A total solar eclipse isn’t just a spectacular sight to witness for those lucky enough to lie in the path of totality (or travel to it, as many dedicated skywatchers do). It also gives scientists a rare chance to study the sun’s outer atmosphere, or corona, during the day.
As such, NASA plans to take full advantage of the opportunity for the upcoming total solar eclipse happening on Aug 12.
The space agency’s WB-57 high-altitude research jet will chase the moon’s shadow across the globe, which will extend the agency’s ability to capture data from the eclipse. The NASA-supported Nationwide Eclipse Ballooning Project will also coordinate teams to release balloons that will help us know how our atmosphere changes when an eclipse turns the sky dark during the day.
“From our unique perspective on Earth during a total solar eclipse, scientists can study the sun’s corona in a way we can’t from anywhere else in the solar system,” Kelly Korreck, eclipse program manager at NASA Headquarters in Washington, said in an official announcement.
“The sun impacts our daily life, satellites, and astronauts in space, and we can take advantage of this moment to advance our understanding of that influence,” she continued.
Inside the research jet’s nose cone, four cameras will capture images of the corona’s structures, outflows, and changes. This data may help scientists gain a better understanding of how materials within the corona relate to solar winds.
“The sun is always changing,” Amir Caspi, principal investigator for the study at Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado, said in the announcement. “Every eclipse is different. So we could see things we didn’t see before. And we learn from each eclipse how to better observe the next one.”
Angela Des Jardins at Montana State University will lead the Nationwide Eclipse Ballooning Project, with the help of students from universities in the U.S., Iceland and Spain.
By releasing balloons in anticipation of the eclipse, scientists will be able to look at the ozone levels in the atmosphere during the eclipse and study how the eclipse impacts the “boundary layer” of the Earth, which shifts due to temperature and moisture in the air.
Both the research jet and balloons were used to collect data during the total solar eclipse in April 2024. These new projects will use what NASA learned last time to sharpen up the methods, and hopefully provide new insights into the relationships between the sun, moon, and Earth.