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By NASA
5 Min Read Scientists Share Early Results from NASA’s Solar Eclipse Experiments
On April 8, 2024, a total solar eclipse swept across a narrow portion of the North American continent from Mexico’s Pacific coast to the Atlantic coast of Newfoundland, Canada. This photo was taken from Dallas, Texas. Credits:
NASA/Keegan Barber On April 8, 2024, a total solar eclipse swept across North America, from the western shores of Mexico, through the United States, and into northeastern Canada. For the eclipse, NASA helped fund numerous research projects and called upon citizen scientists in support of NASA’s goal to understand how our home planet is affected by the Sun – including, for example, how our star interacts with Earth’s atmosphere and affects radio communications.
At a press briefing on Tuesday, Dec. 10, scientists attending the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union in Washington, D.C., reported some early results from a few of these eclipse experiments.
“Scientists and tens of thousands of volunteer observers were stationed throughout the Moon’s shadow,” said Kelly Korreck, eclipse program manager at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “Their efforts were a crucial part of the Heliophysics Big Year – helping us to learn more about the Sun and how it affects Earth’s atmosphere when our star’s light temporarily disappears from view.”
Changes in the Corona
On April 8, the Citizen CATE 2024 (Continental-America Telescopic Eclipse) project stationed 35 observing teams from local communities from Texas to Maine to capture images of the Sun’s outer atmosphere, or corona, during totality. Their goal is to see how the corona changed as totality swept across the continent.
On Dec. 10, Sarah Kovac, the CATE project manager at the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado, reported that, while a few teams were stymied by clouds, most observed totality successfully — collecting over 47,000 images in all.
These images were taken in polarized light, or light oriented in different directions, to help scientists better understand the processes that shape the corona.
This preliminary movie from the Citizen CATE 2024 project stitches together polarized images of the solar corona taken from different sites during the total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024. SwRI/Citizen CATE 2024/Dan Seaton/Derek Lamb Kovac shared the first cut of a movie created from these images. The project is still stitching together all the images into the final, hour-long movie, for release at a later time.
“The beauty of CATE 2024 is that we blend cutting-edge professional science with community participants from all walks of life,” Kovac said. “The dedication of every participant made this project possible.”
Meanwhile, 50,000 feet above the ground, two NASA WB-57 aircraft chased the eclipse shadow as it raced across the continent, observing above the clouds and extending their time in totality to approximately 6 minutes and 20 seconds.
On board were cameras and spectrometers (instruments that analyze different wavelengths of light) built by multiple research teams to study the corona.
This image of the total solar eclipse is a combination of 30 50-millisecond exposures taken with a camera mounted on one of NASA’s WB-57 aircraft on April 8, 2024. It was captured in a wavelength of light emitted by ionized iron atoms called Fe XIV. This emission highlights electrified gas, called plasma, at a specific temperature (around 3.2 million degrees Fahrenheit) that often reveals arch-like structures in the corona. B. Justen, O. Mayer, M. Justen, S. Habbal, and M. Druckmuller On Dec. 10, Shadia Habbal of the University of Hawaii, who led one of the teams, reported that their instruments collected valuable data, despite one challenge. Cameras they had mounted on the aircraft’s wings experienced unexpected vibrations, which caused some of the images to be slightly blurred.
However, all the cameras captured detailed images of the corona, and the spectrometers, which were located in the nose of the aircraft, were not affected. The results were so successful, scientists are already planning to fly similar experiments on the aircraft again.
“The WB-57 is a remarkable platform for eclipse observations that we will try to capitalize on for future eclipses,” Habbal said.
Affecting the Atmosphere
On April 8, amateur or “ham” radio operators sent and received signals to one another before, during, and after the eclipse as part of the Ham Radio Science Citizen Investigation (HamSCI) Festivals of Eclipse Ionospheric Science. More than 6,350 amateur radio operators generated over 52 million data points to observe how the sudden loss of sunlight during totality affects their radio signals and the ionosphere, an electrified region of Earth’s upper atmosphere.
Students from Case Western Reserve University operate radios during the 2024 total solar eclipse. HamSCI/Case Western Reserve University Radio communications inside and outside the path of totality improved at some frequencies (from 1-7 MHz), showing there was a reduction in ionospheric absorption. At higher frequencies (10 MHz and above), communications worsened.
Results using another technique, which bounced high-frequency radio waves (3-30 MHz) off the ionosphere, suggests that the ionosphere ascended in altitude during the eclipse and then descended to its normal height afterward.
“The project brings ham radio operators into the science community,” said Nathaniel Frissell, a professor at the University of Scranton in Pennsylvania and lead of HamSCI. “Their dedication to their craft made this research possible.”
