On April 8, a total solar eclipse will sweep across the continental United States \u2014 the first since 2017 and the last until Aug. 12, 2045. During totality, or the moment at which the Moon is completely covering the Sun, the Sun\u2019s outer atmosphere, called the corona, and other prominences become visible to the naked eye. Scientists often use total solar eclipses as a chance to observe and study the Sun\u2019s corona, and their results contribute to our understanding of stellar dynamics and solar storms and how they affect Earth.<\/p>\n
In the months and weeks leading up to a total solar eclipse, scientists will often use supercomputers and other models to generate a model of what the Sun\u2019s corona will look like during the eclipse. For the April 8 eclipse, scientists from Predictive Science used data from NASA\u2019s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) spacecraft to predict the structure of the Sun\u2019s corona on April 8. Furthermore, to ensure that their model is up-to-date, the scientists also used NASA\u2019s Electra Supercomputer, which actively updates the team\u2019s model in real-time as new data from SDO is received.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The Sun\u2019s corona is driven by heat and magnetic turbulence, which leads to the long strands of plasma that extend away from the Sun that can be seen during totality. However, these strands can extend much further out into space than we can see with the naked eye, creating \u201csolar wind\u201d that travels throughout the solar system, affecting different planets, moons, asteroids, and more.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n