Eclipse Soundscapes Project: Making the August 21, 2017 Total Solar Eclipse Accessible to Everyone
Abstract
The Eclipse Soundscapes Project delivered a multisensory experience that allowed the blind and visually impaired to engage with the August 21, 2017 total solar eclipse along with their sighted peers in a way that would not have been possible otherwise. The project, from the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory and NASA's Heliophysics Education Consortium, includes illustrative audio descriptions of the eclipse in real time, recordings of the changing environmental sounds during the eclipse, and an interactive "rumble map" app that allows users to experience the eclipse through touch and sound. The Eclipse Soundscapes Project is working with organizations such as the National Parks Service (NPS), Science Friday, and Brigham Young University and by WGBH's National Center for Accessible Media (NCAM) to bring the awe and wonder of the total solar eclipse and other astronomical phenomena to a segment of the population that has been excluded from and astronomy and astrophysics for far too long, while engaging all learners in new and exciting ways.
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2017
- Bibcode:
- 2017AGUFMED32A..08W
- Keywords:
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- 0815 Informal education;
- EDUCATION;
- 6250 Moon;
- PLANETARY SCIENCES: SOLAR SYSTEM OBJECTS;
- 7507 Chromosphere;
- SOLAR PHYSICS;
- ASTROPHYSICS;
- AND ASTRONOMY;
- 7509 Corona;
- SOLAR PHYSICS;
- ASTROPHYSICS;
- AND ASTRONOMY