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If you’re looking to catch the April 8 total solar eclipse,

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you’ll want to be somewhere with clear skies.

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For some scientists, that means heading above the clouds.

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During the 2024 solar eclipse,

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the WB-57 airplanes will be flying at an altitude of about 50,000 feet,

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chasing the eclipse shadow over the coast of Mexico near Mazatlan.

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Three science teams will be using two WB-57 jet planes

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to study different aspects of the eclipse.

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Firstly, these two teams with instruments in the nose and wings

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will be looking at the Sun’s outer atmosphere known as the corona.

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Scientists often study the corona using spacecraft with coronagraphs.

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These are occulting disks that help block out the bright Sun.

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But they also cover up the inner part of the corona.

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During a total solar eclipse,

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the Moon perfectly blocks the Sun’s bright disk, allowing the entire corona to appear.

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A total eclipse gives us the best view of the corona we can get.

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And it’s even better when viewed from above.

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The most exciting part of using the WB-57 is to get over the clouds.

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And to get to a layer of the atmosphere where it's so much less dense.

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This means you can access wavelengths of light

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that you normally wouldn't be able to access on the ground.

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The team led by the University of Hawaii

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will measure different wavelengths of light using spectrometers and cameras.

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Their instruments will give insight into the corona’s chemical composition and temperature.

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We want to figure out what kind of processes are operating in the Sun, 

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just above its surface or at the surface.

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For the team led by the Southwest Research Institute,

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this will be their second time chasing an eclipse,

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so they’re using an improved camera setup.

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In 2024, we're flying an evolution of the experiment, we flew in 2017.

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Back then we flew two cameras in two different wavelength ranges.

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For this experiment, we're flying four cameras that can measure in seven different wavelength ranges.

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And that gives us more information about the kinds of structures that we're going to see.

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The corona could hold clues to what creates solar wind,

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the stream of charged particles coming from the Sun that can cause auroras,

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but also potential threats to our satellites and astronauts.

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The Sun can also affect technology closer to home

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and the eclipse allows scientists to analyze those changes.

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Beneath the plane, the team led by Virginia Tech

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will mount an instrument called an ionosonde

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to study how the Moon’s shadow will affect Earth’s upper atmosphere known as the ionosphere.

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This is an electrically charged region of the upper atmosphere

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where GPS signals and radio waves travel.

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So during the eclipse, when the Moon casts a dark shadow on Earth,

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scientists will see how that lack of solar radiation changes the ionosphere. 

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Sometimes GPS systems can be adversely impacted because of certain perturbations or variations in the ionosphere.

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So, using this experiment, we can characterize and understand how changes in the solar radiation

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can impact some of these technologies that we rely on in our daily lives.

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Being in the air not only gives the teams a better vantage point, but it gives them a longer eclipse too.

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One of the main advantages of flying the instrument on the plane

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is that you will be able to track the totality over an extended interval of time.

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The jets will launch from NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas,

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and travel 460 miles per hour

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allowing them to briefly chase the Moon’s shadow as it sweeps across Mexico and Texas.

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This means the instruments will observe the eclipse 25% longer than from the ground,

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giving these teams a unique chance to do science.

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We might not actually even know what we're going to see.

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And that's part of the excitement

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is opening brand new discovery space

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and learning new things about the Sun.

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