Fred Espenak | |
|---|---|
 Espenak in 2017 | |
| Born | (1952-01-19)January 19, 1952 |
| Died | June 1, 2025(2025-06-01) (aged 73) Portal, Arizona, U.S. |
| Occupation | Astrophysicist |
| Years active | 1978–2009[1] |
| Spouse | Patricia Totten |
| Website | mreclipse |
Fred Espenak Jr. (January 19, 1952 – June 1, 2025) was an Americanastrophysicist.[1][2] He worked at theGoddard Space Flight Center and published extensively oneclipse predictions.[3]
Espenak was born inAnnandale-on-Hudson, New York on January 19, 1952, and was brought up onStaten Island.[4] He became interested in astronomy when he was 7–8 years old, and had his first telescope when he was around 9–10 years old.[1] Espenak earned a bachelor's degree in physics fromWagner College, Staten Island, where he worked in theplanetarium. His master's degree was from theUniversity of Toledo, based on studies he did atKitt Peak Observatory of eruptive and flare stars amongred dwarfs.[5]
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Espenak was employed atGoddard Space Flight Center, where he usedinfrared spectrometers to measure the atmospheres of planets in theSolar System.[3] He providedNASA's eclipse bulletins starting in 1978. He was the author of several canonical works on eclipse predictions, such as theFifty Year Canon of Solar Eclipses: 1986–2035 andFifty Year Canon of Lunar Eclipses: 1986–2035,[1] both of which are standard references on eclipses.[3] The first eclipse he saw was thesolar eclipse of March 7, 1970, which sparked his interest in eclipses,[3] and he eventually saw over 20 eclipses.[1]
Together withJean Meeus, Espenak published theFive Millennium Canon of Solar Eclipses in 2006, which covers all types of solar eclipses (partial, total, annular, or hybrid) from 2000 BCE to 3000 CE,[6] and theFive Millennium Canon of Lunar Eclipses in 2009, which lists all lunar eclipses (penumbral, partial, or total) in that time span.[7] Later, he published the more compactThousand Year Canon of Lunar Eclipses 1501 to 2500,[8] theThousand Year Canon of Solar Eclipses 1501 to 2500,[9] and the21st Century Canon of Solar Eclipses.[10] He was also a co-author (withMark Littmann andKen Willcox) ofTotality: Eclipses of the Sun.[3]
Espenak gave public lectures on eclipses and astrophotography. Astronomical photographs taken by him have been published inNational Geographic,Newsweek,Nature,New Scientist, andCiel et Espace [fr] magazines.[3]
He retired in 2009.[1]Asteroid14120 Espenak was named after him in 2003.[3]
Espenak met Patricia Totten while in India in 1995. They married in 2006.[11]
On April 15, 2025, Espenak announced on his Facebook page that he hadidiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, his health was declining rapidly, and that he would immediately be entering hospice care. Doctors determined that the disease had progressed too far for a lung transplant.[12] He died on June 1, 2025, in hospice care at his home inPortal, Arizona. He was 71.[13]
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