Donald Liebenberg
{{Infobox scientist
| honorific_prefix =
| name = Donald Liebenberg
| birth_date = {{birth based on age as of date |85|2017|August|21}}{{cite news |last1=Koren |first1=Marina |title=The King of Totality |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2017/08/solar-eclipse-totality/537441/ |accessdate=24 September 2018 |work=The Atlantic |date=21 August 2017}}
| birth_place =
| death_date =
| death_place =
| other_names =
| pronounce =
| citizenship =
| nationality =
| fields = Astronomy
| education =
| alma_mater = University of Wisconsin
| thesis_title =
| thesis_url =
| thesis_year =
| doctoral_advisor =
| workplaces = Clemson University (current)
Los Alamos National Laboratory (former)
| academic_advisors =
| doctoral_students =
| notable_students =
| known_for = Having witnessed 27 total solar eclipses
| spouse = Norma Liebenberg
| partner =
| footnotes =
}}
Donald Liebenberg (born 1931 or 1932) is an American astronomer and adjunct professor in the department of physics and astronomy at Clemson University.
An avowed eclipse chaser, he is best known for having traveled around the world to see 27 total solar eclipses since 1954.{{cite news |last1=Greenfieldboyce |first1=Nell |title=Go See It, Eclipse Chasers Urge. 'Your First Time Is Always Special' |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/08/08/539553696/go-see-it-eclipse-chasers-urge-your-first-time-is-always-special |accessdate=24 September 2018 |agency=NPR |date=8 August 2017}} He is also regarded as having spent more time in totality, the darkest area within the Moon's umbra during a total solar eclipse, than anyone else alive.{{cite news |title=Meet The Man About To Witness His 27th Total Solar Eclipse |url=https://www.abcactionnews.com/newsy/meet-the-man-about-to-witness-his-27th-total-solar-eclipse |accessdate=24 September 2018 |author-last1=Stephenson |author-first1=Lauren |author-last2=Seales |author-first2=Chance |agency=Newsy |publisher=ABC Action News WFTS |date=18 August 2017}}
Education
Liebenberg attended the University of Wisconsin as a physics major in the early 1950s. He holds three degrees, including a PhD, from his alma mater.
Career and eclipses
Liebenberg witnessed his first total solar eclipse on June 30, 1954, in Mellen, Wisconsin.{{cite news |last1=LaFleur |first1=Elizabeth |title=Watch the eclipse and be 'amazed' like this guy who's seen 26 of them |url=https://www.greenvilleonline.com/story/news/local/2017/04/26/watch-eclipse-and-amazed-like-guy-whos-seen-26-them/100923904/ |accessdate=24 September 2018 |agency=Greenville News |date=27 April 2017}} Since then, he has traveled around the world to see solar eclipses, witnessing a total of 27 total solar eclipses. He observed his 27th, the solar eclipse of August 21, 2017, from his driveway; by coincidence, his house in Salem, South Carolina, was located in the path of totality.{{cite news |title=Liebenberg's research shines more light on coronal emissions during total solar eclipses |url=https://newsstand.clemson.edu/liebenbergs-research-shines-more-light-on-coronal-emissions-during-total-solar-eclipses/ |accessdate=8 July 2019 |website=Clemson Newsstand|date=12 March 2019}}
His primary motivation for pursuing solar eclipses has been to study the Sun's corona. To this end, he wrote a proposal and obtained a grant from the National Science Foundation in 1954. He later worked for the Los Alamos National Laboratory carrying out research into the temperature and energy input of the corona. In 1973, Liebenberg was invited by French officials and scientists to participate in the observation of the solar eclipse of June 30, 1973, on an early Concorde supersonic aircraft. Flying on the Concorde, a group of scientists from Los Alamos and the Paris Observarory, including Liebenberg, remained in the path of totality for 74 minutes while conducting various scientific measurements of the corona.{{cite journal|url=https://permalink.lanl.gov/object/tr?what=info:lanl-repo/lareport/LA-UR-82-5105|title=In Flight: The Story of Los Alamos Eclipse Missions|first=Barb|last=Mulkin|journal=Los Alamos Science|accessdate=October 21, 2018}} For comparison, the theoretical maximum duration for totality during the third millennium for any stationary point or observer on the Earth's surface is approximately seven and a half minutes.{{cite journal |last1=Meeus |first1=J |title=The maximum possible duration of a total solar eclipse |journal=Journal of the British Astronomical Association |year=2003 |volume=113 |page=344 (Table 1)|bibcode=2003JBAA..113..343M |url=http://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/2003JBAA..113..343M |accessdate=25 September 2018}}
He has worked as an adjunct professor in Clemson's department of physics and astronomy since 1996.{{cite web |last1=Melvin |first1=Jim |title=26 AND COUNTING / The Liebenberg Chronicles / Eclipse 9 / Part 2 of Concorde flight |url=http://newsstand.clemson.edu/26-and-counting-the-liebenberg-eclipse-chronicles-part-9/ |website=The Newsstand – Clemson University |accessdate=24 September 2018}}
Personal life
Liebenberg and his wife Norma{{cite news |last1=Borenstein |first1=Seth |title=Chasing eclipses across the globe is a way of life for some |url=https://www.postandcourier.com/solar_eclipse/chasing-eclipses-across-the-globe-is-a-way-of-life/article_aa94504e-83ba-11e7-8f31-6f0773d14e8e.html |accessdate=24 September 2018 |agency=The Post and Courier |date=17 August 2017}} reside in Salem, South Carolina.
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
External links
- [https://archive.org/details/CSPAN2_20170818_041800_Interview_with_Donald_Liebenberg_on_the_Solar_Eclipse/start/0/end/60 Donald Liebenberg interview with CSPAN2]
- [https://blogs.clemson.edu/eclipse/2017/06/25/26-and-counting-the-liebenberg-eclipse-chronicles-part-9/ Blog postings] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180924145525/https://blogs.clemson.edu/eclipse/2017/06/25/26-and-counting-the-liebenberg-eclipse-chronicles-part-9/ |date=2018-09-24 }} where Liebenberg further discusses his experiences witnessing and researching solar eclipses
- [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYC3Tudu5DA&t=966s French documentary] on 1973 Concorde eclipse chasing
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Liebenberg, Donald}}
Category:Clemson University faculty
Category:Scientists from South Carolina
Category:Los Alamos National Laboratory personnel
Category:Year of birth missing (living people)
Category:People from Oconee County, South Carolina
Category:University of Wisconsin–Madison College of Letters and Science alumni