ASTC is thrilled to announce the recipients of the Total Eclipse 2024 awards!
Fifty (50) U.S.-based science centers and science-focused institutions located within the path of totality for the upcoming 2024 eclipse have been selected to receive gifts of $10,000 each. These awards, made possible through funding from the Simons Foundation as part of their In the Path of Totality initiative, will support educational public programming around the highly anticipated event.
We were impressed by the quality and creativity of the proposals we received from science centers, museums, zoos, and other informal learning organizations across the country. Successful applicants—comprising both ASTC and non-ASTC member institutions—proposed a range of dynamic events, demonstrations, partnerships, and activities to engage the public in scientific learning related to the eclipse.
Funded activities include community-wide festivals and viewing parties; special planetarium shows; interactive gravity well and lunar shadow demonstrations; take-home family activity kits; and hands-on workshops to make pinhole projectors, solar oven s’mores, and UV-reactive bracelets. Some sites will use funds to purchase telescopes and solar lenses. Others will commission giant eclipse glasses or create inclusive, accessible viewing decks by draping awnings with solar film.
We extend our congratulations to all recipients. These organizations have demonstrated their commitment to science education and community engagement around the eclipse, and we look forward to watching their innovative programs unfold in the months to come.
Are you planning for the eclipse? Join awardees in our free-to-join online Community of Practice to share ideas and resources ahead of the big day. You can also find links to outstanding resources on this page. Together, we will make April 8, 2024 a day of scientific discovery and wonder for communities across the United States. Be sure to stay tuned for updates as we approach this extraordinary event!
Here are the awardees for Total Eclipse 2024:
- Adirondack Sky Center & Observatory – Tupper Lake, New York
- Akron Children’s Museum – Akron, Ohio
- Alum Creek State Park Nature Center – Delaware, Ohio
- Bootheel Youth Museum – Malden, Missouri
- Buffalo Museum of Science – Buffalo, New York
- Carnegie Museum of Montgomery County – Crawfordsville, Indiana
- Charles W. Brown Planetarium, Ball State University – Muncie, Indiana
- Children’s Museum of Cleveland – Cleveland, Ohio
- Children’s Museum of Evansville – Evansville, Indiana
- Children’s Museum of Indianapolis – Indianapolis, Indiana
- Cleveland Museum of Natural History – Cleveland, Ohio
- Dayton Society of Natural History – Dayton, Ohio
- Discovery Science Place – Tyler, Texas
- Evansville Museum of Arts, History & Science – Evansville, Indiana
- Explore and More Children’s Museum – Buffalo, New York
- Fairbanks Museum and Planetarium – St. Johnsbury, Vermont
- Fort Worth Museum of Science and History – Forth Worth, Texas
- Frontiers of Flight Museum – Dallas, Texas
- Imagination Station – Toledo, Ohio
- Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites – Indianapolis, Indiana
- Inland Waterways Museum – Paducah, Kentucky
- Joseph Moore Museum, Earlham College – Richmond, Indiana
- kidscommons Columbus’ Community Children’s Museum – Columbus, Indiana
- Lake Erie Arboretum at Frontier (LEAF) – Erie, Pennsylvania
- Lake Loramie State Park Nature Center – Fort Loramie, Ohio
- Leahy Center for Lake Champlain (ECHO) – Burlington, Vermont
- Little Rock Zoo – Little Rock, Arkansas
- Mayborn Museum, Baylor University – Waco, Texas
- Mayborn Science Theater & Planetarium, Central Texas College – Killeen, Texas
- Mid-America Science Museum, Hot Springs, Arkansas
- Minnestrista Museum & Gardens – Muncie, Illinois
- Muncie Children’s Museum – Muncie, Indiana
- Museum of Discovery – Little Rock, Arkansas
- Museum of Science & Technology (MOST) – Syracuse, New York
- Museum of the Red River – Idabel, Oklahoma
- National Museum of the United States Air Force – Dayton, Ohio
- North County Children’s Museum – Potsdam, New York
- Perot Museum of Nature and Science – Dallas, Texas
- Portage Lakes State Park – Akron, Ohio
- Sci-Tech Discovery Center – Frisco, Texas
- Sci-Tech Museum – Watertown, New York
- Seneca Park Zoo – Rochester, New York
- SPI – Mount Vernon, Ohio
- Terre Haute Dobbs Park Nature Center – Terre Haute, Indiana
- The Science Center – Carbondale, Illinois
- The Wild Center – Tupper Lake, New York
- Toledo Zoo – Toledo, Ohio
- Trautman Nature Center at Maumee Bay State Park – Oregon, Ohio
- Westcott House Foundation – Springfield, Ohio
- Wonderlab Museum of Science, Health, and Technology – Bloomington, Indiana