This episode we have the honor of chatting with retired NASA Goddard Space Flight Center astrophysicist Fred Espenak. Known as “Mr. Eclipse”, Fred has authored over 20 books related to eclipse prediction, eclipse observation, and eclipse photography.  He has traveled to all 7 continents to observe total eclipses of the Sun and witnessed 30 total solar eclipses, 11 annular solar eclipses and 9 partial solar eclipses.  He's spent almost an hour and half inside the umbral shadow.   His famous quote, "Before you die, you owe it to yourself to experience a total solar eclipse" is repeated by umbraphiles everywhere when explaining​ eclipses to casual observers.  Today, we chat (remotely) and listen to Fred’s tales from the road en route to chasing totality. We talk about his first eclipse experience and explore his path of authoring canons, guides, and manuals for eclipse observation.  Fred Espenak's Eclipsewise:  https://www.eclipsewise.com/ David Baron's Ted Talk (You owe it to yourself to experience a total solar eclipse): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgxZ4H3gJ8c The book Totality: The Great North American Eclipse of 2024 2nd Edition by Mark Littmann and Fred Espenak:  https://amzn.to/417qnbD In this episode we discuss Fred Espenak and Jean Meeus, "Bible of Solar Eclipses" Five Millennium Canon of Solar Eclipses: Volume 1: -1999 to 0 by Fred Espenak and Jean Meeus:  https://amzn.to/3uVm9HN Five Millennium Canon of Solar Eclipses: Volume 2: 1 to 3000 Fred Espenak and Jean Meeus:  -https://amzn.to/46LWkas As mentioned in the episode, the April 08 2024 Total Solar Eclipse will be Fred's 4th eclipse of Saros 139.  His first eclipse was March 7, 1970 of the same Saros.  For more on Saros, read Fred's article in Sky and Telescope: Fred Espenak, November 20, 2023, How Did The Ancients Predict Eclipses?  The SAROS Cycle:  https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-news/how-did-the-ancients-predicted-eclipses-the-saros-cycle/ Or check out Fred Espenak's Eclipsewise Saros Page: https://www.eclipsewise.com/solar/SEhelp/SEsaros.html Also, check out Fred Espenak's Author Page on Amazon: https://amzn.to/41eXsT4 Sponsor - American Paper Wear Solar Eclipse Glasses https://ampaperwear.com/ Host Leticia Ferrer's Texas Eclipses Site https://texaseclipses.com/ Host Chris Chotas Alexander's Site https://www.chotachrome.com/ IG: @chotachrome Totality Talks is created by Leticia Ferrer and Chris Chotas Alexander. “Solar Echoes” and “Automatica” music created by Nigel Stanford. Totality Talks is produced by Chris Chotas Alexander.