Catching the 2024 Solar Eclipse at 50,000 Feet

A total solar eclipse is a rare event, and on Monday, October 8^th, many residents in North America will get a once-in-lifetime opportunity to view a rare alignment of the moon moving between the sun and earth, which results in the sun’s rays being blocked and a shadow cast on parts of the earth, in this instance parts of Mexico, the U.S., and Canada. While many earthbound residents hope to look up (carefully) at the sun mid to-late Monday afternoon, for a rare view, civilians are not the only ones interested in observing the eclipse.

NASA is very much interested in studying this eclipse. According to a YouTube video on NASA Goddard, a trio of NASA teams aboard two WB-57 jet planes will be chasing the solar eclipse from an altitude of 50,000 feet. Two teams will image the corona, the Sun’s outer atmosphere, while a third team will measure the ionosphere, the upper electrically charged layer of the Earth’s atmosphere.

Unlike earthbound space observations that are often obscured by clouds, weather systems, and pollution, scientists can get a much clearer view of outer space events by flying at an altitude above the clouds The information the teams gather will help scientists better understand the structure and temperature of the corona, and the effects of the Sun on the Earth’s atmosphere.

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You can view the video here.