Illinois college student excited to see her second total solar eclipse in a year
Paige Chamberlain traveled over 9,000 miles last year to witness a total solar eclipse.
This year, the Forreston, Illinois, college student need only look up to witness her second total solar eclipse in a year.
Chamberlain is senior at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, the only Illinois city that sits directly on the centerline of the path of totality for Monday's total solar eclipse.
"Here, I don't have to go anywhere, and I get to experience what I went to Australia to experience," she said. "So, that's really cool."
More: Thinking of seeing this year's total solar eclipse? Here's what you need to know
Chamberlain, who will graduate next month with a degree in social work, said she jumped at the chance to join physics students and staff last year to travel to to Exmouth, Australia, to learn more about eclipses and to be able to be in a path of totality for the 2023 eclipse for about a minute.
She expects to experience about four minutes this year while helping others get the most out of the experience.
Come Monday, Chamberlain and other students will be helping to set up equipment to assist visitors in viewing the eclipse. The university is expecting thousands of visitors from around the globe.
Perhaps the most significant part of the Chamberlain's trip to Australia was when she and another student captured an image of totality using a sun funnel, a device made by attaching a funnel to a telescope's eyepiece, which allows observers to see a detailed image of the sun and fine detail in sunspots.
According to professor Bob Baer, director of SIU's Physics Department’s public astronomy observation program, the image may be the first known image of totality taken with a sun funnel.
"I didn't really know what I was capturing, but I knew it was amazing and something I've never seen before," Chamberlain said.
Chris Green is a Rockford Register Star general assignment reporter. He can be reached at 815-987-1241, via email at cgreen@rrstar.com and @chrisfgreen.
This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: Illinois college student captured rare image of solar eclipse in 2023
