These Ongoing Sun Mysteries Could Shed Some Light on Total Solar Eclipses

Amaze Lab

Coming up super soon is the great American eclipse. And while anyone with eclipse viewing glasses will want to do everything they can to watch the event, scientists say it might be even better for them.

Transcript

00:00Coming up super soon is the Great American Eclipse. On April 8th, the cosmic event will

00:08pass over parts of Mexico, Canada, and of course the US, with NASA saying they expect it to

00:13completely block out the sun in 15 states. And while anyone with eclipse viewing glasses will

00:18want to do everything they can to watch it, scientists say it might be even better for them.

00:23That's because it could help them solve some ongoing mysteries about the sun itself.

00:27During a total solar eclipse, scientists can actually take measurements of the sun's corona,

00:31with observations taken during a total solar eclipse being even better than those taken

00:35with special corona viewing telescopes at non-eclipse times. This means after the eclipse,

00:40we'll have a better understanding of its density, and it might give us better insights into solar

00:45winds. Solar winds can be especially concerning to earthlings, as they can affect electrical grids

00:50and communications on our planet. And the sun's solar maximum is set to kick off next year as well.

00:55Other measurements include the sun's coronal temperature and large-scale magnetic conditions

00:59on the solar surface.

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