Two NASA WB-57F research aircraft successfully tracked the August 21 solar eclipse as part of a NASA project led by Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) to study the solar corona and Mercury’s surface.
Two NASA WB-57F research aircraft successfully tracked the August 21 solar eclipse as part of a NASA project led by Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) to study the solar corona and Mercury’s surface.
“The visible and infrared data look spectacular,” said SwRI senior research scientist Dr. Amir Caspi, principal investigator of the project. “We’re already seeing some surprising features, and we are very excited to learn what the detailed analysis will reveal.”
The team began initial analysis of the data gathered during the flights, showing clear images of the Sun’s outer atmosphere and thermal images of Mercury’s surface. Initial results are expected to be released in a few months and presented at the fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union in December 2017.
Total solar eclipses are unique opportunities for scientists to study the hot atmosphere above the Sun’s visible surface. The faint light from the corona is usually overpowered by intense emissions from the Sun itself. During a total eclipse, however, the Moon blocks the glare from the bright solar disk and darkens the sky, allowing weaker coronal emissions to be observed.
Read more at Southwest Research Institute
Photo credit: kesie91 via Pixabay
