NASA Displays Hyperwall at Addlestone Library for Solar Eclipse

As part of NASA’s nationwide coverage of the historic solar eclipse on Aug. 21, 2017, the College of Charleston’s Marlene and Nathan Addlestone Library is hosting a pair of free public presentations highlighting the awe-inspiring celestial event.

NASA’s Hyperwall — capable of displaying multiple high-definition data visualizations simultaneously across an arrangement of screens — will greet visitors to the Library beginning Saturday, Aug. 19. The wall will be viewable from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. from Aug. 19-21 and from 9 a.m. to midnight on Aug. 22 and 23.

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That afternoon, at 2 p.m., the 16-foot by 9-foot Hyperwall will serve as the backdrop for The 2017 Total Solar Eclipse: Through the Eyes of NASA, a discussion by Alex Young, Associate Director for Science, Heliophysics Science Division, at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

The discussion explores the fundamental connection between heliophysics and solar eclipses, NASA’s connection to the science and the wonder of total solar eclipses, and where/when to experience the Aug. 21 spectacle. Jon Hakkila, CofC Associate Dean and Professor of Astrophysics, will moderate.

And at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 20, Paul Hertz, director of astrophysics at NASA Headquarters in Washington, will present Eclipses in Other Planetary Systems, a discussion detailing ways NASA’s astrophysicists search for exoplanets, or planets that orbit stars outside our solar system.

These presentations are among several public activities NASA will conduct in greater Charleston Aug. 19-21. NASA TV will cover the eclipse live from coast to coast in a four-hour program originating from CofC’s campus.

“The Library is excited to partner with NASA to host Alex Young, Paul Hertz, and the Hyperwall,” said John W. White, Dean of the Library. “By presenting the science of solar eclipses in such an engaging way, we have an opportunity to inspire and educate our community long before the lunar shadow reaches our Lowcountry skies.”

Please note: The general public will not be allowed to enter Rivers Green via the Library on Aug. 21 until the campus eclipse viewing event concludes at 3:30 p.m.

Featured image: Michael Meyer, lead scientist for NASA’s Mars Exploration Program at NASA Headquarters speaks in front of the Hyperwall at a NASA-sponsored Earth Day event at Union Station, Monday April 22, 2013 in Washington. Photo Credit: (NASA/Carla Cioffi)