‘Eclipse chaser’ travels to Buck Creek State Park for 8th solar eclipse

Credit: Springfield News Sun

A Wilmington, North Carolina, woman came to Buck Creek State Park near Springfield for her eighth solar eclipse.

“I’m an eclipse chaser,” said Susan Buccini on Monday. “We go around the world chasing eclipses, usually with an astronomy club.”

Susan Buccini of North Carolina sets up her specialized camera to view the total solar eclipse on Monday, April 8, 2024, at Buck Creek State Park in Clark County. This was Buccini's eighth total solar eclipse. She travels all around the world to see eclipses.  BILL LACKEY/STAFF

Credit: Bill Lackey

icon to expand image

Credit: Bill Lackey

Her parents first got her interested in the solar phenomenon when she was around 8, and she saw her first total eclipse in 1963 in Caratunk, Maine, which is on the Appalachian Trial.

The furthest she’s ever traveled yet to see an eclipse was to Akjoujt, Mauritania, in the Sahara Desert, which was in 1973 with a Harvard University solar expedition, she said.

”It’s the emotional rush that you get during totality; there’s nothing like the feeling of being under the sun when the moon comes through and seeing something so bizarrely different in the middle of the day,” Buccini said. “And when you’re with other people who appreciate it, the energy of everybody around you just grows, and it’s a very exciting emotional time.”

About the Authors