David Hunter has always been interested in science and astronomy.
In 2017, he even took a trip to Wyoming to see a total solar eclipse. Then it dawned on him: central New Brunswick will be the center line for 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 experience solar coverage of about 98 percent.
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-row seat he already has.
So he came up with a plan to build what he calls a balloon-borne solar telescope.
David Hunter stands next to the 183 cm load, consisting of several computers. (Michael Heenan/CBC)
The project aims to get a better view of the Earth, the moon’s shadow and the sun during the eclipse from an altitude of about 30 kilometers – more than double the maximum altitude a commercial plane can fly.
Hunter said Earth is a very special place.
“The eclipse is a demonstration of that,” he said.
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“We really need to appreciate this and take care of our home planet.”
The balloon-borne solar telescope consists of several parts. The 183 centimeter high load consists of several computers, each with a camera.
The computers have various tasks, including radio communications and taking photos to send live to the ground.
People who want to view the eclipse from the ground should purchase special eclipse glasses, which are available online from reputable sellers. Experts warn of possible fakes, which could be dangerous because looking directly at a solar 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, which will broadcast the main feed.
The pension hobby became a versatile business
Hunter said the project was conceived in 2019 when he returned to Florenceville-Bristol after retiring as a medical physicist in Toronto the year before.
The move took him back to his hometown, and the place where he first saw a partial solar eclipse. 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 telescope was put into motion. (Michael Heenan/CBC)
In 1968, when he was in 10th grade, Hunter wanted a telescope – so he built one.
“You have to have a passion for things that are beyond rationality,” he said.
Hunter said it’s not a new idea for people to send balloons up during eclipses. But he said there are two things that make this project different.
In the past, amateur balloonists did not have a tracking telescope to get exact images 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 usually not visible until the payload has landed, which happens after the flight has ended and a parachute carries the payload to the ground.
But Hunter’s balloon will send 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 won’t be visible from the ground.
The balloon itself is a large latex weather balloon, which is attached to the payload.
Once it is launched it can be tracked, but the wind will determine 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 ensure the balloon doesn’t drift out of the path of totality, but it will likely be around 3:23 p.m. are, around the time of the beginning of the partial solar eclipse.
Here you can see the payload and balloon rising during the 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 bigger than that.
In 2020, he approached the University of New Brunswick to get students involved, and got a former colleague on board.
Organized teams for launch, recovery
He continued to recruit people for various roles, including his brother Lawson Hunter, who helps communicate with NAV Canada.
A launch team will be present to launch the balloon from the launch site at the Amsterdam Inn. People can see it happening, 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 about 40 years.
Tom Hunter will be part of the launch team that will lift the balloon on April 8. (Michael Heenan/CBC)
“It’s definitely a lot more exciting than the work I do every day,” he said.
“It’s something you only do once in your life.”
He said the team had a number of practice flights and also prepared for bad weather on the day of the eclipse.
A team will also be assigned to recover the cargo once it lands; the location is still unknown at this point in the process.
Ian Giberson, who is part of the recovery team, heard about the project through a local newspaper and decided to see if he could do something to contribute.
On the day of the launch, Giberson said he will sit in a pickup truck with a radio and track the balloon in an attempt to rescue the payload when it lands.
Ian Giberson will be part of the team tasked with recovering the cargo once it falls back to the ground. (Michael Heenan/CBC)
“The thing theoretically goes up 100,000 feet and … depending on the wind direction and speed, it lands somewhere, maybe in a river, maybe in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, maybe in someone’s backyard,” Giberson said.
But until that day, he said, it’s hard to say where things will go. Normally during practice flights the balloon goes from west to east, but during one practice run it went the other way and landed in Maine.
David Hunter said New Brunswickers are lucky to experience a total solar eclipse, noting the last one in the central part of the province was more than 1,000 years ago.
The path of the April solar eclipse’s totality passes right through central New Brunswick. Saint John and Moncton are off-path and will experience approximately 98 percent coverage. (timeanddate.com)
He called the total solar eclipse a cosmological historical event.
“Statistically, every 400 years some place on Earth will experience a total solar eclipse, so this is a rare event,” he said.