The Groningen expedition to the Great American Eclipse (and Jacqueline van Gorkom's meeting)

Image may be NSFW.
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Everyone who has ever seen a total solar eclipse will agree that it is one of the most spectacular events you will ever witness in your entire life. So when the idea came up to organise a conference this summer to celebrate the career of Jacqueline van Gorkom, it seemed a very good idea to let the time and location of that meeting coincide with that of the Great American Eclipse (the total solar eclipse of August 21, 2017, which crossed the entire USA). As a result, in the week of August 21, friends and colleagues of Jacqueline van Gorkom came together in the small town of Stanley, high in the mountains of Idaho and exactly on the line of totality of the eclipse. To discuss the latest concerning "Gas and Galaxy Evolution", one of Jacqueline's favourite topics. And to watch the eclipse.

The career of Jacqueline started in Groningen (PhD in 1980 with Miller Goss on WSRT observations of radio recombination lines), but most of her academic life she spent in the USA (mostly the VLA in Socorro, and Columbia University, New York). Nevertheless, her ties with Groningen radio astronomy have always remained strong, to this day. This long-time connection with Groningen can be seen in the picture above, which shows the Groningen and ex-Groningen attendees of the meeting (and Jacqueline herself of course) that have, at some point in time, worked with Jacqueline. All generations are present.

The insets are pictures yours truly took of the eclipse. As Woody Sullivan (who gave a wonderful public lecture on the eclipse) expressed it: "The eclipse was awesome. Not in the sense that this word is often used nowadays, but in its true sense: something which inspires awe. It hits you in the stomach."