Also looking at the atmosphere, the Nationwide Eclipse Ballooning Project organized student groups across the U.S. to launch balloons into the shadow of the Moon as it crossed the country in April 2024 and during a solar eclipse in October 2023. Teams flew weather sensors and other instruments to study the atmospheric response to the cold, dark shadow.
The eclipse’s shadow was captured from a camera aboard Virginia Tech’s balloon as part of the Nationwide Eclipse Ballooning Project on April 8, 2024. Nationwide Eclipse Ballooning Project/Virginia Tech This research, conducted by over 800 students, confirmed that eclipses can generate ripples in Earth’s atmosphere called atmospheric gravity waves. Just as waves form in a lake when water is disturbed, these waves also form in the atmosphere when air is disturbed. This project, led by Angela Des Jardins of Montana State University in Bozeman, also confirmed the presence of these waves during previous solar eclipses. Scientists think the trigger for these waves is a “hiccup” in the tropopause, a layer in Earth’s atmosphere, similar to an atmospheric effect that is observed during sunset.
“Half of the teams had little to no experience ballooning before the project,” said Jie Gong, a team science expert and atmospheric scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “But their hard work and research was vital in this finding.”
By Abbey Interrante and Vanessa Thomas
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
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Last Updated Dec 10, 2024 Related Terms
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By NASA
Maxar Space Systems Technicians guide the equipment that will house Gateway’s xenon and liquid fuel tanks in this photo from July 1, 2024. The tanks are part of Gateway’s Power and Propulsion Element, which will make the lunar space station the most powerful solar electric spacecraft ever flown. Once fully assembled and launched to lunar orbit, the Power and Propulsion Element’s roll-out solar arrays will harness the Sun’s energy to energize xenon gas and produce the thrust to get Gateway to the Moon’s orbit where it will await the arrival of its first crew on the Artemis IV mission.
Image credit: Maxar Space Systems
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By NASA
5 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
An artist’s concept of NASA’s Europa Clipper shows the spacecraft in silhouette against Europa’s surface, with the magnetometer boom fully deployed at top and the antennas for the radar instrument extending out from the solar arrays.NASA/JPL-Caltech Headed to Jupiter’s moon Europa, the spacecraft is operating without a hitch and will reach Mars in just three months for a gravity assist.
NASA’s Europa Clipper, which launched Oct. 14 on a journey to Jupiter’s moon Europa, is already 13 million miles (20 million kilometers) from Earth. Two science instruments have deployed hardware that will remain at attention, extending out from the spacecraft, for the next decade — through the cruise to Jupiter and the entire prime mission.
A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket launched it away from Earth’s gravity, and now the spacecraft is zooming along at 22 miles per second (35 kilometers per second) relative to the Sun.
Europa Clipper is the largest spacecraft NASA has ever developed for a planetary mission. It will travel 1.8 billion miles (2.9 billion kilometers) to arrive at Jupiter in 2030 and in 2031 will begin a series of 49 flybys, using a suite of instruments to gather data that will tell scientists if the icy moon and its internal ocean have the conditions needed to harbor life.
For now, the information mission teams are receiving from the spacecraft is strictly engineering data (the science will come later), telling them how the hardware is operating. Things are looking good. The team has a checklist of actions the spacecraft needs to take as it travels deeper into space. Here’s a peek:
Boom Times
Shortly after launch, the spacecraft deployed its massive solar arrays, which extend the length of a basketball court. Next on the list was the magnetometer’s boom, which uncoiled from a canister mounted on the spacecraft body, extending a full 28 feet (8.5 meters).
To confirm that all went well with the boom deployment, the team relied on data from the magnetometer’s three sensors. Once the spacecraft is at Jupiter, these sensors will measure the magnetic field around Europa, both confirming the presence of the ocean thought to be under the moon’s icy crust and telling scientists about its depth and salinity.
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This animation shows how the boom of Europa Clipper’s magnetometer deployed — while the spacecraft was in flight — to its full length of 28 feet (8.5 meters). NASA/JPL-Caltech On the Radar
After the magnetometer, the spacecraft deployed several antennas for the radar instrument. Now extending crosswise from the solar arrays, the four high-frequency antennas form what look like two long poles, each measuring 57.7 feet (17.6 meters) long. Eight rectangular very-high-frequency antennas, each 9 feet (2.76 meters) long, were also deployed — two on the two solar arrays.
“It’s an exciting time on the spacecraft, getting these key deployments done,” said Europa Clipper project manager Jordan Evans of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. “Most of what the team is focusing on now is understanding the small, interesting things in the data that help them understand the behavior of the spacecraft on a deeper level. That’s really good to see.”
