Parker Solar Probe + Your Chance to see the Corona!

NASA recently announced a new mission that will travel closer to the Sun than any spacecraft ever has before. The Parker Solar Probe will study the Sun's corona, or outer atmosphere, and get just 3.67 million miles from the visual surface of the Sun! It will move  faster and withstand more heat and radiation than any spacecraft ever has before. 

Artist rendering of the Parker Solar Probe approaching the Sun. Image Source

The Solar Probe is being built right now. It is scheduled to launch next summer. Image Source

The Parker Solar Probe is scheduled to launch in the summer of 2018. It is designed to study the Sun's magnetic fields which drive the solar wind, and trace the flow of energy in the corona. It is important to understand the solar wind. Outbursts of plasma from the Sun can have serious repercussions on our satellites which we rely on for communication and many aspects of modern life, not to mention our science spacecrafts.  

A solar flare captured in multiple wavelengths by the ever-great Solar Dynamics Observatory.

Part of what makes this mission so interesting is the intense environment the spacecraft will be exploring. It will approach the Sun to within 3.67 million miles of the photosphere, which is seven times closer than any spacecraft ever has before. The temperature will reach around 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit at that close approach, and the radiation will be intense. To protect the spacecraft, it will be shielded by a 4.5 inch thick carbon-composite shield. As it approaches the Sun, it will reach blistering fast speeds, moving at 120 miles per second! It will be the fastest moving human built object so far. 

Besides having instruments to measure the electric and magnetic fields, it will have a camera that will take pictures of the corona. Hopefully we will get some pretty images from this spacecraft as a bonus to the science! 

The solar corona is visible to the naked eye during a total solar eclipse. Image Source

This spacecraft will be studying the solar corona, and you have a chance to see the corona this summer! The only time the corona is visible to the unaided eye is during a total solar eclipse. This August 21, there will be a total solar eclipse visible in a narrow path across the entire United States! In Central Illinois, we are only about a 4-5 hour drive from the path of totality. In Peoria, the Sun will only by 90% eclipsed.

The Shawnee National Forest and Carbondale will be good places to watch the eclipse. Image Source: GreatAmericanEclipse.com

Carbondale gets 2 minutes and 35 seconds of totality. Southern Illinois University is having a big event for the eclipse. Check out their website for information. Marion has 2 minutes and 28 seconds.

From the Peoria area, it will be a little bit of a shorter drive to totality in Missouri. 

You will have to go a bit south or east of St. Louis to get the longest duration of the eclipse. Image Source

In Missouri, good cities to observe are Festus (2 minutes and 37 seconds) and St. Genevieve (2 minutes and 40 seconds) near the centerline of the eclipse.

The large yellow band across the country is the path of totality. Everywhere else in the United States a partial solar eclipse will be visible. Image Source

You might want to plan a vacation around the eclipse, and travel to a beautiful destination to watch. If that is the case, check out this excellent interactive Google Map showing the eclipse path across the United States. You can also buy a booklet with maps of the eclipse from the museum store for about $15. 


How to safely watch a solar eclipse 

For most of the eclipse when the Moon is not fully covering the Sun, you need to wear proper eye protection to be able to see anything, and to stay safe. Eclipse glasses are a popular choice, and are very inexpensive. The Peoria Riverfront Museum's store has them for sale for $1.95. 

Rules For excitedly watching the Sun with eclipse glasses.

In Southern Illinois, the partial phase will start at 11:52:26 AM (CDT). You will see a small shadow appear on the upper right side of the Sun as the Moon begins to cover it. The Sun will be totally eclipsed from about 1:20 PM to 1:23 PM. The eclipse will end at 2:47 PM.  

You will need eclipse glasses or other solar filters to view all of the eclipse phases except totality. 

Total Solar Eclipse phases in Turkey, 2006. Photo by Stefan Seip

There are fancier solar filters and glasses available at online stores like this one. This website has a ton of great information about the eclipse, and how to observe safely. Please read it, and remember that normal sunglasses are not nearly powerful enough to safely observe the Sun.

You do not need a telescope or binoculars to observe the eclipse, but if you want to use one, make sure you have a safe filter on it, or you will ruin your scope or your eyes. 

What will you see?   

If you do not have the option to travel to totality, you will see a partial eclipse through a solar filter. In the Peoria area, it will look something like this when it is maximally eclipsed: 

  
It is worth watching the partial eclipse if you cannot travel to totality - it will still be an unusual and noteworthy sight. The Peoria Riverfront Museum and Peoria Astronomical Society will be partnering to host a viewing party for the Partial Eclipse from 11:45 to 1:30 on August 21. It will be a free event on the museum's Sun Plaza.
However, if you do have a chance to go to totality, you should. A partial eclipse is exciting, but a total solar eclipse is a rare phenomenon, one of the most awe-inspiring in nature.  

If you travel to totality, this is what you will see: 

Total Solar Eclipse in Norway, 2015. Image: Stan Honda

You can safely observe totality with a telescope without a solar filter, but only totality. If you try to watch a partially phased eclipse with a telescope without a filter, you can ruin your eyes and the 'scope. Here is what the eclipse might look like through a telescope. 

A total solar eclipse as photographed through a telescope. 2009. Image: Koen van Gorp

And this is what the shadow of the Moon looks like on the Earth during an eclipse. Incredible!

The Earth during a total solar eclipse, captured by the DSCOVR satellite. Image Source

 
How can you learn more? 

The Peoria Riverfront Museum's Dome Planetarium is your resource for all information about the 2017 total solar eclipse!

We have a planetarium show about eclipses on our daily public schedule called Eclipse: The Sun Revealed. It plays at 12:30 Monday-Saturday, 1:15 on Sunday, and 4:15 Friday-Sunday. 


Join our total solar eclipse event on the Dome Planetarium's Facebook page! We will post updates about the eclipse as the day gets closer.

Check out the EclipseWise website for a plethora of information.    
Also visit Mr. Eclipse for information about safely and successfully photographing the event.  

Other helpful sites:
eclipse2017.org   
GreatAmericanEclipse.com
NationalEclipse.com

Check out Tyler Nordgren's awesome space posters.

I am super excited about this total solar eclipse. It will be the first one I have ever seen, since there hasn't been one visible across the United States since 1979. There will be another total solar eclipse within driving distance in 2024. Let us know if you have any questions, and start preparing for the 2017 Great American Eclipse soon!

 

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