Corey Tester, right, an associate instructor in SIU Carbondale’s School of Art and Design, assists Alayna Wagle, a student in SIU’s media arts program, during this week’s practice for the Wednesday, Aug. 12, total solar eclipse livestream at the University of Leon in Leon, Spain. (Photo provided by Bob Baer)
August 11, 2026
SIU Carbondale faculty, students to livestream eclipse in Spain on Wednesday
CARBONDALE, Ill. — Southern Illinois University Carbondale students, faculty and researchers are in Spain for research and live streaming of the total solar eclipse on Wednesday, Aug. 12.
The group from the STEM Education Research Center, the College of Agricultural, Life and Physical Sciences, and College of Arts and Media will carry out corona observations for two NASA heliophysics projects — SolarSTEAM and the Dynamic Eclipse Broadcast Initiative (DEB) — and the National Science Foundation-funded Real Trip Field Model from Leon, Span, during the eclipse.
A watch party will begin at 12:15 p.m. CDT in Neckers Building, Room 240. Annalise Gould, a SIU Carbondale Media Arts, student will host the livestream. The SIU group will observe the corona during the one-minute, 45 seconds of totality, while a second volunteer DEB team in Valoria la Buena will carry out similar observations.
The scientific observations are critical to improvements being made to the DEB Initiative observation software in the lead up to a larger eclipse in North Africa on Aug. 2, 2027, which is known as the “eclipse of the century,” said Bob Baer, associate scientist in SIU Carbondale’s School of Physics and Applied Physics. That eclipse will sweep across North Africa and Middle East regions of 12 countries for up to 6 minutes and 23 seconds.
“This is not just a good science and engagement opportunity for us, but also for the people of North Africa who will experience this eclipse,” Baer said. “In 2017 and 2024, SIU Carbondale was at the center of international attention for both eclipses — 2027 is the time for North Africa to celebrate this eclipse and we are happy to be part of this historic event with them.”
While in Morocco, Baer and Khalid Meksem, a professor in SIU’s agricultural sciences program, visited faculty with Abdelmalek Essaâdi University’s Faculty of Sciences and Technologies Tangier and Mohammed V University in Rabat as they prepare for the 2027 eclipse.
The SIU Carbondale livestream on Wednesday from the University of Leon will include heavy participation from SIU media arts and physics students, Baer said. Portions of production are possible through a SIU Foundation grant led by Karla Berry, an associate professor in the School of Media Arts and Corrinne Brevik, an associate professor in the School of Physics and Applied Physics.
In addition to streaming their own SIU program to YouTube Live @NASAsolarSTEAM, the team will also provide telescope and camera feeds to NASA for their coverage of the Northern Hemisphere Total Solar Eclipse on www.nasa.gov/live. Both livestreams will begin at 12:15 p.m. CDT. For more information on the SIU livestream, a planned watch party and other upcoming astronomy events, see eclipse.siu.edu.