GPO Has You Covered for the Great American Eclipse

August 16, 2017

On August 21, 2017, the entire United States will be looking to the skies for a phenomena that rarely happens. For the first time in almost 100 years, the total eclipse will occur primarily in the U.S. and could be one of the most important astronomical events of the century for our country.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has released several printouts and downloadable content to use in the build up to this historic event. By visiting eclipse2017.nasa.gov, you can learn all about the importance of this particular eclipse, where to best view it, and when it should occur in your location.

GPO’s Federal Depository Library Program hosted a free webinar on the upcoming eclipse, “Government Information on the Great American Eclipse.” It was presented by Linda Zellmer, Government Information & Data Services Librarian / Liaison to Physical & Natural Sciences & Agriculture at Western Illinois University. Access the recording of the session and the accompanying slides. You can also visit nationwide Federal depository libraries to access more information on the eclipse from NASA.

Being able to unite the masses in the interest of science can be pretty rare, but as this is a particularly rare event, it has even drawn the honor of being formally recognized on the House floor as representative Mike Bost likened the event to the “astronomical Super Bowl.” The U.S. Government Publishing Office (GPO) is proud to offer the digital copies of these rare instances on govinfo.gov.

The Catalog of U.S. Government Publications (CGP) also has several items that pertain to the eclipse such as:

In the U.S. Government Bookstore, you can find several items from NASA that should be able to keep the magic of the Great American Eclipse going for the rest of the year. You could check out the Astronomical Phenomena for the Year 2017, which offers dates for solar equinoxes, solstices, and phases of the Moon along with other dates for various planetary phenomena and interesting astronomical information for the year.

There’s also the popular title NASA’s Journey to Mars: Pioneering Next Steps in Space Exploration, which communicates NASA’s strategy and progress to learn about the Red Planet, to inform us more about our Earth’s past and future, and may help answer whether life exists beyond our home planet.

If you’re more of a visual learner, there is also the NASA Science 2017 wall calendar that covers fascinating images of the earth, heliophysics, astrophysics, Pluto’s “Heart” and other planetary images and more.

The collections never end, and with GPO’s help you can make learning about space and astronomy a fun journey for your entire family.

HOW DO I OBTAIN THESE RESOURCES?

Shop Online Anytime: You can buy eBooks or print publications —with FREE Standard Shipping worldwide— from the U.S. Government Online Bookstore at http://bookstore.gpo.gov.

Shop our Retail Store: Buy a copy of any print editions from this collection at GPO’s retail bookstore at 710 North Capitol Street NW, Washington, DC 20401, open Monday–Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., except Federal holidays, Call (202) 512-0132 for information or to arrange in-store pick-up.

Order by Phone: Call our Customer Contact Center Monday through Friday, 8 am to 5:30 pm Eastern (except US Federal holidays). From US and Canada, call toll-free 1.866.512.1800. DC or International customers call +1.202.512.1800.

Visit a Federal depository library: Search for U.S. Government publications in a nearby Federal depository library. You can find the records for most titles in GPO’s Catalog of U.S. Government Publications.

About the author: Blogger contributor Scott Pauley is a Writer and Editor in GPO’s Library Services and Content Management office.

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Posted by Trudy Hawkins