Galician astrophysicist Montserrat Villar finally enjoyed her first total solar eclipse this week. "I tried to see one in 1999 in Paris, but it became cloudy and it was not possible, so until now I had only seen partial eclipses," she says during an interview at the Yebes Astronomical Observatory, in Guadalajara, on August 12.
Throughout her career, this scientist from the Astrobiology Center (CAB/CSIC-INTA) has made research compatible with scientific dissemination, leading, among others, the project A world of eclipses. This is a free interactive map to discover how cultures from different times and places interpreted the occultations of the Sun.
"I am interested in the synergies between science and humanities to understand how far we have come and where the most cutting-edge research being done today comes from. I think it is very enriching to know the history of astronomy. We have looked at and interpreted the cosmos in very different ways, and we are heirs of all those ancient ideas and interpretations," says this specialist in active galaxies and black holes.
Why do eclipses cause so much fascination?
They are a phenomenon that for thousands of years has surprised, astonished and caused panic in many cultures of the past because they did not know what was happening. And that panic prompted humans to want to understand, explain and predict them. Panic itself was an engine of knowledge.
Now we are no longer afraid because we know what eclipses are, we understand them well and we know that nothing bad will happen to us if we put on the special glasses, but we still feel the curiosity and wonder that other cultures of the past had. Because there is something amazing about the Moon coming between the Sun and the Earth; that our satellite, suddenly, appears with that jet-black silhouette, that begins to cover the disk of the Sun until it is completely hidden. The emotions that are unleashed in our environment, in the people around us, or aspects such as changes in temperature also influence us. There is something deep and philosophical in the experience of living this astronomical phenomenon. And it is an extraordinary opportunity that we have two total solar eclipses two years in a row, in 2026 and 2027.
The total solar eclipse on August 2, 2027 can be seen in the autonomous cities of Melilla and Ceuta and in areas of the south of the Peninsula. Ceuta is now immersed in a serious crisis due to the massive arrival of immigrants from Morocco. In a year's time, many visitors will come there to see the eclipse. Are you worried about what may happen?
There is uncertainty about what situation Ceuta will have next year, because with the drama that is being experienced now, receiving an avalanche of tourists to see a solar eclipse could represent a major crisis. We will have to take into account the chances of there being a massive arrival of people again like the one there was this year coinciding with the sighting of the eclipse on August 2, 2027. It cannot be ruled out that it will happen again. If this eclipse that we experienced on August 12 had taken place in Ceuta, the avalanche of tourists would have coincided with a humanitarian crisis as deep and as serious as the one that is occurring.
On the other hand, for cities like Ceuta or Melilla, being able to enjoy a total solar eclipse, with all the economy it generates for all the businesses in the area that have to do with tourism, can be a magnificent opportunity, as it has been for the strip of the Iberian Peninsula in which totality was seen this August 12.
Have you already decided where you are going to see next year's solar eclipse from?
I will be in Malaga; I have family there.
Do you think that the eclipse we have just experienced can encourage more scientific vocations among children and young people?
I think so. To achieve this, we must convey to children what an eclipse is, explain it well and excite them so that they can experience something extraordinary and unforgettable that they may remember in the future when deciding what they are going to study. And although it may not help a vocation emerge, I think it will foster the interest they may have in astronomy and science in general.
