Fred Espenak

Fred Espenak is a retired astrophysicist from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center where he became NASA's expert on solar and lunar eclipse predictions.

Known by the nickname "Mr. Eclipse", he is co-author of the popular book "Totality - The Great North American Eclipse of 2024." He also wrote 13 NASA eclipse bulletins, each focusing on a major eclipse. In 2014, Espenak published the comprehensive "Thousand Year Canon of Solar Eclipses: 1501 to 2500" and the complementary volume "Thousand Year Canon of Lunar Eclipses: 1501 to 2500." His publication "21st Century Canon of Solar Eclipses" is an essential guide to all eclipses of the Sun during this Century.

Espenak's MrEclipse dot com website focuses on eclipse photography while the EclipseWise dot com website is devoted to the dissemination of his latest eclipse predictions. An avid eclipse chaser, he has participated in dozens of eclipse expeditions around the world including remote locations such as Mongolia, Libya, the Bolivian altiplano, Kenya’s Lake Turkana and Antarctica. His enthusiasm for eclipses spills over into public speaking, and he frequently gives talks about his favorite subject.

The International Astronomical Union has honored him by naming an asteroid “Espenak.” To commemorate the 2017 total eclipse through the USA, the U. S. Postal Service featured one of his eclipse photos on a unique heat-sensitive postage stamp. Now living in rural Arizona, he spends most clear nights losing sleep and photographing the stars from Bifrost and Dark View Observatories.