The event also served as a dress rehearsal ahead of the total eclipse scheduled for April 2024. Both eclipses are going to be “absolutely fascinating for science,” said Madhulika Guhathakurta, heliophysics program scientist at NASA.
Solar eclipses have a noticeable effect on the upper atmosphere, such as the ionosphere, which is full of charged particles and is responsible for reflecting and refracting radio waves.
“Although the atmospheric effects of solar eclipses have been studied for more than 50 years, many unanswered questions remain,” Guhathakurta said.
To study these effects, NASA plans to launch three rockets from the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico on Saturday to collect data on electric and magnetic fields, electron density and temperature.
A total eclipse occurred in the United States in 2017. After next April’s total eclipse, another eclipse will not occur until 2044, while the next annular eclipse will occur in 2046.
