citizen science prepares for the great blackout of 2026

He solar eclipse on August 12, 2026 will be a great opportunity for enjoyment for the general populationbut also a unique moment for scientists from very diverse disciplines. For just a few minutes, animals change their behavior, the skies become dark, with less light pollution because it’s not time to have the streetlights on, and our own physiology possibly undergoes changes as well.

We have already talked of a citizen science project that aims to verify how the solar eclipse affects our heart rate and even our respiratory rate. But it is not the only study in which citizens can contribute their grain of sand. Currently, there are also projects aimed at study light pollution and the behavior of flying animals.

Citizen science to study light pollution

A solar eclipse is an ideal time to study light pollutionsince it is getting dark in a time zone in which there are no streetlights on yet. It really gets dark and, therefore, the sky can be seen much more clearly. A shame we only have a couple of minutes to enjoy it.

Luckily, although two minutes is very little time for enjoyment, it is more than enough to do a small study on light pollution. The project, named EclipseDSMhas been developed by scientists from Catalan, Galician and Navarrese research centers and aims to distribute photometers throughout the entire strip of totality so that citizens themselves are in charge of collecting data with which they can establish the differences between the real night and the night generated by the eclipse.

We want to study whether the lights in towns and cities are adequate

Anyone who wants can sign up in a form on the website, which indicates the three ways to get photometers. For starters, it can be made at home. On the website you can download some instructions manufacturing with link to all materials. Most of them can be obtained on Aliexpress, with a very low price. In total, the entire photometer could be obtained for 30 euros. The problem, as explained from Sinc Agencyis that there has been a shortage of one of those components. Therefore, there are two other options. The first is to attend one of the workshops that the Eclipse DSM team will carry out in several areas of the strip of totality. There, participants will be able to make their own photometer and take it home. If this is not possible, there is always the option of ordering it directly through the indicated email, although it is important to note that units are limited.

With all this, data will be obtained that will be used to study the more efficient ways to illuminate rural and urban environmentsreducing light pollution as much as possible. It’s simple. If the changes in sky illumination are not too great in a specific town, it may be because the luminaires installed there are less polluting than others with which more important changes are reported.

Animals once again take center stage during a solar eclipse

In 1932, a scientist named William Wheeler did what is possibly the first citizen science study during a solar eclipse. He asked people who lived in the zone of totality of an eclipse that they would observe around them and pay attention to all the changes in nature that caught their attention. With this, he received more than 500 testimonies about animals and plantswhich laid the foundations for many studies that came later.

Now, a group of scientists from the Spanish Research Network in Ecoacoustics (REIE) has made a new call to citizens to listen to nature through the ECOECLIPSE project. To participate it is necessary to have a autonomous sound recorder and be able to locate it in an area where it can be reached at least 98% complete during the solar eclipse of August 12, 2026. In this case, the recorders will not be distributed. Participants must already have one. However, it has been reported that an app will be announced later with which you can participate. without the need for this device.

What is known at the moment is that the recorders They should be placed two days before the solar eclipse and collected two days after. Although all types of sounds will be recorded, we want to examine above all the activity of birds and batsin order to check how this astronomical phenomenon affects them.

If you want to participate in either project, you still have time. Science needs you.

Image | Bryan Goff (Unsplash) | Magnificent

In Xataka | A third of Spain will be completely dark for a minute or two. The astronomical event of the century is approaching