Life advice from an eclipse chaser | David Baron | TEDxMileHigh
-
0:12 - 0:15Before I get to the bulk
of what I have to say, -
0:15 - 0:19I feel compelled just to mention
a couple of things about myself. -
0:19 - 0:24I am not some mystical,
spiritual sort of person. -
0:25 - 0:27I'm a science writer.
-
0:27 - 0:29I studied physics in college.
-
0:29 - 0:33I used to be a science
correspondent for NPR. -
0:33 - 0:36Okay, that said:
-
0:36 - 0:39In the course of working
on a story for NPR, -
0:39 - 0:44I got some advice from an astronomer
that challenged my outlook, -
0:44 - 0:46and frankly, changed my life.
-
0:47 - 0:49You see, the story was about an eclipse,
-
0:49 - 0:53a partial solar eclipse
that was set to cross the country -
0:53 - 0:56in May of 1994.
-
0:56 - 0:58And the astronomer - I interviewed him,
-
0:58 - 1:01and he explained what was going
to happen and how to view it, -
1:01 - 1:07but he emphasized that, as interesting
as a partial solar eclipse is, -
1:07 - 1:12a much rarer total solar eclipse
is completely different. -
1:12 - 1:15In a total eclipse,
for all of two or three minutes, -
1:15 - 1:18the moon completely blocks
the face of the sun, -
1:18 - 1:24creating what he described
as the most awe-inspiring spectacle -
1:24 - 1:26in all of nature.
-
1:26 - 1:29And so the advice he gave me was this:
-
1:29 - 1:32"Before you die," he said,
-
1:32 - 1:37"you owe it to yourself
to experience a total solar eclipse." -
1:37 - 1:40Well honestly, I felt
a little uncomfortable -
1:40 - 1:42hearing that from someone
I didn't know very well; -
1:42 - 1:44it felt sort of intimate.
-
1:44 - 1:48But it got my attention,
and so I did some research. -
1:48 - 1:50Now the thing about total eclipses is,
-
1:50 - 1:53if you wait for one to come to you,
-
1:53 - 1:56you're going to be waiting a long time.
-
1:56 - 2:01Any given point on Earth
experiences a total eclipse -
2:01 - 2:04about once every 400 years.
-
2:05 - 2:08But if you're willing to travel,
you don't have to wait that long. -
2:08 - 2:13And so I learned
that a few years later, in 1998, -
2:13 - 2:16a total eclipse was going
to cross the Caribbean. -
2:17 - 2:20Now, a total eclipse is visible
only along a narrow path, -
2:20 - 2:22about 100 miles wide,
-
2:22 - 2:24and that's where the moon's shadow falls.
-
2:24 - 2:26It's called the "path of totality."
-
2:26 - 2:29And in February 1998,
-
2:29 - 2:32the path of totality
was going to cross Aruba. -
2:32 - 2:36So I talked to my husband,
and we thought, well, February? Aruba? -
2:36 - 2:38Sounded like a good idea anyway.
-
2:38 - 2:39(Laughter)
-
2:39 - 2:42So we headed south,
-
2:42 - 2:44to enjoy the sun
and to see what would happen -
2:44 - 2:47when the sun briefly went away.
-
2:47 - 2:50Well, the day of the eclipse
found us and many other people -
2:50 - 2:52out behind the Hyatt Regency,
-
2:52 - 2:53on the beach,
-
2:53 - 2:55waiting for the show to begin.
-
2:55 - 2:58And we wore eclipse glasses
with cardboard frames -
2:58 - 3:03and really dark lenses that enabled us
to look at the sun safely. -
3:03 - 3:08And a total eclipse
begins as a partial eclipse, -
3:08 - 3:11as the moon very slowly
makes its way in front of the sun. -
3:11 - 3:16So first it looked like the sun
had a little notch in its edge, -
3:16 - 3:19and then that notch grew
larger and larger, -
3:19 - 3:21turning the sun into a crescent.
-
3:22 - 3:25And it was all very interesting,
but I wouldn't say it was spectacular. -
3:25 - 3:27I mean, the day remained bright.
-
3:27 - 3:30If I hadn't known
what was going on overhead, -
3:30 - 3:33I wouldn't have noticed anything unusual.
-
3:33 - 3:38Well, about ten minutes before
the total solar eclipse was set to begin, -
3:38 - 3:41weird things started to happen.
-
3:41 - 3:44A cool wind kicked up.
-
3:44 - 3:48Daylight looked odd,
and shadows became very strange; -
3:48 - 3:50they looked bizarrely sharp,
-
3:50 - 3:54as if someone had turned up
the contrast knob on TV. -
3:55 - 3:59And then I looked offshore,
and I noticed running lights on boats, -
3:59 - 4:03so clearly it was getting dark,
although I hadn't realized it. -
4:03 - 4:05Well soon, it was obvious
it was getting dark. -
4:05 - 4:08It felt like my eyesight was failing.
