Saudi FM calls Indian, Pakistani counterparts to discuss developments    Al Hilal thrash Gwangju to reach AFC Champions League Elite semi-finals    Saudi Arabia cracks down on fraudulent Hajj campaigns, urges pilgrims to use official channels    Nammos Amala Resort to open soon with Saudi-Greek designs    Saudi Arabia completes 674 Vision 2030 initiatives, achieves 93% of KPIs as ninth-year milestone marked    Literature Commission inaugurates Saudi Pavilion at Muscat Book Fair    Saudi Minister of Culture holds talks with his Costa Rican counterpart in Jeddah    Alkhorayef praises advancements in Al-Kharj food industries sector    MHRSD: 80% of recruitment offices are non-compliant with regulations    At least 50 Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes across Gaza    Teenage girl killed in French school stabbing attack    Trump claims meeting with China after Beijing denies any trade negotiations    GACA chief chairs 16th meeting of the Steering Committee on aviation's strategy    Saudi Theater Commission launches its Work and Learn Project in UK    The season has begun — and one comment shook us all    Jennifer Lopez dazzles in Jeddah with a Formula 1 performance    Saudi Arabia open to expanded 64-team World Cup in 2034, says sports minister    Average life expectancy in Saudi Arabia rises to78.8 years    Film Commission launches 'Cinema' initiative to enhance content    Famed Philippine film star Nora Aunor dies at 71    Pakistani star's Bollywood return excites fans and riles far right    Veteran Bollywood actor Manoj Kumar dies at 87    Bollywood actress vindicated over boyfriend's death after media hounding    Grand Mufti rules against posting prayers and preaching in mosques on social media    Exotic Taif Roses Simulation Performed at Taif Rose Festival    Asian shares mixed Tuesday    Weather Forecast for Tuesday    Saudi Tourism Authority Participates in Arabian Travel Market Exhibition in Dubai    Minister of Industry Announces 50 Investment Opportunities Worth over SAR 96 Billion in Machinery, Equipment Sector    HRH Crown Prince Offers Condolences to Crown Prince of Kuwait on Death of Sheikh Fawaz Salman Abdullah Al-Ali Al-Malek Al-Sabah    HRH Crown Prince Congratulates Santiago Peña on Winning Presidential Election in Paraguay    SDAIA Launches 1st Phase of 'Elevate Program' to Train 1,000 Women on Data, AI    41 Saudi Citizens and 171 Others from Brotherly and Friendly Countries Arrive in Saudi Arabia from Sudan    Saudi Arabia Hosts 1st Meeting of Arab Authorities Controlling Medicines    General Directorate of Narcotics Control Foils Attempt to Smuggle over 5 Million Amphetamine Pills    NAVI Javelins Crowned as Champions of Women's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) Competitions    Saudi Karate Team Wins Four Medals in World Youth League Championship    Third Edition of FIFA Forward Program Kicks off in Riyadh    Evacuated from Sudan, 187 Nationals from Several Countries Arrive in Jeddah    SPA Documents Thajjud Prayer at Prophet's Mosque in Madinah    SFDA Recommends to Test Blood Sugar at Home Two or Three Hours after Meals    SFDA Offers Various Recommendations for Safe Food Frying    SFDA Provides Five Tips for Using Home Blood Pressure Monitor    SFDA: Instant Soup Contains Large Amounts of Salt    Mawani: New shipping service to connect Jubail Commercial Port to 11 global ports    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Delivers Speech to Pilgrims, Citizens, Residents and Muslims around the World    Sheikh Al-Issa in Arafah's Sermon: Allaah Blessed You by Making It Easy for You to Carry out This Obligation. Thus, Ensure Following the Guidance of Your Prophet    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques addresses citizens and all Muslims on the occasion of the Holy month of Ramadan    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



Total solar eclipse: The 4-minute window into the Sun's secrets
Published in The Saudi Gazette on 07 - 04 - 2024

