GAC October meeting – by Howard J Simkover

Galway Astronomy Club are pleased to announce details of our October club meeting, which will take place at 7.30 pm on Monday the 7th October in the Menlo Park Hotel, Terryland, Galway.

 Talk: ‘Celestial Shadows – Eclipses of the Sun’

Every couple of years, somewhere on the Earth, the Moon’s shadow touches down and sweeps
at supersonic speed across oceans and continents. People situated in the path of this celestial
shadow experience the unforgettable sight of a total eclipse of the Sun. While some ancient
civilizations had a good understanding of solar eclipses, it was not until the early 18th Century
that the date, time and trajectory of an eclipse could be calculated with reasonable precision.
This presentation is about the various types of solar eclipses – what they are, when they
happen, the underlying geometry that causes them, why they are perceived to be rare events,
and the spectacular beauty that they offer to us.
On Monday, April 8, 2024 a total solar eclipse occurred in Mexico, the US and Canada. Public
awareness was handled extremely well by the astronomical community and the media. While
parts of the eclipse track experienced clouds, huge numbers of people were able to view this
stunning celestial alignment safely in clear skies, and to stand within the shadow of the Moon.

Speaker: Howard J Simkover

Howard Simkover was born in Montreal, Canada and obtained his education
there. He graduated as the leading student in McGill University’s Faculty of
Electrical Engineering, and was awarded the British Association Medal for Great
Distinction. He is a Professional Engineer, Ontario, and currently works as a
consultant in policy and governance with Health Canada (federal government
department).

Howard’s lifelong interest in astronomy began at age 7, when he obtained his first
telescope and used it to observe the planet Mars. Later, he became active in the
Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, where he served on the Observation
Committee and the Board of Directors of the Montreal Centre.

For more than two decades, Howard produced numerous shows and lectured on
astronomy at the Montreal Planetarium. Some of his shows played at other
planetaria in Canada and the United States. He has also lectured about
astronomy at the Canada Science & Technology Museum and Carleton
University. He continues to speak to audiences in Canada’s National Capital
Region and to groups elsewhere in the world via online technology. He owns and
regularly uses several telescopes to observe the sky. One of his passions is
eclipses of the sun, which he has “chased” over two dozen times all over the World.