-
4:09 - 4:10And then all of the sudden,
-
4:10 - 4:12the lights went out.
-
4:13 - 4:15Well, at that,
-
4:15 - 4:17a cheer erupted from the beach,
-
4:17 - 4:19and I took off my eclipse glasses,
-
4:19 - 4:22because at this point
during the total eclipse, -
4:22 - 4:26it was safe to look at the sun
with the naked eye. -
4:26 - 4:28And I glanced upward,
-
4:29 - 4:33and I was just dumbstruck.
-
4:35 - 4:40Now, consider that, at this point,
I was in my mid-30s. -
4:40 - 4:44I had lived on Earth long enough
-
4:44 - 4:47to know what the sky looks like.
-
4:47 - 4:48I mean -
-
4:48 - 4:49(Laughter)
-
4:49 - 4:52I'd seen blue skies and grey skies,
-
4:52 - 4:56and starry skies and angry skies,
-
4:56 - 4:59and pink skies at sunrise.
-
4:59 - 5:03But here was a sky I had never seen.
-
5:04 - 5:06So first, there were the colors.
-
5:06 - 5:09Up above, it was a deep purple-grey,
-
5:09 - 5:10like twilight.
-
5:10 - 5:12But on the horizon, it was orange,
-
5:12 - 5:13like sunset,
-
5:13 - 5:15360 degrees.
-
5:16 - 5:18And up above, in the twilight,
-
5:18 - 5:21bright stars and planets had come out.
-
5:21 - 5:22So there was Jupiter,
-
5:22 - 5:24and there was Mercury,
-
5:24 - 5:26and there was Venus.
-
5:26 - 5:29And they were all in a line.
-
5:30 - 5:33And there, along this line,
-
5:34 - 5:36was this thing,
-
5:36 - 5:39this glorious, bewildering thing.
-
5:39 - 5:44It looked like a wreath
woven from silvery thread, -
5:44 - 5:48and it just hung out there
in space, shimmering. -
5:50 - 5:53Now, that was the sun's outer atmosphere,
-
5:53 - 5:55the solar corona.
-
5:55 - 5:58And pictures just don't do it justice.
-
5:58 - 6:02It's not just a ring or halo
around the sun; -
6:02 - 6:06it's finely textured,
like it's made out of strands of silk. -
6:07 - 6:10And although it looked
nothing like our sun, -
6:10 - 6:12of course, I knew that's what it was.
-
6:12 - 6:16So there was the sun,
and there were the planets, -
6:16 - 6:20and I could see how the planets
revolve around the sun. -
6:20 - 6:22It's like I had left our solar system
-
6:22 - 6:28and was standing on some alien world,
looking back at creation. -
6:28 - 6:31And for the first time in my life,
-
6:31 - 6:35I just felt viscerally connected
to the universe -
6:35 - 6:37in all of its immensity.
-
6:37 - 6:40Time stopped,
-
6:40 - 6:42or it just kind of felt nonexistent,
-
6:42 - 6:45and what I beheld with my eyes -
-
6:45 - 6:47I didn't just see it,
-
6:48 - 6:50it felt like a vision.
-
6:51 - 6:55And I stood there in this nirvana
-
6:55 - 7:01for all of 174 seconds -
less than three minutes - -
7:01 - 7:03when all of the sudden, it was over.
-
7:03 - 7:04The sun burst out,
-
7:04 - 7:06the blue sky returned,
-
7:06 - 7:09the stars and the planets
and the corona were gone, -
7:09 - 7:11the world returned to normal.
-
7:12 - 7:14But I had changed.
-
7:15 - 7:19And that's how I became an umbraphile -
-
7:19 - 7:21an eclipse chaser.
-
7:21 - 7:22(Laughter)
-
7:22 - 7:26And so, this is how I spend my time
and hard-earned money. -
7:26 - 7:32Every couple of years, I head off
to wherever the moon's shadow will fall -
7:32 - 7:34to experience another couple minutes
-
7:34 - 7:36of cosmic bliss,
-
7:36 - 7:38and to share the experience with others:
-
7:38 - 7:40with friends in Australia,
-
7:40 - 7:43with an entire city in Germany.
-
7:43 - 7:47In 1999, in Munich,
I joined hundreds of thousands -
7:47 - 7:50who filled the streets and the rooftops,
-
7:50 - 7:54and cheered in unison
as the solar corona emerged. -
7:55 - 7:58And over time, I've become something else:
-
7:58 - 8:00an eclipse evangelist.
-
8:00 - 8:03I see it as my job
-
8:03 - 8:08to pay forward the advice
that I received all those years ago. -
8:09 - 8:11And so let me tell you:
-
8:12 - 8:14Before you die,
-
8:14 - 8:19you owe it to yourself
to experience a total solar eclipse. -
8:19 - 8:24It is the ultimate experience of awe.
