The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is an independent agency of the US government that conducts testing, research, and development to advance aeronautics. They develop technologies that enable exploration of the future and benefit life on Earth.
A Total Solar Eclipse will occur on April, 8th, 2024, for which NASA has selected 5 experiments that it will perform to study the sun and its influence on Earth, during this event.
But what is a Total Solar Eclipse?
A total solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between the Earth and the Sun causing the Moon to completely cover the face of the Sun towards a small part of the Earth.
During the Total Solar Eclipse on April, 8th, 2024, the Moon will obstruct the Sun’s light over a portion of North America, causing temporary darkness over the area and allowing Sun’s wispy outer atmosphere known as ‘corona’ to be seen clearly and creating a great opportunity for the scientists to investigate or to study the Sun, the Earth and their interactions.
That is why NASA has decided to fund its five integrative projects for this eclipse to take advantage of this opportunity. The projects will be led by different academic institutions researchers who will do a vigorous study using a variety of instruments including cameras, ham radios, and much more. In fact, out of the five projects, two of them encourage citizen scientist participation.
The Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington said that after seven years since the last total solar eclipse in America, they have selected five new projects to study the total solar eclipse that is due to occur in 2024 and also that they are excited to see what these experiments will uncover about sun and impact on Earth.
What will the experiments do?
The first experiment that is approved by NASA includes a high-altitude plane that will chase the eclipse in which the researchers will chase the eclipse and capture images from an altitude of 50,000 feet above the surface of the earth, in the hope to reveal new details about lower and middle corona formations.
In the second experiment, the flying cameras and spectrometers will gather more information about the chemical composition and temperature of the corona along with its mass ejections, which are the largest on the Sun, along the path of the eclipse.
The third experiment is expected to analyze solar radiation’s effect on Earth’s atmospheric layers. Radars will be employed to study the ionosphere during the eclipse to compare the computer model predictions measurements to answer the ionosphere's response to solar eclipse questions.
To observe the ‘active regions’, which are magnetically complex regions that form over sunspots as the Moon passes through them, a separate team will be established.
In addition to this, citizen scientists will attempt to make radio contact with operators as much as possible during the eclipse to understand the dramatic changes that the eclipse will cause in the ionosphere.
All these experiments will enhance our understanding of the Sun and how it powers life on the Earth inside our solar system.
