When a rare total solar eclipse sweeps across North America on Monday, scientists will be able to collect invaluable data on everything from the Sun’s atmosphere to strange animal behavior and even possible effects on humans.
The Sun is nearing the peak of its 11-year solar cycle, setting the stage for a breathtaking display: The Corona will shine spectacularly from the Moon’s silhouette along the path of totality, a corridor stretching from Mexico through the United States to Canada. .
Total solar eclipses present “incredible scientific opportunities,” NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy said at a press conference about the celestial event this week.
The US space agency is one of the institutions poised for the eclipse, and plans to launch so-called “sounding rockets” to study effects on Earth’s upper atmosphere.
Here’s a look at what researchers hope to learn from the upcoming eclipse:
– The atmosphere of the Sun –
When the Moon passes directly in front of the Sun and blocks it, the elusive outermost edge of the Sun’s atmosphere, or corona, can be seen in a “very special way,” Melroy said.
“There are things going on with coronavirus that we don’t fully understand,” he said.
The heat inside the corona intensifies with distance from the Sun’s surface; It’s a counterintuitive phenomenon that scientists have struggled to fully understand or explain.
Solar flares, a sudden burst of energy that releases radiation into space, also occur in the corona, as do solar protrusions, massive formations of plasma extending outward from the Sun’s surface.
During an eclipse, the lowest part of the corona (where most of this activity occurs) can be seen more clearly than when special instruments are used to block the central part of the Sun, offering a golden opportunity for study, Shannon Schmoll said. Director of the Abrams Planetarium at Michigan State University.
Researchers are especially excited that the Sun is near the peak of its 11-year cycle.
“We have a very good chance of seeing something spectacular,” Melroy said.
– Earth’s atmosphere –
The total eclipse will also give scientists a chance to study changes in the part of Earth’s upper atmosphere known as the ionosphere; This is important because it affects radio waves used for communication and navigation.
“Disturbances in this layer can cause problems with GPS and communications,” said Kelly Korreck, eclipse program manager at NASA headquarters.
The ionosphere, where the Earth’s atmosphere meets space, is affected by the Sun, which electrically charges the particles there during the day.
NASA’s three sounding rockets will be launched from Virginia before, during and immediately after the eclipse to measure these changes.
The large reduction in sunlight caused by the eclipse (more rapid and localized than a simple sunset) will allow researchers to learn more about how light affects the ionosphere, so they can better predict potential problematic disruptions.
– Animal behavior –
Surprising animal behavior has been recorded during eclipses: Giraffes have been seen galloping, while roosters and crickets may begin to crow and chirp.
Beyond the decrease in sunlight, temperatures and wind conditions to which animals are sensitive may also decrease significantly during the eclipse.
Andrew Farnsworth, an ornithology researcher at Cornell University in New York state, studies how eclipses affect birds by using airborne surveillance radar to detect birds in flight.
During the last total solar eclipse visible from the United States in August 2017, scientists observed “a decrease in the number of animals flying around,” Farnsworth told reporters.
The expert said the eclipse in 2017 disrupted the daily activities of insects and birds but did not trigger the usual nocturnal behavior of animals, such as the migration of birds or the emergence of bats.
This time, birds may be more likely to migrate during the eclipse, given that it is in April, he said.
“Such patterns are important for understanding how animals perceive their world,” Farnsworth said.
– Human wonder –
“Eclipses have a special power. They move people to a kind of reverence for the beauty of our universe,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson told reporters.
Researchers examined this feeling of admiration in 2017 using data from nearly three million Twitter users, now referred to as X.
According to Paul Piff, those on the so-called “path of totality,” where the Moon would completely occlude the Sun, tended to use the pronoun “we” (as opposed to “I”) and express concern about other people. Professor of psychology at the University of California, Irvine.
“What we found is that awe-inspiring experiences…harmonise people and connect us to each other, to beings larger than ourselves,” Piff said.
This year he plans to investigate whether this experience had any impact on political divisions in society.
– Citizen scientists –
Nearly 40 citizen science projects are planned around the eclipse, from using a phone app to record temperature and cloud cover to recording ambient noise during the event.
“We encourage you to help NASA observe the sights and sounds around you,” Nelson said.
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