LONGVIEW, Texas — With the solar eclipse under two weeks away, people are planning out their day on April 8. As for LeTourneau University professor Jo Lin Gowing, she's going to take on the role of a scientist for the day.
She’s been fascinated by space for as long as she can remember.
"My first real eclipse that I remember was back in college. I think I was a sophomore in college," Gowing said.
And now, she’s gotten a unique opportunity to be part of a team helping NASA.
"We are going to be setting up cameras – it’s a telescope with cameras attached, and we’re going to be tracking the eclipse as it moves over us. We’re positioned on the line of totality. What we’ll do afterward is we send the recording and the information off to NASA and some of their partners, and they are going to take and analyze it so they can find out more about the inner corona," Gowing said.
What’s even more unique about this team is anyone can apply. Gowing said she’s not an astronomer. In fact, she’s a mechanical engineer. However on April 8, she and her team will become "citizen scientists!"
"We’ve never done this before and if we have it’s been awhile. This isn’t our specialty. In our team we have a housewife, a couple of high school teachers from Kaufman ISD and we have a retired college professor," Gowing said.
The team started practicing with their equipment early this year. And once it’s said and done, she's excited that others get the chance to be a citizen scientist too.
"NASA is donating the equipment to the groups so the telescopes that are used for this– and there are eight or 10 stations across Texas that are going to be available to the local communities," Gowing said.
For those in the path of totality, Gowing said this is only the third total eclipse to come over Texas.
"You are in a special place at a special time if you’re already here. Take advantage of it, enjoy it," Gowing said.