Solar Eclipse

At the most recent board meeting here at Las Lomas, astronomer Paul Kalas argued that next year’s school calendar should be changed because on the first day of school there will be a solar eclipse.

Paul Kalas an adjunct professor in the astronomy department at the University of California, Berkeley.

He led a team of scientists that obtained the first visible light images of a extrasolar planet with orbital motion around the star Fomalhaut, at a distance of 25 light years from Earth. The planet is referred to as Fomalhaut B also known as Dagon.

Kalas wants the Acalanes Union, Moraga and Lafayette school districts to change the first day of school from the 21st of August to the 22nd, so that students are able to watch the solar eclipse.

He believes that it will be a very educational experience for them. In addition, the eclipse, according to Kalas, will be many people’s only chance in their lifetime to witness this type of eclipse.

When the path of a total solar eclipse crosses a country, it is widely considered a national event on par with national elections and rare historical events.

Between 1981 and 2060, only four total solar eclipses will happen across the continental US, and only two will occur near California in the years 2017 to 2045.

This is a big deal to Kalas because he wants to inspire a new generation of scientists. “Witnessing amazing phenomenons in nature inspires students to enter the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineer- ing and Mathematics) fields,” said Kalas.

When he discovered Fomalhaut B he received many calls from people that had become interested in science after hearing about his discovery. “None were scientists, yet the tiny bit of the universe that I showed them filled their hearts and minds with inspiration,” said Kalas.

However, the school board has decided not change the calendar for the upcoming school year.