Instrument Checkout
The remaining seven instruments will be powered on and off through December and January so that engineers can check their health. Several instruments, including the visible imager and the gas and dust mass spectrometers, will keep their protective covers closed for the next three or so years to guard against potential damage from the Sun during Europa Clipper’s time in the inner solar system.
Mars-Bound
Once all the instruments and engineering subsystems have been checked out, mission teams will shift their focus to Mars. On March 1, 2025, Europa Clipper will reach Mars’ orbit and begin to loop around the Red Planet, using the planet’s gravity to gain speed. (This effect is similar to how a ball thrown at a moving train will bounce off the train in another direction at a higher speed.) Mission navigators already have completed one trajectory correction maneuver, as planned, to get the spacecraft on the precise course.
At Mars, scientists plan to turn on the spacecraft’s thermal imager to capture multicolored images of Mars as a test operation. They also plan to collect data with the radar instrument so engineers can be sure it’s operating as expected.
The spacecraft will perform another gravity assist in December 2026, swooping by Earth before making the remainder of the long journey to the Jupiter system. At that time, the magnetometer will measure Earth’s magnetic field, calibrating the instrument.
More About Europa Clipper
Europa Clipper’s three main science objectives are to determine the thickness of the moon’s icy shell and its interactions with the ocean below, to investigate its composition, and to characterize its geology. The mission’s detailed exploration of Europa will help scientists better understand the astrobiological potential for habitable worlds beyond our planet.
Managed by Caltech in Pasadena, California, JPL leads the development of the Europa Clipper mission in partnership with the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland, for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. APL designed the main spacecraft body in collaboration with JPL and NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, and Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. The Planetary Missions Program Office at Marshall executes program management of the Europa Clipper mission. NASA’s Launch Services Program, based at Kennedy, managed the launch service for the Europa Clipper spacecraft.
Find more information about Europa Clipper here:
https://science.nasa.gov/mission/europa-clipper
8 Things to Know About Europa Clipper Europa Clipper Teachable Moment NASA’s Europa Clipper Gets Its Giant Solar Arrays Kids Can Explore Europa With NASA’s Space Place News Media Contacts
Gretchen McCartney
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-287-4115
gretchen.p.mccartney@jpl.nasa.gov
Karen Fox / Molly Wasser
NASA Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
karen.c.fox@nasa.gov / molly.l.wasser@nasa.gov
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Last Updated Nov 25, 2024 Related Terms
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By NASA
A new edition of Issue #4 of Astrobiology: The Story of our Search for Life in the Universe has been released to include the NASA Europa Clipper mission. NASA Astrobiology/Aaron Gronstal To celebrate the successful launch of NASA’s Europa Clipper mission, the agency’s Astrobiology program has released a new edition of Issue #4 – Missions to the Outer Solar System – of its graphic history series Astrobiology: The Story of our Search for Life in the Universe.
Issue #4 tells the story of the outer solar system, from beyond the asteroid belt to the outer reaches of the Sun’s magnetic influence. Gas giants like Jupiter and Saturn are not habitable, but many of their moons raise questions about life’s potential far, far away from the warmth of the Sun.
One such body is Jupiter’s moon Europa, which contains an ocean of liquid water beneath its icy surface. The Europa Clipper mission is designed to help scientists understand whether this ocean holds key ingredients that could support habitable environments for life as we know it. The spacecraft launched on Oct. 14 and will arrive at Jupiter in 2030.
Additional content in the fourth edition of Issue #4 also includes ESA’s (European Space Agency) Juice (Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer) mission, which will arrive in the Jovian system in 2031 and collect data on many of Jupiter’s moons, including Ganymede, Europa, Callisto, and Io, that is complementary to Europa Clipper’s investigation.
Read more about how astrobiologists study the potential for life on worlds like Europa and the exciting data that Europa Clipper will gather by visiting NASA’s Astrobiology website and downloading the new edition.
Digital wallpaper for phones, desktops, or meeting backgrounds that feature the new Europa Clipper artwork from Issue #4 are also available.
This wallpaper image featuring NASA’s Europa Clipper mission uses artwork from Issue #4 of the astrobiology graphic history series, Astrobiology: The Story of our Search for Life in the Universe. The image of Jupiter in the background is adapted from imagery taken by NASA’s Juno Mission (Exotic Marble, 2019, NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS/Prateek Sarpal/©CCNCSA) NASA Astrobiology/Aaron Gronstal For more information on NASA’s Astrobiology program, visit:
https://science.nasa.gov/astrobiology
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Karen Fox / Molly Wasser
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
karen.c.fox@nasa.gov / molly.l.wasser@nasa.gov
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