Donald Liebenberg

Donald Liebenberg (born 1931 or 1932) is an American astronomer and adjunct professor in the department of physics and astronomy at Clemson University.

An avowed eclipse chaser, he is best known for having traveled around the world to see 27 total solar eclipses since 1954. He is also regarded as having spent more time in totality, the darkest area within the Moon's umbra during a total solar eclipse, than anyone else alive.

Education Liebenberg attended the University of Wisconsin as a physics major in the early 1950s. Since then, he has traveled around the world to see solar eclipses, witnessing a total of 27 total solar eclipses. He observed his 27th, the solar eclipse of August 21, 2017, from his driveway; by coincidence, his house in Salem, South Carolina, was located in the path of totality.

His primary motivation for pursuing solar eclipses has been to study the Sun's corona. For comparison, the theoretical maximum duration for totality during the third millennium for any stationary point or observer on the Earth's surface is approximately seven and a half minutes.

He has worked as an adjunct professor in Clemson's department of physics and astronomy since 1996.

Personal life Liebenberg and his wife Norma reside in Salem, South Carolina.