Chuck GPT - Total Eclipse of the Sun

What’s it like to watch a solar eclipse with your own eyes? What’s actually happening with a solar eclipse? And when can we catch the next 3 solar eclipses?

In this episode of Chuck GPT, Dr. Charles Liu and co-host Alice Liu answer audience questions about solar eclipses with a little help from executive producer Leslie “Moonshine” Mullen and community director Stacey Severn.

Not surprisingly, the day’s joyfully cool cosmic thing is the total solar eclipse on August 12, 2026. Lots of people trekked out to see the eclipse, including the entire Liu family, but thanks to pervasive cloud cover, you had to be in sunny Spain to see the event clearly.

Our first audience question comes from our Patreon Patron, Santiago – and it’s also our first ever video question! He asks, “If you could travel to any planet or moon in the Solar System to witness the actual best eclipse in the solar system, which one would it be, and why?”

Alice, who wrote about this on their blog, Signore Galilei, says that when it comes to planets, Earth has the best, hands down. No other planet has a round moon that’s the right size to create the perfect eclipse. On top of that, Leslie explains why we also live in the best time ever to see a solar eclipse.

Our next audience question comes from Brianna, who asks, “Are there any scientific mysteries still left about Solar Eclipses?” Leslie tells us about the controversial Allais effect, which purports anomalous behavior of pendulums or gravitometers during solar eclipses. Chuck reminds us how they’ve used total solar eclipses to measure other things in the universe, including confirming the curvature of spacetime in Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity. And Alice brings up the “shadow bands” that occur before and after a total solar eclipse, the causes of which are still unresolved.

Our next question is from Brandon: “It seems like a lot of effort to travel thousands of miles to go see a total solar eclipse when it’s like two minutes long. Is it really worth it?” Our answer: a resounding YES! Stacey, Leslie, Alice and Chuck share their memories watching solar eclipses, and why there’s nothing quite like experiencing the moment of totality with your own senses.

The next question was asked by a person Chuck met in Iceland during this year’s total solar eclipse. Brooklyn, who is from Australia, asked him about where she could see the upcoming total solar eclipse that will be visible in Australia on July 22, 2028. Chuck goes her one better, and traces out the paths of the next three, in 2027, 2028, and 2030.

Our final question is from Dale, another of the people Chuck and Alice met in Iceland. “How do you bridge the gap between what you intellectually know about what’s happening with eclipses, and the overwhelming emotional awe that is felt when the shadow passes over us?”

We wouldn’t dream of summarizing Chuck’s awesome answer here (it includes his recitation, by heart, of Walt Whitman’s “When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer”) – go watch or listen for yourself now.

If you’d like to check out Alice’s blog mentioned in the episode, you can find it here.

We hope you enjoy this episode of The LIUniverse, and, if you do, please support us on Patreon.

Image Credits:

• – Total solar eclipse, on Aug. 21, 2017, Madras, Oregon. – Credit: NASA/Aubrey Gemignani
• – Callisto, Jupiter’s second largest moon. – Credit: NASA/JPL/DLR
• – Jupiter and its four largest moons (seen as bright dots), by NASA's Juno spacecraft, June 29, 2016. – Credit: NASA
• – Phobos, a moon of Mars, passing in front of the Sun, by NASA’s Perseverance rover on the Martian surface, April 2, 2022. – Credit: NASA
• The shadow of the moon during a solar eclipse. – Credit: NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio
• Maurice Allais. – Credit: Creative Commons
• Solar eclipse paths over the US, 2017 and 2024. – Credit: NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio
• 2027 total solar eclipse path, 2 August 2027. – Credit: ESA
• 2028 total solar eclipse path, July 22, 2028. – Credit: US National Solar Observatory/Open Street Map
• 2030 total solar eclipse path, Nov. 25, 2030. – Credit: Eclipse Prediction by Fred Espenak (NASA's GSFC)

CHAPTERS

00:00 Welcome to Chuck GPT - Total Eclipse of the Sun

03:06 Total Solar Eclipse, August 12, 2026 - Joyfully Cool Cosmic Thing

06:05 Which Planet Or Moon Has the Best Solar Eclipse?

12:07 Why This Is the Best Time in History To See a Solar Eclipse

13:06 Watch Phobos Transit the Sun Via NASA’s Perseverance Rover

14:28 Are There Still Any Scientific Mysteries About Solar Eclipses?

15:18 What’s the Difference Between Solar and Annular Eclipses?

17:05 Real Or Not - The Allais Effect, Pendulums, and Solar Eclipses

26:14 Is It Worth Traveling So Far To See a Total Solar Eclipse?

34:20 Where Can We See Total Solar Eclipses in 2027, 2028 and 2030?

41:15 Reflecting on the Moment of Totality in a Solar Eclipse