped it, I emailed her to ensure she had ordered it. Her friendly response reminded me why I go through all this effort to provide my two eclipse tools; to help people get the most enjoyment out of a solar eclipse!

05/20/2023

Here is a link to an article about American Paper Optics, the American manufacturer of solar eclipse glasses. After the 2017 eclipse, I drove to Bartlett, TN, met with them, and they gave me a tour of their factory. They are really great people! I bought 1,000 Solar Eclipse Timer custom glasses from them, they gave me glasses to give out at my eclipse talks, and they helped my son's school get glasses in a rush when the school's order fell through with a foreign manufacturer. You wouldn't believe the "war stories" they told me about the period just before the 2017 eclipse trying to get glasses to people that needed them. They don't have dedicated retail space, they have a tiny waiting area at the front door to their facility. So, in 2017, each day they set up a pop-up tent outside the front door to have a place for people to pick up orders and make new sales. Cool folks!

American Paper Optics sold 45 million pairs of eclipse glasses before the 2017 eclipse. It hopes to sell more than 75 million before the next one.

05/03/2023

A Google review of my app was posted immediately after being used at the recent eclipse in Australia. I love the lingo "Does what it says on the tin." 😁 I have never heard that before! I guess it's a "down under" way of saying "does what's advertised." So cool! www.solareclipsetimer.com

04/06/2023

I provided a lot of the planning, eclipse content, images, and graphics for this article which was posted today on AccuWeather and written by my friend Brian Lada. It's an overview of planning for the 2024 eclipse overall. It's a nice read. Please share it on social media to get the word out. Especially with eclipse novices. The eclipse is one year away!

On April 8, 2024, a total solar eclipse will send North America into darkness. Here's everything you need to know about the astronomy event of the decade.

10/14/2021

Today marks 2 years before the U.S. annular eclipse out west. I provided a lot of content for this AccuWeather article about 2023 annular. This is how my AccuWeather contact chose to write about it. My emphasis is that the annular eclipse is great for two reasons; witnessing the annular and using it to prepare gear for 2024. PS: I strongly discouraged the use of the phrase "ring of fire" but was unable to prevent its inclusion, because the term is too ingrained in the media.

A celestial doubleheader is right around the corner with two solar eclipses in the offing less than seven months apart. Preparation will be key to see these events -- and that should begin now, according to an eclipse expert.

04/13/2021

I had the chance to reach out to our Canadian eclipse enthusiast friends by having the opportunity to contribute to an article posted to a popular Montreal, Quebec blog site. The path does cross Montreal, although it misses Toronto. Jay Anderson contributed helpful specific weather analysis for the folks in the Montreal area.

Tips to get the best view in 2024!

04/06/2021

This Thursday, April 8th, marks 3 years before the next total solar eclipse crosses the United States. It will be on Monday, April 8, 2023. I wrote this article for AccuWeather to inspire you to prepare. Enjoy!

On April 8, 2024, a total solar eclipse will be visible in the U.S., but even if you live in the path of totality, the weather may force you to travel.

03/06/2020

It came to my attention this week that people don't' realize that my app has an extensive Help File. Within the Help File, in the appropriate sections, there are active hyperlinks that go directly to my YouTube videos on various eclipse subjects. The video subjects include photography, observing and the partial phase phenomena. The app is a FREE download with access to this Help File. I invite you to get the app, scroll through the Help File and go to my YouTube channel. I have more eclipse videos that I am working on right now, including a complete eclipse photography tutorial set, so consider subscribing. The Help File of course also explains all of the functions of the app as well as eclipse preparation tips. For easy navigation the Table of Contents lines are also links to the pages, so you can get around the Help File easily. Future eclipse data sets are available by an in-app purchase process. Thanks!

02/18/2020

This Friday Night I am invited back to give a talk at the Von Braun Astronomical Society in Huntsville, Alabama. Prior to the 2017 solar eclipse, I gave an eclipse photography talk there. And in 2018 I gave an overview talk about the success of the Great American Eclipse. The VBAS has a rich history that dates back to its organization in 1954 and having Dr. Wernher von Braun be its first president in 1955. Many of the early Redstone Arsenal rocketeers who built the Saturn V rocket that got us to the Moon have been members through time.

This Friday I will share time with two other presentations about

the 2019 total solar eclipse. Sharon and Jim Gardepe will discuss their unfortunate experience of being clouded out aboard the Paul Gauguin eclipse cruise. Alphonse Sterling, a NASA solar physicist, will discuss his experience in Chile. I will discuss my experience in Argentina and my topic will be the solar eclipse Purkinje Effect.

Yesterday I uploaded a new YouTube video that discusses ALL of the details about this fascinating lighting effect including some of my basic research about it. So when my app does the partial phase announcement "Observe For Changes In Ambient Lighting" at 4 minutes before 2nd Contact, this is the reason I have this reminder programmed.

About 4 minutes before totality you experience the weirdest lighting effect you can ever witness on Earth! The slow transition to night vision through the Me...

12/14/2019

Today marks 1 year until the next total solar eclipse in South America! I wrote an article for AccuWeather that describes some of the interesting features of this eclipse. Veteran eclipse chasers may be well aware of the points I discuss. But others may learn some things about this particular eclipse, eclipses in general and eclipse preparation for 2020 and the U.S. eclipse in 2024. If you like the information in the article please share it with your friends and other social media sites. Thanks!

The next total solar eclipse is one year away and will only be visible in South America. Dr. Gordon Telepun tells you everything you need to know if you plan on traveling to see it.

07/15/2019

My 1st attempt at putting my setting eclipse sequence together. Quickly working with the JPG files and almost no processing, only making the totality layer lighter to bring out the mountains. It was neat to see the eclipse set into the mountains.