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Experiencing Total Solar Eclipse?? Across North America
Don't Miss Out on the Celestial Show! NASA Invites You to Witness the April 8 Solar Eclipse Across North America. The Moon's trajectory will align perfectly with the Sun, resulting in its shadow sweeping across the Earth's surface during the solar eclipse. Millions of spectators along the path of totality from Texas to Main across North America will witness approximately four and a half minutes of total darkness. Beyond this path, people across the contiguous US will have the chance to observe a partial solar eclipse, where the Moon partially covers the Sun.
NASA extends a special invitation to join in on the action through in-person gatherings, exciting science opportunities, and a range of online viewing options..?
Viewers can tune in to NASA's live coverage of the eclipse beginning at 1 p.m. EDT. The broadcast will feature live feeds of the eclipse from different locations across North America, expert insights from NASA personnel, interactions with astronauts aboard the International Space Station, and behind-the-scenes glimpses of NASA's eclipse-related scientific endeavors and events nationwide.
The broadcast will span three hours and include live feeds from notable locations such as Carbondale, Illinois; Dallas; Houlton, Maine; Indianapolis; Kerrville, Texas; Niagara Falls, New York; and Russellville, Arkansas, among others. Audiences can access the broadcast via NASA+, NASA TV, and the agency's website, as well as through various social media platforms and the NASA app.
Additionally, NASA will host a Spanish-language eclipse watch party on YouTube starting at 1:30 p.m. For those preferring a telescope-only feed without commentary, NASA Television's media channel and YouTube will offer uninterrupted coverage from 1 p.m., incorporating views from multiple locations based on weather conditions and eclipse progression.
Sounding Rocket Fleet Geared Up to Investigate 2024 Solar Eclipse Effects
NASA is gearing up to launch three sounding rockets during the total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024, aiming to study how Earth’s upper atmosphere reacts when sunlight dims during the eclipse.
Named the Atmospheric Perturbations around Eclipse Path (APEP) mission, the sounding rockets will launch from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. Led by Aroh Barjatya from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, the mission aims to investigate disturbances in the ionosphere caused by the eclipse.
The rockets will launch at intervals before, during, and after the peak eclipse to collect data on how the eclipse affects the ionosphere, a crucial layer of Earth’s atmosphere involved in communication and satellite operations.
The ionosphere, situated 55 to 310 miles above Earth’s surface, plays a vital role in reflecting and refracting radio signals. Understanding its behavior during events like eclipses is essential for maintaining smooth communication systems.
During the eclipse, the rapid dimming of sunlight triggers atmospheric waves and disturbances that affect communication frequencies. The APEP rockets, equipped with specialized instruments, will measure particle density, electric and magnetic fields, and atmospheric waves to provide valuable insights into these phenomena.
In addition to the rockets, teams across the U.S. will deploy high-altitude balloons and operate ground-based radars to study the ionosphere during the eclipse. These combined efforts aim to enhance our understanding of ionospheric dynamics and improve communication models.
The data collected from these experiments will be crucial for refining existing models and predicting potential disturbances to communication systems during future eclipses. With the
next total solar eclipse over the contiguous U.S. not until 2044, these experiments present a rare opportunity for scientific research.
Ancient Supernova Echo Reveals Stunning Discovery
领英推荐
In the year 1181, a remarkable event lit up the night sky with a rare supernova explosion that persisted for 185 days. Historical records describe this event as a temporary 'star' appearing in the constellation Cassiopeia, shining as brightly as Saturn.
Since then, scientists have pursued the quest to identify the remnants of this ancient supernova. Initially, it was thought that the nebula surrounding the pulsar 3C 58 might be the remnant. However, closer examination revealed that the pulsar predates the supernova of 1181.
In the past decade, another candidate emerged: Pa 30, a nearly circular nebula with a central star in the constellation Cassiopeia. Through a composite image using data from various telescopes, scientists have captured a breathtaking view of the supernova remnant, offering a glimpse of the same object that adorned the skies over 800 years ago.
Observations across the electromagnetic spectrum, including X-ray observations by ESA's XMM-Newton and NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, reveal the full extent of the nebula. While barely visible in optical light, the nebula shines brightly in infrared light, collected by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Space Explorer. The radial structure in the image consists of heated sulfur that glows in visible light, observed with ground-based telescopes.
Studies of the remnant's composition suggest that it was formed in a thermonuclear explosion, specifically a sub-luminous Type Iax event, where two white dwarf stars merged. This event typically leaves no remnant, but in this case, a 'zombie' star, a massive white dwarf with a fast stellar wind, was formed. This unique system, with its hot star and surrounding nebula, provides an exceptional opportunity to study such rare explosions.
Controlled by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory's Chandra X-ray Center, this discovery opens new avenues for understanding the universe's ancient phenomena.
The Hunt for Dark Matter
A groundbreaking experiment called the Broadband Reflector Experiment for Axion Detection (BREAD) has made its debut in the quest to unravel the mysteries of dark matter. Developed by the University of Chicago and the U.S. Department of Energy's Fermilab, BREAD has released its initial findings.
Here is a way to understand dark matter. Imagine you're looking at a tree, but it's really windy, and you can't see the wind itself, but you can see the leaves moving because of it. In a similar way, scientists can see galaxies moving in strange ways that can't be explained by just the stars and gas they can see. They think this extra movement is caused by the presence of dark matter. Although dark matter remains elusive to direct detection by our telescopes, its presence is inferred through its gravitational influence on stars, galaxies, and even light. Astronomers can detect its effects, but its true nature remains a mystery.
Dark matter poses a significant challenge for scientists. Despite constituting approximately 85% of the universe's matter and playing a crucial role in preventing galaxies from disintegrating as they rotate, its composition remains largely unknown. This mystery stems from dark matter's elusive nature; it appears to be invisible, exhibiting no discernible interaction with light. Unlike regular matter, which consists of protons, neutrons, and electrons and interacts electromagnetically, dark matter doesn't emit or reflect standard photons. As a result, dark matter defies conventional understanding, leaving scientists puzzled about its fundamental makeup and properties.
This has spurred scientists to search for various particles with peculiar properties that could constitute dark matter. One potential contender is the axion, a theoretical particle characterized by an incredibly minuscule mass. If axions do exist, they might interact with a hypothetical particle known as a "dark photon" similarly to how regular matter interacts with ordinary photons. This interaction could occasionally lead to the creation of observable photons under specific conditions.
BREAD, a tabletop-sized coaxial dish antenna resembling a curved metal tube, is crafted to capture photons and channel them towards a sensor, aiming to detect a specific type of axions. In its full-scale setup, BREAD will operate within a robust magnetic field, amplifying the likelihood of axions transforming into photons. As a preliminary trial, the team conducted a magnet-less version of the BREAD experiment. During the proto-BREAD experiment, conducted at the University of Chicago over a month, intriguing data emerged, fueling anticipation for the larger-scale project. Results indicated BREAD's high sensitivity within the targeted frequency range.
Moreover, the test underscored the feasibility of conducting particle physics experiments on a tabletop scale, challenging the notion that such research is exclusively reserved for colossal facilities like the Large Hadron Collider, spanning 17 miles beneath the France-Switzerland border. Stay tuned!
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