NASA | 2016 Eclipse Science Opportunities

Solar scientists Natchimuthuk Gopalswamy, Nelson Reginal, Eric Christian, and Sarah Jaeggli discuss the 2016 eclipse and how it is great preparation for the 2017 eclipse. As the moon slowly covers the face of the sun on the morning of March 9, 2016, in Indonesia, a team of NASA scientists will be anxiously awaiting the start of totality – because at that moment, their countdown clock begins. They plan to take 59 several-second exposures of the sun in just over three minutes, capturing data on the innermost parts of the sun’s volatile, superhot atmosphere – a region we can only observe during total solar eclipses when the sun’s overwhelmingly bright face is completely blocked by the moon. In partnership with Exploratorium, NASA TV will be showing a live stream of the eclipse on March 8, 2016, from 8-9 pm ET.