From broadcasting the official total solar eclipse of 2024 for the entire United States to being able to experience the next one in his own country, which will be the only one in the world where it can be seen with certainty. Spanish astrophysicist Jorge Pérez Gallego believes that, with barely two weeks to go, it is crucial to emphasize the feelings, the emotions provoked by “this natural event, of an unimaginable magnitude if you haven’t seen it before.” Looking ahead to August 12, he feels obliged to share key information and also his personal experience with top-category eclipses.
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He insists on the need to enter the path of totality. Staying close is not enough. Being a few tenths or hundredths away from 100% means missing what makes the phenomenon extraordinary, he tells EL PAÍS via video call. Pérez Gallego (Terrassa, Barcelona, 45 years old) is the Director of Education, Outreach, and Communications at the National Solar Observatory in the USA. A Doctor in Astronomy and Master of Fine Arts, he combines two sensibilities that lead him to advocate for art as a complementary way of communicating how Spain will experience this total eclipse, in 31 provinces that will not see another one until the year 2180.
Question. Three weeks after winning the World Cup, Spain will once again experience a massive celebration with this eclipse. Can we expect it to leave a comparable mark?
Answer. Yes. It turns out we’ve won the World Cup twice in 16 years. A total eclipse, if you don’t move from the area where you live, on average you would have to wait between 300 and 400 years for it to happen again. That is, normally, with luck, it will be a once-in-a-lifetime event for a person. People will remember where they were and who they were with during the eclipse, similar to how we remember the day of the Twin Towers attack, a tragedy that also marked us. This time, moreover, the memory will be positive. And it will generate a lot of questions for us, especially for many children. How they seek answers will also shape their lives. It will be a seed that can sprout in multiple directions, generating vocations in science, but also in art, humanities, and philosophy.
I’d bet money that it will also turn adults who are not astronomy enthusiasts into new eclipse hunters. Into true addicts who chase them around the world to experience those sensations again.
Q. To what extent does seeing a total eclipse make us feel new things?
A. Well, instead of “seeing,” I prefer to use the word “experiencing,” because what happens involves more senses than just sight. It’s not just the visual factor. When the sky darkens, you’ll notice a sharp drop in temperatures which, in turn, can generate air currents. And, if you’re in nature, you’ll hear the animals fall silent. All of that will happen even if, where you are, clouds or a mountain prevent you from directly seeing the phenomenon.
And if nothing obstructs it, you will have before your eyes the strangest Sun of your life: it will have turned dark, and a white corona will have emerged around it. You will also be able to contemplate stars or planets very close to it. Things we can never see because the blinding glare of the solar disk covers them.
Q. You’re giving us a gigantic spoiler for the eclipse. What if we don’t feel things that live up to the expectations you’re creating?
A. It doesn’t matter if I spoil it. Even so, I believe most people won’t be prepared to experience it. I wasn’t prepared, and I’m an astrophysicist. I knew what was going to happen and understood its scientific value. I knew the theory inside out, but suddenly, at the moment it happens, there’s a very personal factor. It’s something that transcends what science can explain and will depend on your background: your education, cultural connotations, and everything you’ve experienced up to that moment.
Some people will scream, some people will cry, some people will start thinking about family members with whom they can no longer share it, some people will get excited about the future. The spectrum of feelings an eclipse can sow in human beings is as wide as the number of people in the world.
Q. What do you say to those who think it won’t be a big deal?
A. Look, the first thing I tell them is: “Maybe, maybe, but give yourself a chance because it’s the only one you’ll have in your life.” Then I tell them about my personal experience and share the information I consider most relevant, and I hope that helps them make a decision about what they want to do. If they don’t want to see it, well, there will always be people with a different interest, like those who preferred to go for a walk during the World Cup final, and that’s perfectly fine with me.
Q. What information do you give to those who are doubtful?
A. The first thing I tell them is that a 99.99% eclipse has nothing to do with a total eclipse. That remaining 0.01% may seem small, but it’s the difference between day and night. Literally. It’s not a metaphor; the Sun is so bright that if the eclipse is partial, even if it’s very deep, the tiny bit that remains still shines immensely, enough for it to still be daytime. Although an instrument can measure a decrease in luminosity, we cannot appreciate it with the naked eye. Only in a 100% eclipse does it truly become night, even if it’s brief and strange. Only then can you take off your protective glasses and see what is always hidden.
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So, if someone is in a place that will have a 99.9% partial eclipse and asks me: “Is it worth driving half an hour to enter the band of totality?”, the answer is yes.
Q. And regarding your personal experience with the 2017 and 2024 eclipses in the USA, what would you highlight, for better or worse?
A. The best part was being able to see the 2017 one with my two best friends in the middle of Oregon. Being three astronomers, and knowing the phenomenon, it made all three of us feel very different things; I remember we talked about it at length. The worst part was the several-hour traffic jam when, after the eclipse, we started our journey back.
Q. Three astronomers, living that unique experience in the middle of a natural landscape. You must have spectacular photos of the eclipse…
A. Well, no. We dedicated ourselves to experiencing it, which is what I recommend to people, especially if it’s their first total one. If you’re not an expert in astrophotography, don’t try to take photos: enjoy what it makes you feel, without anything in between. It’s like many people who go to a Bad Bunny concert and feel the need to document it.
Q. So, how is a total eclipse similar to a concert?
A. They can be compared. As long as you experience the total eclipse accompanied, of course. Then an energy similar to that of a concert by your favorite artist is created, like cheering a goal. You feel part of a group experiencing something; you catch the energy of whoever is experiencing the concert with you. And I, without judging those who record it, prefer to be present there, without being preoccupied with the camera stealing part of my experience. Something similar happens with the eclipse. Besides, with a mobile phone, it won’t look good; it won’t resemble those professional photos that fascinate us of a total eclipse, with the solar corona and Baily’s beads.
One thing I can recommend to people is to leave a camera recording their reactions and forget about it. My favorite video of the 2017 eclipse is of a child, caught by a camera at a public observation, who has an incredible reaction. Whenever I show it in a talk, someone tells me: “I want to see it, I want to feel something like that.”
Q. That child is like the Keyne Yamal of eclipses.
A. Uhhh, yes, it’s a bit like seeing Lamine Yamal’s brother. The child’s reaction motivates people more to want to see a total eclipse than the photo of the astronomical phenomenon itself.
Q. How will you experience the day of the eclipse?
A. After a long time in the USA, I will finally be able to see a total eclipse in the country where I was born, with many of the people I love and with whom I became who I am. Professionally, I am also fortunate that the Canary Islands Institute of Astrophysics has recruited me for the NATE project, which will investigate the solar corona —taking advantage of the unique conditions of a total eclipse— and will disseminate this phenomenon in rural Spain. We will be in Palencia and several towns in the province during those days. When an eclipse approaches, everyone pays attention to the Sun and listens to us. For solar physicists, it’s like Christmas Day.
Q. Will you feel like the protagonist on August 12, like a child on Christmas Day?
A. More like Santa Claus. Because on the day of the eclipse, we astronomers are the ones who bring the gifts.
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