SwRI is leading the Citizen CATE 2024 experiment, a broad clinical outreach initiative that will make a continuous 60-minute high-resolution motion picture throughout the April 8, 2024, solar eclipse over the United States. The April 20 eclipse observations served as preparation for the Citizen Continental-America Telescopic Eclipse (CATE) experiment ahead of an overall solar eclipse that will pass through the continental U.S. next year, on April 8, 2024.
The Citizen CATE 2024 task produced this incorrect color picture of the solar corona during the 2023 total solar eclipse from Exmouth, Western Australia. The image combines two crossed polarization angles, indicated by color. Prominences, banners and loops are easily visible in this high-resolution image. Credit: SwRI/Citizen CATE 2024/Dan Seaton
Pathfinding exercise paves the way for comprehensive United States observations in 2024.
The Southwest Research Institute led a group in the CATE experiment to observe the Suns corona throughout a solar eclipse in Australia as a precursor to the 2024 U.S. eclipse. The Citizen CATE 2024 task will produce a high-resolution movie of the solar eclipse using a network of person researchers.
Researchers from Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) led a group in the special Citizen Continental-America Telescopic Eclipse (CATE) experiment to image the Suns external environment, the corona, during a brief solar eclipse on the opposite side of the Earth. Utilizing 4 platforms in the northwest corner of Australia, the team successfully observed the million-degree solar corona at the April 20 eclipse seen from the Exmouth peninsula. The Australian eclipse serves both as a distinct clinical opportunity and a training workout for the programs leadership in preparation for the 2024 U.S. eclipse.
The Citizen CATE 2024 project produced this false color image of the solar corona throughout the 2023 overall solar eclipse from Exmouth, Western Australia. Researchers from Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) led a team in the special Citizen Continental-America Telescopic Eclipse (CATE) experiment to image the Suns outer atmosphere, the corona, during a brief solar eclipse on the opposite side of the Earth. The Australian eclipse serves both as a special scientific chance and a training workout for the programs management in preparation for the 2024 U.S. eclipse.
The CATE 2024 team took a trip nearly 10,000 miles for one minute of totality to observe the Suns corona from the unique point of view offered by overall solar eclipses. These phenomena allow researchers to see the complex and dynamic outer atmosphere in ways that arent practical or possible by any other means, opening brand-new windows into our understanding of the solar corona. SwRI is leading the Citizen CATE 2024 experiment, a broad clinical outreach initiative that will make a continuous 60-minute high-resolution movie during the April 8, 2024, solar eclipse over the United States. CATE 2024 will utilize a network of 35 teams of person scientists representing the local neighborhoods within the eclipse shadow path.
A team of scientists from SwRI, NSO, NCAR, the University of Northern Colorado, Rice University, the University of Indiana, and the University of Maine observed an unusual hybrid eclipse April 20 from 4 platforms in the Exmouth Peninsula, as the eclipse tracked through parts of Australia and Indonesia. Credit: SwRI/Citizen CATE 2024/Dan Seaton
” Even though this was a really short eclipse, our group of neighborhood researchers carried out perfectly and captured magnificent images of the structure of the elusive solar corona,” said Dr. Amir Caspi, a principal researcher at SwRI in Boulder, Colorado, and leader of the CATE 2024 task..
The observations gotten by the group will permit scientists to study the complexities of the Suns corona including its complex shape, how it alters in time, or what triggers the corona to reach temperatures of countless degrees Fahrenheit. Todays images from Australia will also assist the team to fine-tune its speculative treatments for the enormous, distributed neighborhood effort in the United States next year.
” This eclipse supplied the ideal opportunity to test our equipment and procedures, and to train our community leaders for the next eclipse in 2024,” Caspi said. “When it concerns preparations for this kind of significant effort, theres no replacement for the real thing.”.
The April 20 eclipse observations worked as preparation for the Citizen Continental-America Telescopic Eclipse (CATE) experiment ahead of an overall solar eclipse that will pass through the continental U.S. next year, on April 8, 2024. CATE 2024 will use a network of 35 citizen scientist teams stationed along the course to make a continuous 60-minute high-resolution motion picture of the eclipse. Credit: SwRI/Citizen CATE 2024/Dan Seaton.
The Citizen CATE 2024 task is moneyed by grants from the National Science Foundation and NASA, is led by SwRI, and includes the National Center for Atmospheric Research, the National Solar Observatory, the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado Boulder, and the Space Science Institute. Beyond its scientific objectives, the task aims to engage many distinct and diverse communities along the eclipse path as an important part of a major clinical research effort.
” Total solar eclipses offer fantastic chances to unite the general public and science,” said Dr. Carrie Black, program officer for the National Solar Observatory at the NSF Astronomical Sciences Division. “The Citizen CATE 2024 project leverages the general public value of science to develop an enduring instructional impact for both the regional and scientific communities.”.
” Citizen CATE becomes part of a growing family of NASA citizen science tasks gearing up for the Heliophysics Big Year initiative in 2023-2024, motivating joy and curiosity in addition to exceptional participatory science opportunities,” stated Dr. Elizabeth MacDonald, Citizen Science Strategic Working Group lead at NASA.
The present job builds on the experience of the very first Citizen CATE experiment, which used 68 stations to observe the August 2017 total solar eclipse that crossed the entire continental United States. CATE 2024 broadens the clinical objectives by measuring polarized light and engages with groups across the brand-new eclipse course. Dr. Sarah Kovac, a 2017 CATE individual and now a postdoctoral scientist at SwRI, functions as project manager for CATE 2024..
” Participating in CATE as a young undergraduate influenced me to pursue a profession in heliophysics,” said Kovac. “Seven years and one Ph.D. later on, I get to be on the professional side of planning an eclipse exploration, and its beyond amazing to share this passion with the next generation of young researchers.”.
The 2023 Australian observation effort includes team members from SwRI, NSO, NCAR, the University of Northern Colorado, Rice University, Indiana University Bloomington, and the University of Maine.
The project will start to hire teams from eclipse course communities in Fall of 2023. Interested parties can find more info and a contact form on the projects website, https://eclipse.boulder.swri.edu.
