On April 8, 2024, the shadow of a total solar eclipse was cast from Texas to Maine, and a team led by the Southwest Institute successfully conducted two groundbreaking experiments from land and air to collect unique solar data from the total solar eclipse. The Citizens 2024 Continental Distant Solar Eclipse (CATE) experiment attracted more than 200 community participants who were broad, approachable, and inclusive in an attempt to make a 60-minute continuous HD movie for this exciting event.
This processed high-definition image of the April 8 solar eclipse shows the Sun's corona (its outermost atmosphere) with artificial colors showing the polarization or direction of light. Citizen scientists in Dallas collected the data through the Citizen Continental Telescope Solar Eclipse (CATE) 2024 experiment led by the Southwestern Research Institute. Source: Southwestern Institute/Citizen CATE 2024/Ritesh Patel/Dan Seaton
An investigation that took place almost simultaneously used unique equipment mounted on NASA's WB-57F research aircraft to chase the eclipse shadows, allowing for observations that could only be made from a bird's eye view.
Dr. Amir Caspi, principal investigator of both projects, said: "Total solar eclipses are relatively rare and provide a unique opportunity for scientists to study the hot atmosphere above the visible surface of the Sun. Not only that, but with CATE 2024, the eclipse also provides an intimate experience for scientists and communities along the way to share this incredibly shocking event together. We hope that the public will have a new interest and understanding of the sun and its mysteries.
These preliminary images are from a new set of sensitive, high-speed, visible and infrared imagers aboard NASA's WB-57 jet, showing the corona and protrusions visible in four wavelengths during the solar eclipse on April 8, 2024. In the future, scientists at the Southwest Research Institute will greatly improve these images by processing and analyzing the rich and complex data. Source: Southwest Institute/Citizen CATE 2024/Ritesh Patel/Dan Seaton
Total solar eclipses allow scientists to observe the complex and dynamic features of the Sun's outer atmosphere in ways that would otherwise be impossible or impractical, opening a new window into our understanding of the corona. The faint rays emitted by the corona are often masked by the intense brightness of the sun itself, and certain wavelengths of light are blocked by the Earth's atmosphere.
Citizen science in action
CATE 2024 deploys a network of 35 community actors, or "citizen scientists," representing local communities along the eclipse's path, deploying a "bucket brigade" of small telescopes along the eclipse's cross-border path. The scientific goal of CATE 2024 calls for measuring the direction of polarized or oscillating light waves of light in the corona.
"You're familiar with this because sometimes you wear a polarizing filter on your face – sunglasses – which filters out polarized light at certain angles," Caspi said. The Citizen CATE 2024 telescope's sensor has a polarization filter on each pixel, allowing us to measure four different polarization angles across the corona, providing more information than measuring the brightness of the light."
High-altitude solar research
Caspi also led an aerial project to observe the corona from an altitude of 50,000 feet during a solar eclipse. These upper-air observations provide measurements that cannot be made on the ground while avoiding any weather-related risks. Caspi's team installed a new set of sensitive, high-speed, visible and infrared imagers on the nose cone of a WB-57 jet, manufactured by the SCIFLI team at NASA's Langley Research Center.
Across the country, 35 teams, including more than 200 volunteers, collected eclipse data using telescopes provided by the Citizen CATE 2024 experiment, led by SwRI. Theresa Costilow, Carlyn Rocazella, Susan, and Bob Benedict wear Eclipse 2024 costumes to observe the April 8 solar eclipse and sample themed mooncakes at a campground in Kingsville, Ohio. Image Credit: Southwestern Institute/Citizen CATE 2024
Observing the complex motion in the corona with new wavelengths and new polarization measurements will help scientists understand why the corona is so hot. The corona's temperature is millions of degrees Celsius, hundreds of times the temperature of the visible surface below, a strange paradox and a long-standing scientific mystery. The corona is also one of the main sources of geomagnetic storms around the Earth. These phenomena can damage satellites, cause grid blackouts, and interfere with communications and GPS signals, so it's important to better understand them as the world becomes more reliant on these systems.
SwRI co-researcher Dr. Dan Seaton, who is the scientific lead of both projects, said: "Combining airborne movement data with continuous hour-long observations from CATE 2024 will provide a more complete picture of the Sun's mysterious corona. "
"Both experiments required a lot of effort and precise timing to get the data we needed," Caspi said. I am honored and in awe of this talented team who work so hard together. I can't wait to study the data we've collected. "
The on-board team led by SwRI includes representatives from the National Center for Atmospheric Research Upper-Air Observatory, NASA Langley Research Center, and Predictive Sciences Inc. SwRI led the CATE 2024 project, funded by the National Science Foundation and NASA, and includes participants from the National Center for Atmospheric Research, the National Solar Observatory, Scientists from the University of Colorado's Atmospheric and Space Physics Laboratory and Space Science Institute, collaborators at New Mexico State University and the Livelihoods Knowledge Exchange Network, community leaders from Rice University, Indiana University Bloomington, and the University of Maine, and more than 200 community participants in 35 communities along the eclipse path.
For more information on these projects, please visit:
https://eclipse.boulder.swri.edu