Two of NASA's WB-57F research jets will chase the coast-to-coast total solar eclipse in the hopes of capturing "the clearest images of the Sun's outer atmosphere" ever.
The jets, operated by the U.S. space agency funded Southwest Research Institute, also has the goal to take the first thermal images of the planet Mercury while chasing the eclipse on Aug. 21.
"These could well turn out to be the best ever observations of high frequency phenomena in the corona," Dan Seaton, co-investigator of the project, said in a NASA news release.
"Extending the observing time and going to very high altitude might allow us to see a few events or track waves that would be essentially invisible in just two minutes of observations from the ground."
NASA explains that it is funding 11 difference science projects across the country, as the coast-to-coast total solar eclipse is a rare opportunity to study the Sun and its atmosphere. As for the two WB-57F jets, they will make 30 high-definition images per second which will then be analyzed for wave motion in the Sun's outer atmosphere (the corona).
Both jets will launch from the Ellington Field near the Johnson Space Center in Houston. Each will track the eclipse for more than 3 minutes in flying over Missouri, Illinois and Tennessee, NASA says.
The WB-57Fs will fly at an altitude of of 50,000 feet, and will see the sky about 20-30 times darker than those of us down on the ground. The observations of the planet Mercury will be taken twice; 30 minutes before and after totality.
For those in the dark, the first coast-to-coast total solar eclipse will cross the U.S. when the moon passed in front of the sun on Aug. 21. The eclipse is set to be the first significant one in the U.S. since 1970 as it is expected to be visible across a 70-mile band that stretches from Oregon to South Carolina.
NASA has a website dedicated to the solar eclipse, ranging in information and tips on watch parties, the history, events, and even the math behind tracking its path and speed.
Those within that zone -- the zone of totality -- will enter complete darkness for around three minutes.
It does not come into Michigan, so a little travel to either Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina or South Carolina. This doesn't mean Michiganders will be completely left in the dark, as about 80-to-90 percent of the sun will be covered in the Great Lakes States from around 1:15 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. Aug. 21.
GreatAmericanEclipse.com has all the information needed for any eclipse travelers, as it offers U.S. highway routes to cities in the totality zone and estimated driving times. According to the information, Michiganders will need to embark on a 12-hour drive to catch the total eclipse.
The website reports that 53 percent of people living in the country are within 400 miles of a total eclipse site.
While this all sounds like quite the hike, total solar eclipses are truly (probably) a once-in-a-lifetime experience as the next one to cross contiguously across the U.S. in 2099.
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