By Mary O’KEEFE

Before heading off for summer break, Monte Vista students got an impressive astronomy lesson by an award-winning astronomer who also happens to be an awesome grandfather.

Jay Pasachoff is the director of the Hopkins Observatory at Williams College and an expert on solar eclipses. He recently received the 2017 Richtmyer Memorial Lecture Award. He is also the grandpa of first grader Lily Kezsbom and her younger brother Jacob, which is what brought him to the elementary school.

“There is a [solar eclipse] coming up on Aug. 21,” said Jay’s daughter (and Lily and Jacob’s mom) Deborah Pasachoff.

Deborah wanted the kids to know the solar eclipse was coming and to make certain the students viewed it safely.

“[Jay] speaks to groups of children,” she said. “He travels the world talking [about solar eclipses].”

His travels included a trip to Africa where, in addition to astronomy, he had to deal with an elephant stampede. He also traveled to the Arctic where he saw polar bears.

Jay is a visiting scientist at Caltech who has traveled the world either attending or leading expeditions of more than 60 solar eclipses. He has authored several books, including “Peterson Field Guide to the Stars and Planets.” This book includes pages on the upcoming Aug. 21 eclipse, according to Monte Vista Principal Suzanne Risse.

Deborah and her sister traveled with their father and listened to his lectures over the years and, now that her child is in school, Deborah wanted her dad to share his knowledge with her daughter’s peers.

The school scheduled three separate discussions on the August eclipse, adjusting for each class level.

“We had three customized levels of understanding,” Deborah said. “[Jay] showed [students] pictures of what to expect and talked about his experience.”

Deborah said her father had wanted to be an astronomer ever since he was in elementary school. But it was in college when he found his mentor in an astronomy instructor that set him on his future career path. Although neither she nor her sister became astronomers, Deborah said they gained so much knowledge by attending their father’s lectures over the years.

And now that introduction to the stars is being shared with the next generation with her first grade daughter, who joined her grandfather on stage at her school, and her pre-K brother.

“My son loved it and started giving the talk himself,” Deborah said. “And [Lily] in particular is so proud of grandpa.”

Lily has a telescope and loves astronomy.

Jay will be in Oregon for the Aug. 21 eclipse, his expedition sponsored in part by National Geographic. He will be blogging along the way as an educational outreach about the eclipse.

Southern California will experience a partial eclipse, which means about 70% of the sun will be covered; however, it is not safe to view this eclipse without a safety filter.

The Monte Vista PTA will purchase filters for the students to use during the part of the school day when the eclipse can be viewed in California, according to Risse, for about two hours and 40 minutes on the morning of Aug. 21. Viewing will begin about 9:05 a.m.

Thanks to Jay Pasachoff, the students at Monte Vista Elementary School will be knowledgeable about the eclipse and will be able to safely experience the solar eclipse thanks to the school’s PTA.

  Deborah PASACHOFF, Mary Okeefe