by David Hunter has always had an interest in science and astronomy.
In 2017, he even took a trip to Wyoming to see a total solar eclipse. Then it dawned on him: New Brunswick will be central to the centerline of the next total solar eclipse.
A total solar eclipse occurs when the moon completely blocks the sun. The path of totality for the April 8 eclipse includes Fredericton, Woodstock and Miramichi, while Saint John and Moncton will have about 98 percent of the sun’s coverage.
Hunter’s hometown of Florenceville-Bristol, near the western edge of the province, is also in the path of totality, but he wanted to get closer than the front seat he already has.
So he devised a plan to build a balloon-borne solar telescope.
David Hunter stands next to the 183-cm payload made up of multiple computers. (Michael Heenan/CBC)
The project is intended to get better views of the Earth, the shadow of the moon, and the sun during the eclipse from a height of about 30 kilometers – more than twice the maximum height that a commercial airplane can fly.
Hunter said the Earth is a very special place.
“The eclipse is one manifestation of that,” he said.
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“We should be grateful for this and take care of our home planet.”
The balloon-borne solar telescope has several parts. The 183-centimeter-tall payload consists of multiple computers, each with a camera.
The computers have various jobs, including radio communication and taking photos for live broadcast on the ground.
People hoping to view the eclipse from the ground should get special eclipse glasses, which are available online from reputable vendors. Experts warn of possible fakes, which can be dangerous because looking directly at an eclipse can cause permanent eye damage.
Another way to watch the show is via a live YouTube link, which will be available closer to the eclipse, from the Hunter team, who will broadcast the main feed.
Retirement hobby turned multifaceted business
Hunter said the project was conceived in 2019 when he moved back to Florenceville-Bristol after quitting his job in Toronto as a medical physicist the year before.
The move brought him back to his hometown, and the place where he saw a partial solar eclipse for the first time. That was in July 1963, and his brother helped him make a self-viewing box to watch the event.
Retired physicist David Hunter moved back to Florenceville-Bristol in 2019 and his plan for a balloon-borne telescope was set in motion. (Michael Heenan/CBC)
Then in 1968, when he was in Grade 10, Hunter wanted a telescope – so he built one.
“You have to be passionate about things that defy rationality,” he said.
Hunter said it’s not a new idea for people to put up balloons during an eclipse. But he said there are two things that make this project different.
In the past, amateur balloons did not have tracking telescopes to get accurate views of the sun.
On November 4, volunteers prepared for their fourth flight test. (eclipseplus.ca)
Another unique feature of the balloon is that images of the event are not usually seen until the payload lands, which is when the flight is terminated and the payload is carried to the ground by a parachute.
But the Hunter balloon will be sending images in real time to the team on the ground.
Hunter said the cameras on the computers will be able to capture the shadow of the moon approaching New Brunswick as totality approaches – something that cannot be seen from the ground.
The balloon itself is a large latex weather balloon, which will be attached to the payload.
When it sails, it can be tracked, but the wind will control where it goes. Hunter said he is monitoring the weather and on the day of the eclipse, the launch time may be adjusted slightly to try to make sure the balloon doesn’t drift outside the path of totality, but it will likely be around at 3:23 pm, near the time. of the beginning of the partial eclipse.
Seen here is the payload and the balloon going up during a November 4 test flight. (eclipseplus.ca)
The time of totality will be around 4:32 pm in Florenceville-Bristol.
When Hunter started the balloon project, he thought it would be a small retirement hobby to keep him busy, but it turned out to be much more than that.
In 2020, he went to the University of New Brunswick to attract students, and before that, he got a former colleague on board.
Teams organized for launch, recovery
He kept recruiting people for various roles, including his brother, Lawson Hunter, who is helping with communications with NAV Canada.
There will be a launch team that will launch the balloon from the launch site at the Amsterdam Inn. People can watch it happen, but a security perimeter will be set up around the site.
Tom Hunter is part of the balloon launch team. He has also been a farmer in the area for around 40 years.
Tom Hunter will be part of the launch team that will leave the balloon on April 8. (Michael Heenan/CBC)
“It’s definitely a lot more exciting than some of the work I do on a day-to-day basis,” he said.
“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime thing.”
He said that the team had several practice flights, and that they are also prepared for bad weather on the day of the eclipse.
A team will also be assigned to retrieve the payload when it lands — where at this point in the process is unknown.
Ian Giberson, who is on the recovery team, found out about the project from a local newspaper and decided to see if there was anything he could do to contribute.
On launch day, Giberson said he will be in a pickup truck with a radio and will be following the balloon in an effort to save the payload when it lands.
Ian Giberson will be part of the team to retrieve the payload when it comes back to earth. (Michael Heenan/CBC)
“The thing goes up 100,000 feet, theoretically, and … depending on wind direction and velocity, lands somewhere, maybe in a river, maybe in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, maybe somebody’s backyard, ” Giberson said.
But until that day, he said, it’s hard to say where it will go. Normally, during practice, the balloon goes west to east, but during one practice round, it went the other way and landed in Maine.
David Hunter said New Brunswickers are lucky to be able to experience a total solar eclipse, noting that the last one in the central part of the province was more than 1,000 years ago.
April’s total solar eclipse path traces across central New Brunswick. St. John’s and Moncton are outside the path and will have about 98 percent coverage. (timeanddate.com)
He called the total solar eclipse a historic cosmological event.
“Just statistically, every 400 years, any given location on Earth will experience a total solar eclipse, so this is a rare event,” he said.
