TUPPER LAKE — Between stunning deep space photos, telescopes and other astronomical wonders at its Astronomy Hub, the Adirondack Sky Center & Observatory has one more dazzling display to showcase: an Emmy award.
Considered the most prestigious industry award for television programming, the Adirondack Sky Center was one of around a dozen locations in the path of totality that brought home the hardware for their collective roles in NASA’s coverage of the April 8, 2024, total solar eclipse. The broadcast “2024 Total Solar Eclipse: Through the Eyes of NASA” won the News & Documentary Emmy for Outstanding Live News Special.
The Adirondack Sky Center, along with the other locations in the path of totality, used high-powered telescopes and specialized software to provide a live eclipse view as the skies went dark over Tupper Lake for the NASA broadcast. Board President Seth McGowan spearheaded the operation, and said the training leading up to the eclipse was intensive.
“It was quite an effort,” he said. “Many, many hours of coordination with NASA, the other sites, with our telescopes, with the software.”
It required practice sessions, discussions with NASA producers and other site coordinators, all to ensure a flawless execution — there was a lot on the line.
“NASA’s live broadcast coverage of the 2024 total solar eclipse was the most complex live project ever produced by the agency,” NASA said in a press release. “In total, NASA’s eclipse broadcasts garnered almost 40 million live and replay views across its own distribution channels, including on NASA+, the agency’s free streaming service. Externally, the agency’s main broadcast was picked up in 2,208 hits on 568 channels in 25 countries.”
Though the award is in McGowan’s name, the board president said the credit should go to the entire Adirondack Sky Center’s board, staff and volunteers. It took a team to not only put the camera work together, but to manage the logistics of an event that brought about 15,000 people to Tupper Lake — about three times the community’s population — for the “Totality in Tupper” viewing event, which the Adirondack Sky Center simultaneously put on as it was performing camera work for NASA.
Trustee and Founding Member Marc Staves said McGowan played a crucial role both in lobbying NASA to include Tupper Lake as one of its live broadcast spots, as well as working with the local governments, first responders and marketing agencies to make sure the event was both well-advertised and attended, while remaining orderly throughout.
“He had firsthand experience and knowledge of what was coming to the Adirondacks with this eclipse,” Staves said. “And having that knowledge base to work out from was really critical for us. He was able to, with our organization, cast a really wide net across the Adirondacks, and he really got the word out so people weren’t caught off guard.”
McGowan sees the Emmy as a metallic symbol of an event that, with copious amounts of planning, was a resounding success. It’s one that he hopes will continue to draw visitors back to Tupper Lake, whether for pristine dark nighttime skies or for the numerous recreational opportunities that abound in the area.
“Our goal was to create an event that was safe, educational and would make people want to come back to Tupper Lake because we could do it right,” he said. “And I think that goal was achieved. When people think about the Adirondack Sky Center — whether it’s astrophotography or whether it’s a NASA broadcast — I hope that people would say, ‘This organization is worth getting behind because they know how to do things right.’”
The Emmy will remain on display at the Adirondack Sky Center’s 68 Park St. Astronomy Hub, open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day. More information is available at adirondackskycenter.org.