A team of 15 students from Linn-Benton Community College planned and executed an expedition to Leakey, Texas for the April 8th eclipse in 2024. The project goals included replicating Eddington’s Experiment using modern technology.
These students, all with little or no experience in astronomical measurements, spent 15 weeks before the eclipse becoming acquainted with the experimental setup and procedures for data collection. During the eclipse a TeleVue 101NP telescope along with a ZWO 1600 pro camera was used to collect star field photos. An automated Celestron AVX mount was used to image at selected places around the eclipsed sun.
Atmospheric conditions in Leakey, Texas were not adequate for resolving stars and thus our data could not be utilized to perform star field measurements. Data collected in a similar manner from a team in Durango, Texas where skies were clear has been sent to our team and is in the process of being analyzed.
Data analysis consists of using MaxIm DL software to stack the images in order to decrease the uncertainty in observed star position. These locations will then be compared with star positions recorded by the European Space Agency’s Gaia database. Changes in star position can indicate bending of space-time as predicted by Einstein’s General Relativity.