Eclipse fever is building. Millions in North America are hoping to spend around four minutes of total darkness as the Moon blocks the Sun's light on Monday.
For some, those precious minutes will be an opportunity for often impossible science experiments — a chance to unravel the secrets of our universe.
Researchers will fly rockets into the path of the eclipse, stand in zoos watching animals, send radio signals across the globe, and peer into space with massive cameras.
And you don't need to be a scientist to take part.
But it could still go wrong. A solar flare or even some humble clouds could throw those plans into turmoil.
Prof Adam Hartstone-Rose from North Carolina State University will spend Monday at the zoo in Fort Worth, Texas.
He'll be looking out for strange behaviors in animals from gorillas to giraffes to Galapagos turtles. Spoiler: during the 2017 eclipse, the turtles suddenly started mating.
Lots of animals appear to have anxious responses to the sudden darkness.
"The flamingos last time did a beautiful thing," he said. "As the eclipse was building, the adults gathered the chicks into the middle of the flock, and looked into the sky as if they were worried about an aerial predator coming down."
The gorillas moved to where they sleep and began their bedtime routines, as circadian rhythms were disrupted.
One nocturnal bird called a Tawny Frogmouth woke up from where it usually camouflages as a rotting tree stump. It started looking for food, and then suddenly went back into disguise when the sun re-appeared.
When darkness falls on parts of North America, one part of the Sun will peek out that people have been trying to study for centuries — its atmosphere, or corona.
Normally the Sun's incredible brightness makes the corona impossible to see, but on Monday scientists in Dallas, Texas, will be able to point instruments at it and take images.
Scientists with Aberystwyth University in Wales and from NASA hope for an insight into solar wind, which is the plasma thrown from the Sun's surface. Another puzzle is why the corona seems to be much hotter than the Sun's surface, despite being on its edge.
They might even see what is called a coronal mass ejection, when huge plasma clouds are thrown from the atmosphere into Space. Ejections can cause problems for satellites we use on Earth.
A lot of money, time and logistics have gone into that four-minute window, says Huw Morgan, professor of Physics at Aberystwyth University.
"It's a real feeling of euphoria when it goes right, because you prepared for so long. But if there's a cloud, that's a disaster. And there's nothing we can do about that," he said
The Sun's activity can disrupt almost all our communications, including the humble long-wave radio.
Energy from the Sun charges a region in the upper atmosphere called the ionosphere, which helps radio transmissions whizz around the planet. But when the Moon blocks the Sun, the ionosphere is affected.
To test what that does to radio, hundreds of amateur radio operators will join a listening party and send signals to each other across the world, competing for the most connections. They might communicate in Morse code or even speak.
The results could help scientists better understand radio communications used by emergency workers, airplanes, and ships, as well as GPS, according to Nathaniel Frissell at University of Scranton in Pennsylvania, who is running the party.
Thomas Pisano, an electric engineering student with Dr. Frissell, plans to compete. Sitting at desks with radio equipment, he'll send out signals and try to connect with as many operators as possible worldwide.
"There's a strong sense of community," he said. "We're all really excited to get this data."
Most of the communications are formal — station name and location — but each one signs off with "73", a code for best wishes.
"It's our radio way of saying farewell and take care," he says.
While the eclipse will barely be visible in the UK, radio operators across the country will still tune into messages sent from the other side of the Atlantic.
Radio operator Gwyn Griffiths plans to both send and receive long-wave signals across the ocean to gauge how far they travel.
US space agency NASA will fly WB-57 jets along the eclipse path to take pictures from 50,000 feet (15,240m) above Earth.
Flying above the clouds means there is no chance they will miss the eclipse. And the jets' cameras should take clearer pictures because they will capture wavelengths that don't normally make it all the way to Earth.
Along with spotting new details in the corona, NASA may be able to study a dust ring around the Sun and search for asteroids possibly orbiting nearby.
One instrument on board the planes called a spectrometer will help them learn more about the bursts of solar material flying out from the Sun.
The planes will also buy time in the eclipse.
They travel at 460mph (740km/h), and will spend more than 6 minutes and 22 seconds in the moon's shadow — nearly two minutes more than us humble humans on Earth who will get just four and a half minutes on the ground, if we're lucky. — BBC


Clic here to read the story from its source.