Astronomy lost a more heavy calculators of the eclipse of astronomers Fred Espenak.
On April 15, 2025, Espenak announced the Facebook page he had idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, his health quickly entered hospital care. Doctors emphasize that the disease is progressing too far for a new transplant. He died peacefully on Sunday, June 1 at his house in Portal, Arizona. He is 71.
Fred is a great and highly regarded expert in eclipsemore, that he was about to recognize his Name of home“G. Eclipse.” He was first interested in astronomy when he was 8 years old. “I visited my grandparents on the upper island when a boy in a neighbor invited me to look at the moon by his new telescope, I was just a requested campaign. wrote his biography at astropixels.com.
Fred was first intrigued by eclipses, if, at the age of 9, he witnessed a partial eclipse of the day from the New York Metropolitan area. Seven years ago, at March 7, 1970If the dark shadow of the moon tracked at the Atopical Seabiard, he pressed his parents to borrow a family car where he traveled himself to North Carolina. At first, he expected it was an experience once-in-one-in-one, but when Fred finished, Fred knew he had to see another eclipse. In fact, that the 1970 eclipse is the first of 31 wheres his journey to see in his life.
And yet, while Fred finally grew up to be a full-flededing astronomer, his professional research never included eclipsiks. He earned his bachelor’s degree in Physics and Wagner College in Staten Island and later obtained his master’s degree in Ohio at the University of Toledo, based on Studies He did at Arizona’s Kitt Peak Observatory of binding and flare stars between red dwarfs. Thanks for his Physics and computer programing, Fred put a job with a software company holding the contracts on NASA.
Carrying his programs to the writing data for satellites and a stint as a telescope operator for International Ultraviolet Explorer in NASA spacecraft. From this, he was hired by the infrared astronomy branch at Goddard Space Flight Center In Greenbelt, Maryland. Fred research focuses most of the planets atmospheres with a Infrared spectrometer that he and his partners first got Kitt Peak In Arizona and then on the infrared telescope to NASA White mountainHawaii. He’s coulthored paper in the air in allEthane around Jupiter, Ozone on Mars, and hydrocarbons on outer planets.
Fred retired in 2009. But he truly made his score as a tireless calculator of day and moon eclips. Until 1994, the US Naval Observatory Rativatory issued special circulations advanced to large solar eclipses. If the fund for these circulars is terminated, Fred took the eclipse Baton and with Canadian meteorologist help Jay AndersonMakes their own eclipse instals, funded under NASA’s auspices. Together, they publish 13 circulations with hours, in hundreds of locations, predictions for what the moonlight looks, and maps appearing on the road throughout. The distribution of free circulars ended Fred’s retirement from NASA.
But it never stops there. Fred then returned to private publication as well as setting three websites, Astripixels.com,, Mretlipse.comand Eclipsewise.com Which of these days all remains important resources with more information about the great minds of heavenly and timing last season and future eclipse. Fred gave public lessons with eclipses and astrophotography. The astronomical photographs taken by him were published by National Geographic, Newsweek, Nature, and New Scientists.
For his astronomy and solar eclipse eclipse, the International Astronomical Union named Asteroid 14120 Espenak next to him in 2003.
Fred also associated with another unique eclipse calculator, his long teacher and friend, Jean Meeus in Belgium and together in 2006 they published the Five Millennium Canon in Solar Eclipsesconsisting of all kinds of solar eclipses from 2000 BC to AD 3000, and similar Five Millennium Canon to Lunar eclipses in 2009. And many other eclipse guides – 30 of all – followed. Between them, the GUIDE FOR TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSE OF 2045 which promotes a long duration (6+ minutes) solar eclipse crossing the United States from the shore at the beach.
Fred is also the progenitor of US Stamps to celebrate the “famous American solar eclipse in 2017.” And earlier, in 1997, Mongolia used an image of his eclipse track from a circular in a recall of 1997 eclipse.
If you asked him for which of his 31 eclipses were most rewarding, he would point out one happening in India in October 1995:
“I met a high school chemistry teacher Patricia Totten. Now I’m not the sharp drawer knife when it comes to the fair sex, so I take it a few years to fully appreciate the odd woman. She shared my passion for eclipse, science and photographs as we traveled to the world together. Short story at the top, we finally married in 2006. “
This is patho that inspires Fred to find a place with black skies for a retirement house, so he bought the property of Arizona Sky Village to the portal and spent most of his free time under the stars skies see from his Bifrost astronomical observatory.
In a personal note, I first met 50 years ago in a function held at Wagner College Planetarium on State Island, where he served as a volunteer. At this time, I was doing similar to the science planetarium of flushing, ny but not later, announced his skills in eclipse eclipse calculations in eclipse calculations.
I’m so good to help me my own test to educate the public about the odd eclipse. My greatest regret so we never had the opportunity to spend time together with the umbra of the moon. I’m sure it’s an explosion!
I hope you really have my friend. I know you get a safe trip and I hope to see you again someday.
Joe Rao serves as a teacher and guest lecturer in New York’s Hayden Planetarium. He wrote about astronomy for Magazine in natural history,, Sky and Telescope and other publications.
