Text written in Basque and translated automatically by Elia without any subsequent editing. SEE ORIGINAL

The Eclipse Tremor IV: Citizen Science

Citizen science projects help to fill the gaps in research, and some have also emerged around the eclipse. They have also been made in previous eclipses and some have been very productive. For example, NASA launched a project called Eclipse Soundscapes with the annular solar eclipse of 2023 seen from North America, which continued with the complete equipment of 2024. The project will be closed in 2026, while all the data collected by the volunteers is visible and audible (the recordings cover a total of 45,000 hours).

“They have seen that the birds of the families Paridae and Icteridae tend to silence; those of other families sing more.”

For audio recordings of birds, Birdnet has been used and the first results of the analyses have also been revealed. For example, it has been observed that birds belonging to the families Paridae and Icteridae tend to silence and begin to do so 22 minutes before the eclipse completes. After 45 minutes of total darkness, they return to sing as usual. The Corvidae and Strigidae, on the other hand, sing more when the Sun disappears.

On August 12, many citizens of the Basque Country will be able to confirm this type of behavior. And they will probably never forget the tremor that the eclipse has created in their bodies.