On Monday, April 8, a total solar eclipse will be visible across a large swath of North America, from the Pacific coast of Mexico to easternmost Canada. All kinds of interesting phenomena are known to occur during those dark minutes of daylight — and NASA wants us to help measure them.
During a total solar eclipse, temperatures may drop and winds may slow or change direction. Unusual behavior in the animals has been observed – you may hear crickets starting their evening chirping hours earlier. When sunlight is blocked, even radio communications can be disrupted by changes in the ionosphere. And, the Sun’s corona – its outermost atmosphere – will come into view, providing scientists (and those of us who help them) with a rare opportunity to study this layer that is normally invisible to the naked eye.
NASA has many research efforts planned for the eclipse and sponsored a number of citizen science activities that anyone can participate in as long as they are in or near the path of the eclipse, or people on the ground can view the sun in an area that is completely obscured by the moon. . The path of totality passed through 13 states in the United States, including Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Parts of Maine. This is a significant event; the next total solar eclipse won’t occur over much of the continental United States until 2045.
All you need to include is a device you already own, such as a smartphone, and set aside a few minutes before the eclipse to read the training materials.
Help measure the shape of the sun
One such citizen science project is a joint effort to measure the true shape of the Sun. Although the Sun is closer to a perfect sphere than any other celestial body that has been observed, it is still technically an oblate spheroid, slightly wider along the equator. The SunSketcher team plans to obtain more precise measurements through crowdsourced observations of Baily’s Beads, tiny dots of sunlight peeking out from behind the moon at certain points during a lunar eclipse.
NASA explained in a report that the Bailey’s Bead Effect is “the last piece of the sun seen before totality and the first one after totality.” “For a few seconds, these shimmers look like beads on the edge of the moon.” They are visible due to the uneven topography of the moon’s surface.
You’ll need to download the free SunSketcher app, which is available for iOS and Android. Then, a few minutes before totality (the exact time will depend on the location), set your phone to “Do Not Disturb,” tap “Start” in the app, and place your phone where it can see sunlight. Then, until the eclipse is over – the app automatically takes photos of Bailey’s beads as they appear.
If you want to familiarize yourself with the process in advance, there is one on the SunSketcher website. When this is complete, the image will be uploaded to SunSketcher’s servers. They will eventually be combined with observations from various locations to “create an evolving bead pattern” that may lead to a better understanding of the Sun’s size and shape.
SunSketcher’s images probably won’t blow your mind, so if you’re hoping to take some great eclipse photos, you’ll want to get another camera (with appropriate filters to protect your eyes and your device’s sensor).
Record changes in the surrounding environment
Eclipse watchers can also use smartphones to record the changes in the environment as the sun sets behind the moon, as part of a challenge launched by Globe, the global learning and observation organization that benefits the environment. You’ll also need an air temperature thermometer for this task, and if you want to be more thorough, you can start recording observations a few days before the eclipse.
According to NASA, in some cases, surface temperatures may drop as much as 10 degrees Fahrenheit during a total solar eclipse. Certain types of clouds have been observed to dissipate during these brief cooling periods, resulting in unexpectedly clear skies in the moments before totality. Data collected with the help of citizen scientists show that surface temperatures dropped less during the 2017 total solar eclipse.
To participate, download the Globe Observer app from or and open the Globe Eclipse tool from the in-app menu. There, you’ll be able to note temperature measurements and take photos of the sky to record any changes in cloud cover, as well as record wind conditions. Plan to spend a few hours on this task—NASA requires that you include observations 1-2 hours before and after the eclipse, in addition to recordings during the eclipse. “Measure temperature every 5-10 minutes and cloud cover every 15-30 minutes or whenever you see a change,” NASA said.
You can also continue to use the Globe Observer app to do citizen science after the eclipse. There are projects that run year-round to record observations of clouds, land use, mosquito habitats and tree heights, among other things. However, the eclipse tool is only available when a solar eclipse occurs.
Listen to the sounds of wildlife
Observations from nearly 100 years ago further support the idea that a total solar eclipse temporarily puts some animals in distress. Inspired by a 1935 study that collected observations of animal behavior during a solar eclipse three years earlier, the public is invited to record what they heard before, during and after totality and share their findings.
To become a participant in the program, it is recommended that you register on the website and review brief training materials so that you understand what type of information the program is looking for. The website also provides a printable field notes page that you can use to record your observations on the day of the eclipse. You should start taking notes at least 10 minutes before a total solar eclipse. Only after the eclipse is over will you need to fill out a web form to submit your observations and latitude and longitude.
If you happen to have an AudioMoth acoustic monitoring device and a spare microSD card, you can go a step further and record the actual sounds of the environment during the eclipse. You’ll need to set everything up early – the project says it’ll be ready by Saturday, April 6 Do it before noon – and let it log until at least 5pm local time on April 10th. At that point, you can close it, submit your online notes and mail them to the SD card. All submission details can be found on the project’s website.
Taking photos of the corona
The program aims to study the Sun’s corona and plasma plumes from the 2017 total solar eclipse. It has selected a team of 100 Science Team Alpha Recruits (STAR), who have been trained and equipped with 3D-printed tracking mounts for their cameras to capture the best images possible. However, the project will still accept photo submissions from any enthusiast who owns a digital SLR camera (and a solar filter) and wishes to participate.
This is pretty detailed, so don’t wait until the day of the eclipse to start figuring out your setup. After the solar eclipse, you can submit photos through a form on the website.
No matter how you choose to spend the eclipse, whether you’re collecting data for a citizen science mission or just planning to rest and observe, make sure you’re prepared for everything in advance. While the partial phase of the eclipse will last just over an hour, the total eclipse will be over in about 3.5-4.5 minutes, depending on where you look. You don’t want to miss out on some quality time by fumbling with your camera.
The total eclipse over western Mexico will begin shortly after 11 a.m. local time (2 p.m. ET) and move northeast over the next two hours or so before exiting near Newfoundland, Canada, around 5:30 p.m. local time. land. For those outside the Total Eclipse Trail, there will still be something worth seeing. A partial solar eclipse will be visible across much of the United States that day. You can see exactly when the eclipse will be visible from your location, and what percentage of sunlight coverage you can expect to see.
