As a rare total solar eclipse graces North America on Monday, scientists eagerly anticipate the opportunity to gather invaluable data on various phenomena, ranging from the Sun’s atmosphere to peculiar animal behaviors and potential effects on humans.
This celestial event occurs as the Sun approaches the apex of its 11-year solar cycle, promising a mesmerizing spectacle: the corona’s dazzling glow against the Moon’s silhouette along the path of totality, spanning from Mexico to Canada through the United States.
NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy highlighted the “incredible scientific opportunities” presented by total solar eclipses during a recent press conference on the celestial event.
Among the institutions prepared to seize this opportunity, NASA plans to deploy “sounding rockets” to investigate the impacts on Earth’s upper atmosphere.
Let’s delve into what researchers aim to uncover from the upcoming eclipse:
During the solar eclipse, when the Moon aligns directly in front of the Sun, blocking its light, NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy noted that the rare event offers a unique opportunity to observe the Sun’s outermost layer, the corona.
Melroy emphasized that this phenomenon allows scientists to witness the corona in a distinct manner, shedding light on aspects that remain elusive and not fully comprehended.
The corona’s temperature increases with distance from the Sun’s surface, a puzzling phenomenon that scientists continue to grapple with understanding.
Within the corona, solar flares occur as sudden bursts of energy that emit radiation into space, alongside solar prominences, large plasma structures that extend outward from the Sun’s surface.
During an eclipse, the lowermost portion of the corona, where much of this activity takes place, becomes more visible than when using specialized instruments to block the Sun’s central part. This presents a golden opportunity for study, noted Shannon Schmoll, director of the Abrams Planetarium at Michigan State University.
Scientists are especially excited about the Sun nearing the peak of its 11-year cycle.
“The likelihood of witnessing something extraordinary is quite high,” remarked Melroy.
The total eclipse will also provide scientists with an opportunity to observe changes in the ionosphere, a region of Earth’s upper atmosphere crucial for communication and navigation due to its impact on radio waves.
“Disruptions in this layer can lead to problems with GPS and communication,” noted Kelly Korreck, the eclipse program manager at NASA headquarters.
The ionosphere, where Earth’s atmosphere meets space, experiences the influence of the Sun, which electrically charges its particles during the daytime.
NASA plans to launch three sounding rockets from Virginia before, during, and immediately after the eclipse to measure these fluctuations.
The significant reduction in sunlight caused by the eclipse, which occurs more rapidly and locally than a typical sunset, provides an opportunity for researchers to gain insights into how light impacts the ionosphere, enhancing their ability to forecast potential disruptions.
Eclipses have been associated with remarkable animal behaviors: Giraffes have been observed galloping, and roosters and crickets may begin crowing and chirping.
In addition to the decrease in sunlight, temperatures, and wind—factors that animals are sensitive to—can also notably decrease during an eclipse.
Andrew Farnsworth, an ornithology researcher at Cornell University in New York, investigates how eclipses impact birds, utilizing weather surveillance radar to monitor birds in flight.
In the previous total solar eclipse visible from the United States in August 2017, scientists noted a “decrease in the number of animals flying around,” Farnsworth informed reporters.
The 2017 eclipse altered the daily routines of insects and birds, but did not prompt typical nocturnal animal behaviors like bird migration or bat activity, the expert noted.
This time, birds may be more inclined to migrate during the eclipse, especially since it’s in April, Farnsworth suggested.
“These patterns are crucial for understanding how animals perceive their environment,” he emphasized.
“Eclipses hold a unique power. They inspire a sense of awe for the beauty of our universe,” remarked NASA Administrator Bill Nelson.
In 2017, researchers examined this sense of awe using data from nearly three million Twitter users, now known as X.
Those in the “path of totality,” where the Moon fully eclipsed the Sun, tended to use the pronoun “we” and express concern for others, noted Paul Piff, a psychology professor at the University of California, Irvine.
“We’re finding that experiences like awe… seem to connect people to each other and to larger entities,” Piff explained.
This year, he intends to investigate whether this experience influences political divisions in society.
Around 40 citizen science projects are set for the eclipse, ranging from using a phone app to track temperature and cloud cover to recording ambient noise during the event.
“We encourage you to assist NASA in observing the sights and sounds around you,” Nelson urged.
