Southwest Research Institute (SwRI)
Contact:
Deborah Stowitts
Communications Department
Southwest Research Institute
P.O. Drawer 28510
San Antonio, Texas 78228-0510
Phone (210) 522-2046, Fax (210) 522-3547.
SwRI planetary scientists to observe February 26 total solar eclipse
San Antonio -- February 20, 1998 -- Scientists from Southwest Research
Institute's (SwRI) Boulder, Colorado, office and its headquarters in
San Antonio will be part of an international team of scientists who
will study the total solar eclipse on February 26. The total eclipse
will be visible from a narrow corridor that begins in the Pacific,
continues through the Caribbean, and ends off the Atlantic coast of
Africa. Much of the southern and eastern United States will see a
partial eclipse.
This total eclipse promises to be one of the most studied eclipses in
recent history, with scientists making observations from the ground on
the island of Curacao, a research aircraft flying out of Panama, and
several NASA satellites including the Solar and Heliospheric
Observatory (SOHO). The data they gather could eventually lead to
better prediction of the coronal mass ejections that launch solar
storms -- magnetic disturbances that sometimes erupt and slam into the
Earth, causing large, colorful aurora, but also knocking out
communications satellites and electric power grids.
Total solar eclipses provide scientists with unique opportunities to
study our nearest star, the Sun, and learn about the outer atmosphere
of the Sun, called the corona, which is the source of the solar wind
and large solar storms that engulf the earth and make up "space
weather." Even today, with modern satellites and spacecraft, a total
solar eclipse still provides scientists with an opportunity to study
the detailed, fine-scale structure of the inner corona in a way not
otherwise possible.
On the northern tip of Curacao, SwRI scientists Dr. Don Hassler and
Dr. Dave Slater will work in collaboration with a team led by
Dr. Steve Tomczyk from the National Center for Atmospheric Research
(NCAR) in Boulder, Colorado, to study the inner corona with large
format electron detectors called charge coupled devices.
The scientists will observe and gather information about the smallest
observable structures in the corona, which appear as light and dark
"threads," analogous to studying individual strands of a person's head
of wavy hair. Knowledge of this detailed small-scale coronal structure
will help researchers understand the physical conditions and
composition of the Sun's corona and the magnetic field that controls
its structure. Ultimately, this information may help scientists
understand how and why the Sun's magnetic field reverses or flip-flops
every 11 years and what causes potentially destructive solar storms.
Last Modified by ALG on March 5, 1998.
Eclipse
