Fred Espenak "Mr. Eclipse" Has Died

[Sureshks]

Sad news...

Back on April 15th, Fred Espenak, known throughout the world as "Mr. Eclipse" announced on his FB page that five years ago he had been diagnosed with Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF). The disease had spread rapidly in a brief time and he was no longer a candidate for a lung transplant. He mentioned that he was moving into hospice care, and that he wished everyone farewell.

Fred died on June 1st at the age of 71. For those of us who knew him, or who knew him thru eclipse chasing, Fred was an a very kind and patient fellow. As a student he did research at Kitt Peak Observatory, near Tucson, AZ, on red dwarf stars. Then he worked for NASA at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, conducting research on planetary atmospheres using infrared spectrometers. It was there, in 1978, that he started publishing NASA's eclipse bulletins and became a go-to person for all things eclipses. Altogether, Fred witnessed more than 20 total solar eclipses, with the first one being in March 1970.

He wrote the Five Millennium Canon of Solar Eclipses with Jean Meeeus in 2006. They followed that up with Five Millennium Canon of Lunar Eclipses in 2009. Later he published three other books on solar and lunar eclipses, covering the years 1501 to 2500. The asteroid 14120 Espenak is named for him.

Fred will be missed by many...

Fred Espenak 2025-06-02 145127.jpg

Suresh

[Deane Clark]

That’s too damn young