Learn about our Team
We are the Besselian Elements Team, a group of passionate eclipse chasers and researchers dedicated to the study and accurate prediction of solar eclipses. Our work encompasses detailed calculations, sharing information about upcoming eclipses, and conducting research, with a particular focus on measuring the eclipse solar radius
Luca is deeply passionate about eclipses and their computational aspects since 1999 and is engaged in measuring the eclipse solar radius since 2008. Luca designed the flash spectrum method to estimate the eclipse solar radius, and he also wrote, together with John Irwin, the computational engine that powers the eclipse maps.
Sydney, New South Wales · Australia
John Irwin
John is highly skilled in celestial mechanics computations. In 2011 he developed a novel and highly accurate eclipse computational method which is considered the most accurate currently available nowadays. This method is based on a fully 3D geometrical approach, accounts for the complexity of the lunar topography from the start and includes relativistic and other effects.
Guildford, England · United Kingdom
John Irwin
John is highly skilled in celestial mechanics computations. In 2011 he developed a novel and highly accurate eclipse computational method which is considered the most accurate currently available nowadays. This method is based on a fully 3D geometrical approach, accounts for the complexity of the lunar topography from the start and includes relativistic and other effects.
Guildford, England · United Kingdom
Konstantinos Emmanouilidis
Kostas is a well-known astro-photographer, and he is one of the founding members of the Greek Supernovae Survey Team. He has built his own fully autonomous observatory and chased total solar eclipses around the world. He is one of the earliest contributors to the MVV Project aiming to collect high-dynamic range images of the solar corona.
Thessaloniki · Greece
Alessandro Pessi
Alessandro Pessi is a data scientist and an eclipse chaser since 1999. He has been a member of the Besselian Elements Team since 2013. He is also the blog and website curator and the main developer of the app
Milan · Italy
Alessandro Pessi
Alessandro Pessi is a data scientist and an eclipse chaser since 1999. He has been a member of the Besselian Elements Team since 2013. He is also the blog and website curator and the main developer of the app
Milan · Italy
Lucian Kafka
Lucian is an engineer with a passion for building electronic devices. He built several devices that were deployed during past eclipses, like ambient light photometers and UTC timers. Experimental data collected with such devices have provided alternative methods to estimate the eclipse solar radius.
Sydney · New South Wales · Australia