NASA to study Sun's corona during August 12 solar eclipse

Kelly Korreck, NASA's eclipse program manager, emphasized the profound influence of the Sun on our daily lives, satellites, and astronauts in space. She stated that the upcoming total solar eclipse on August 12 presents a unique opportunity to deepen our understanding of this influence.

During the eclipse, the Moon will obscure the Sun's disk, allowing for exceptional observation of the corona, the Sun's outermost atmospheric layer. This brief window will be utilized by research teams to gather crucial data on the corona's evolution and the processes driving its extremely high temperatures, which can reach nearly a million degrees Celsius.

To capture these insights, NASA will deploy a high-altitude WB-57 aircraft. Flying at approximately 50,000 feet, above most of the atmosphere and clouds, the aircraft will carry the Scifli Multispectral Airborne Imager (SAMI). This instrument, equipped with four high-resolution cameras, will record images at various wavelengths, including infrared bands typically absorbed by Earth's atmosphere. The flight path will also extend observation time of the totality phase to nearly three minutes.

This year's campaign builds on the experience from the April 8, 2024, eclipse. Technical improvements made based on the previous observations aim to enhance data collection and analysis, further advancing the study of solar phenomena like prominences and the mechanisms behind the corona's intense heat.