The Dynamic Eclipse Broadcast (DEB) Initiative was a citizen science project for the 2024 total solar eclipse which transited North America on 8 April 2024. Nearly 400 citizen volunteers observed the eclipse with a set of standard equipment from about 70 location both inside and outside the path of totality. During the partial eclipse phases, each site uploaded a processed solar image at a cadence of 1 per minute to our web page. For those sites located in the path of totality, the volunteers collected a set of 5 different exposures every 5 seconds and then uploaded this data to our central repository. These coronal images are currently being processed with the goal of measuring the acceleration of coronal plasma in the inner corona.
The organization and training of the DEB volunteers, their experiences on the day of the eclipse, and the current status of the data analysis will be discussed. In addition, the DEB Initiative follow-up projects which explore white light solar flares, variable stars and asteroid observations will be discussed with the aim of inspiring more people to join our volunteer community.
Matt Penn became interested in astronomy when his parents bought a 3″ Newtonian telescope for him while he was in 6th grade. While getting his undergraduate degree in astronomy at Caltech, Penn did his senior research project using solar oscillations data and began a career in solar physics research. After getting his PhD from the University of Hawaii in 1992, Penn worked with dozens of students, published more than 70 peer-reviewed research papers and developed a citizen science project for the 2017 total solar eclipse. Leaving the research field in 2018, Penn stayed with his family in Tucson AZ and is currently an electro-optical engineer. He holds two patents in the field of image processing. Penn continues to publish research papers in the field of astronomy as a hobby, and enjoys hiking and travel.