NASA Is Preparing to Pursue the April 8 Total Eclipse with Jet Planes

NASA is gearing up to investigate the upcoming total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024, using high-flying jet planes.

The eclipse promises breathtaking views across North America, but for NASA, the real action will be 50,000 feet above ground aboard their WB-57 aircraft.

NASA-funded Teams Set to Conduct Experiments During the Eclipse

Three teams, funded by NASA, will deploy scientific instruments aboard these jets to conduct measurements during the celestial event.

These teams have specific objectives: two will focus on capturing images of the Sun's outer atmosphere, known as the corona, while the third will analyze the ionosphere, the upper electrically charged layer of Earth's atmosphere.

These measurements aim to deepen scientists' understanding of the corona's structure and temperature, study the Sun's effects on Earth's atmosphere, and potentially aid in detecting asteroids near the Sun.

During a total solar eclipse, the Moon aligns perfectly with the Sun, obscuring its bright face and revealing the much dimmer solar corona. This phenomenon offers a rare opportunity for scientists to study this enigmatic region of the Sun and observe how its light influences Earth's atmosphere.

According to NASA, solar eclipses have led to significant scientific breakthroughs. Hence, the space agency funds multiple experiments, including those utilizing the WB-57 jets, to capitalize on this event.

The WB-57s' high altitude ensures clear skies above any cloud cover while providing an unobstructed view of most of Earth's atmosphere.

This altitude enables the aircraft to capture sharp images and record wavelengths, such as infrared light, that are typically filtered out at ground level. The jets' speed also allows them to prolong their time within the eclipse's shadow.

WB-57 Experiments

Shadia Habbal, a researcher at the University of Hawaii leading one of the WB-57 experiments, emphasizes the importance of extending the duration of totality to gather more data.

Their experiment involves flying spectrometers and cameras to measure the temperature and chemical composition of the corona, aiming to unravel its mysteries and understand phenomena like coronal mass ejections.

For Amir Caspi's team at the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado, this isn't their first eclipse chase with the WB-57s. They previously led a groundbreaking experiment during the 2017 total solar eclipse, capturing images that helped study the corona's structure.

This time, they have upgraded their camera setup to observe more wavelengths, hoping to uncover new insights about the corona's middle and lower layers.

A third experiment, led by Bharat Kunduri of Virginia Tech, will investigate the eclipse's impact on the ionosphere using an ionosonde. This device is a radar that measures the ionosphere's charge by analyzing radio signals bouncing off it.

"The eclipse basically serves as a controlled experiment," Kunduri said in a statement. "It gives us an opportunity to understand how changes in solar radiation can impact the ionosphere, which can in turn impact some of these technologies like radar and GPS that we rely on in our daily lives."