-
8:24 - 8:29Now, that word, "awesome,"
has grown so overused -
8:29 - 8:31that it's lost its original meaning.
-
8:31 - 8:36True awe, a sense of wonder
and insignificance -
8:36 - 8:38in the face of something
enormous and grand, -
8:38 - 8:40is rare in our lives.
-
8:40 - 8:44But when you experience it, it's powerful.
-
8:44 - 8:46Awe dissolves the ego.
-
8:46 - 8:48It makes us feel connected.
-
8:48 - 8:52Indeed, it promotes
empathy and generosity. -
8:52 - 8:57Well, there is nothing truly more awesome
than a total solar eclipse. -
8:58 - 9:00Unfortunately, few Americans
have seen one, -
9:00 - 9:02because it's been 38 years
-
9:02 - 9:06since one last touched
the continental United States, -
9:06 - 9:11and 99 years since one last crossed
the breadth of the nation. -
9:11 - 9:13But that is about to change.
-
9:13 - 9:16Over the next 35 years,
-
9:16 - 9:21five total solar eclipses will visit
the continental United States, -
9:21 - 9:24and three of them
will be especially grand. -
9:24 - 9:29Six weeks from now, on August 21st, 2017 -
-
9:29 - 9:32(Applause)
-
9:32 - 9:37the moon's shadow will race
from Oregon to South Carolina. -
9:37 - 9:42April 8th, 2024, the moon's shadow
heads north from Texas to Maine. -
9:42 - 9:44In 2045, on August 12th,
-
9:44 - 9:48the path cuts from California to Florida.
-
9:49 - 9:50I say:
-
9:51 - 9:54What if we made these holidays?
-
9:54 - 9:55What if we -
-
9:55 - 9:56(Laughter)
-
9:56 - 9:57(Applause)
-
9:57 - 9:58(Cheers)
-
10:00 - 10:05What if we all stood together,
-
10:05 - 10:07as many people as possible,
-
10:07 - 10:09in the shadow of the moon?
-
10:09 - 10:14Just maybe, this shared experience of awe
would help heal our divisions, -
10:14 - 10:18get us to treat each other
just a bit more humanely. -
10:18 - 10:24Now, admittedly, some folks consider
my evangelizing a little out there; -
10:24 - 10:27my obsession, eccentric.
-
10:27 - 10:32I mean, why focus so much attention
on something so brief? -
10:32 - 10:36Why cross the globe -
or state lines, for that matter - -
10:36 - 10:40for something that lasts three minutes?
-
10:41 - 10:42As I said:
-
10:42 - 10:45I am not a spiritual person.
-
10:45 - 10:48I don't believe in God.
-
10:48 - 10:50I wish I did.
-
10:50 - 10:53But when I think of my own mortality -
-
10:53 - 10:56and I do, a lot -
-
10:56 - 11:00when I think of everyone I have lost,
-
11:00 - 11:02my mother, in particular,
-
11:03 - 11:05what soothes me
-
11:05 - 11:08is that moment of awe I had in Aruba.
-
11:09 - 11:12I picture myself on that beach,
-
11:12 - 11:14looking at that sky,
-
11:14 - 11:17and I remember how I felt.
-
11:18 - 11:21My existence may be temporary,
-
11:21 - 11:24but that's okay because, my gosh,
-
11:24 - 11:26look at what I'm a part of.
-
11:28 - 11:30And so this is a lesson I've learned,
-
11:30 - 11:33and it's one that applies
to life in general: -
11:33 - 11:38Duration of experience
does not equal impact. -
11:38 - 11:43One weekend, one conversation -
hell, one glance - -
11:43 - 11:45can change everything.
-
11:46 - 11:49Cherish those moments
of deep connection with other people, -
11:49 - 11:53with the natural world,
and make them a priority. -
11:53 - 11:55Yes, I chase eclipses.
-
11:55 - 11:57You might chase something else.
-
11:57 - 12:01But it's not about the 174 seconds.
-
12:02 - 12:06It's about how they change
the years that come after. -
12:07 - 12:08Thank you.
-
12:08 - 12:10(Applause)
- Title:
- Life advice from an eclipse chaser | David Baron | TEDxMileHigh
- Description:
-
Twenty years ago, science writer David Baron received some advice that changed his life: "before you die, you owe it to yourself to experience a total solar eclipse." Now an umbraphile (eclipse chaser), he travels the globe searching for few minutes of cosmic bliss. Why? Join Baron for his awe-inspiring stories and contagious passion, and you might just become an eclipse chaser too.
David Baron is a journalist, author, and broadcaster who has spent most of his thirty-year career in public radio, covering environment and science beats for various NPR outlets and programs. An avid umbraphile, he has witnessed five total solar eclipses across the globe. His latest book, American Eclipse: A Nation’s Epic Race to Catch the Shadow of the Moon and Win the Glory of the World, tells the story of a total eclipse that crossed the Wild West in 1878.
This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDxTalks
- Duration:
- 12:26
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