A small group of amateur astronomers, including a Grant Union Junior-Senior High School science teacher and four students, hope to have an unforgettable experience Aug. 21 during “The Great American Eclipse.”

Sonna Smith, a Grant Union science and chemistry teacher, was invited to assist in a coast-to-coast total solar eclipse project called Citizen CATE (Continental-America Telescopic Eclipse).

Scientists from the National Solar Observatory, leading the project, have astronomers and amateur astronomers set up in 68 locations across America prepared to capture 1,000 photos each of the eclipse using identical equipment.

The photos will be streamed together into a 90-minute movie.

One of the viewpoints for the experiment happens to be in John Day.

“They’re trying to get a continuous stream of photographs,” Smith said. “They were missing a section of Oregon, and I got a call asking if we’d be interested in participating.”

In June, Smith was trained for the project by a scientist with a doctorate in astronomy.

On July 31, Smith and two of her sophomore students Gage Brandon and Donavan Smith and former student Declan Jensen, a 2017 Grant Union graduate, met to practice setting up the telescope before the big day.

Jensen’s friend Anthony Allen of Rocklin, California, also joined in the process.

The telescope and a laptop were set up on private property near John Day.

“The sun is hard to center in the telescope,” Smith said, as they worked to fine tune the settings.

Once the image of the sun was focused, Smith sent the settings to scientists involved in the project to double-check for accuracy.

Donavan said he hopes to gain “more know-how about astronomy and the eclipse” from the experience.

Brandon said he was looking forward to having a close look at a career he plans to pursue.

“It’s going to give me an idea of what it will be like,” he said, adding he’d like to be involved in astronomy in some way in the future.

Sonna said she chose some younger students for the project so they can train other students to use the equipment.

Jensen said she hopes to learn how to properly use a telescope.

She attends Lane Community College and plans to transfer to University of Oregon in Eugene to pursue a physics degree.

Scientist Tom Schad will also work with the group. Sonna said she looks forward to having his assistance with the project to make sure it goes smoothly.

David Anderson is another scientist with the project who will set up near Mt. Vernon.

Sonna said a bonus to participating in the program is the opportunity to keep the equipment, including the telescope, camera attachment and laptop.

“They’re giving the school access to free software, in case we have students who want to do presentations about the eclipse or more research about the eclipse,” she said.

Dr. Matt Penn, who is the principal investigator for the program through the National Science Foundation’s National Solar Observatory, said he expects the nationwide experiment to provide an extraordinary dataset.

“Normally during a solar eclipse, we get about 2 minutes of data in that region closest to the photosphere (solar surface),” he said. “But Citizen CATE will allow us to get an hour and a half of data.”

He said the 90 minutes of continuous, high-resolution and rapid-cadence images will detail the sun’s inner corona, providing information about a region of the solar atmosphere that is typically challenging to image.

“Thankfully, there is nothing typical about this eclipse,” he said.

Sonna said she was glad Allen, who has an interest in astronomy as well, joined their group.

Allen, a 2016 grad, said being involved in the total solar eclipse project is a good experience.

“It gives me a way to make it more memorable,” he said. “Otherwise, I’d put on these (solar eclipse) glasses, look at it and say ‘neat’ and go back inside.”

For more information about the upcoming eclipse and Citizen CATE, visit eclipse2017.nso.edu/online.