{"id":767224,"date":"2023-09-29T14:07:20","date_gmt":"2023-09-29T18:07:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/?p=767224"},"modified":"2023-09-29T14:07:20","modified_gmt":"2023-09-29T18:07:20","slug":"to-study-atmosphere-nasa-rockets-will-fly-into-oct-eclipses-shadow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/?p=767224","title":{"rendered":"To Study Atmosphere, NASA Rockets Will Fly into Oct. Eclipse\u2019s Shadow"},"content":{"rendered":"
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5 min read<\/p>\n

To Study Atmosphere, NASA Rockets Will Fly into Oct. Eclipse\u2019s Shadow<\/h1>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

On Oct. 14, 2023, viewers of an annular <\/a>solar<\/a> eclipse<\/a> in the Americas will experience the Sun dimming to 10% its normal brightness, leaving only a bright \u201cring of fire\u201d of sunlight as the Moon eclipses the Sun. Those in the vicinity of the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, however, might also notice sudden bright streaks across the sky: trails of scientific rockets, hurtling toward the eclipse\u2019s shadow.<\/p>\n

A NASA sounding rocket mission will launch three rockets to study how the sudden drop in sunlight affects our upper atmosphere. The mission, known as Atmospheric Perturbations around the Eclipse Path or APEP, is led by Aroh Barjatya, a professor of engineering physics at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida, where he directs the Space and Atmospheric Instrumentation Lab<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Some 50 miles up and beyond, the air itself becomes electric. Scientists call this atmospheric layer the ionosphere because it is where the UV component of sunlight can pry electrons away from atoms to form a sea of high-flying ions and electrons. The Sun\u2019s constant energy keeps these mutually attracted particles separated throughout the day. But as the Sun dips below the horizon, many recombine into neutral atoms for the night, only to part ways again at sunrise.<\/p>\n

During a solar eclipse, the sunlight vanishes and reappears over a small part of the landscape almost at once. In a flash, ionospheric temperature and density drop, then rise again, sending waves rippling through the ionosphere.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you think of the ionosphere as a pond with some gentle ripples on it, the eclipse is like a motorboat that suddenly rips through the water,\u201d Barjatya said. \u201cIt creates a wake immediately underneath and behind it, and then the water level momentarily goes up as it rushes back in.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The animation shows the changes in the number of electrons (total electron content or TEC) in the ionosphere over the US during the 2017 eclipse. Overlaid on the measurements are the contours that represent location of the outer shadow of the eclipse as it moves across the sky.<\/div>\n
Credit: Mrak, S., Semeter, J., Drob, D., & Huba, J. D. (2018). Direct EUV\/X-Ray Modulation of the Ionosphere During the August 2017 Total Solar Eclipse. Geophysical Research Letters, 45(9), 3820-3828. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1029\/2017GL076771<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

During the 2017 total solar eclipse<\/a> visible across North America, instruments many hundreds of miles outside the eclipse\u2019s path detected atmospheric changes. So did critical infrastructure like GPS and communications satellites that we rely on every day.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll satellite communications go through the ionosphere before they reach Earth,\u201d Barjatya said. \u201cAs we become more dependent on space-based assets, we need to understand and model all perturbations in the ionosphere.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"A<\/figure>
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Aroh Barjatya, of Embry-Riddle Aeronautic University in Daytona Beach, Florida, leads the APEP mission. Here, Barjatya inspects the subpayloads, which will eject from the rocket mid-flight. The subpayloads carry the plasma density, neutral density, and magnetic field sensors.<\/div>\n
Credit: NASA\u2019s Wallops Flight Facility\/Berit Bland<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Mechanical technician John Peterson of NASA\u2019s Wallops Flight Facility and Barjatya check the six booms carrying the sensitive science sensors after a successful spin deployment testing. <\/div>\n
Credit: NASA\u2019s Wallops Flight Facility\/Berit Bland<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\"Three<\/figure>
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Mechanical technician John Peterson of NASA\u2019s Wallops Flight Facility and Barjatya check the six booms carrying the sensitive science sensors after a successful spin deployment testing. <\/div>\n
Credit: NASA\u2019s Wallops Flight Facility\/Berit Bland<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

To this end, Barjatya designed the APEP mission, choosing the acronym because it is also the name of the serpent deity from ancient Egyptian mythology, nemesis of the Sun deity Ra. It was said that Apep pursued Ra and every so often nearly consumed him, resulting in an eclipse.<\/p>\n

The APEP team plans to launch three rockets in succession \u2013 one about 35 minutes before local peak eclipse, one during peak eclipse, and one 35 minutes after. They will fly just outside the path of annularity, where the Moon passes directly in front of the Sun. Each rocket will deploy four small scientific instruments that will measure changes in electric and magnetic fields, density, and temperature. If they are successful, these will be the first simultaneous measurements taken from multiple locations in the ionosphere during a solar eclipse.<\/p>\n

Barjatya chose sounding rockets to answer the team\u2019s science questions because they can pinpoint and measure specific regions of space with high fidelity. They can also measure changes that happen at different altitudes as the suborbital rocket ascends and falls back to Earth. The APEP rockets will take measurements between 45 and 200 miles (70 to 325 kilometers) above the ground along their trajectory.<\/p>\n

\u201cRockets are the best way to look at the vertical dimension at the smallest possible spatial scales,\u201d said Barjatya. \u201cThey can wait to launch at just the right moment and explore the lower altitudes where satellites can\u2019t fly.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the in-situ rocket instruments are all being built by Embry-Riddle and Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, a host of ground-based observations will also support the mission. Co-investigators from the Air Force Research Laboratory at Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque, New Mexico, will collect ionospheric density and neutral wind measurements. Co-investigators from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology\u2019s Haystack Observatory in Westford, Massachusetts, will run their radar to measure ionospheric perturbations farther away from the eclipse path. Finally, a team of students from Embry-Riddle will deploy high-altitude balloons (reaching 100,000 feet) every 20 minutes to measure weather changes as the eclipse passes by. All of these measurements will aid ionosphere modeling efforts led by scientists at the University of Colorado Boulder and Embry-Riddle.<\/p>\n

This won\u2019t be the only APEP launch. The APEP rockets launched in New Mexico will be recovered and then relaunched from NASA\u2019s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia, on April 8, 2024, when a total <\/a>solar eclipse<\/a> will cross the U.S. from Texas to Maine. The April launches are farther from the eclipse path than for the October annular eclipse, but will present an opportunity to measure just how widespread the effects of an eclipse are.<\/p>\n

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\"Illustrated<\/figure>
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This map details the path the Moon\u2019s shadow will take as it crosses the contiguous U.S. during the\u00a0annular solar eclipse on Oct. 14, 2023, and\u00a0total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024. <\/div>\n
Credit: NASA\/Scientific Visualization Studio\/Michala Garrison; eclipse calculations by Ernie Wright<\/em><\/strong><\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

After these two eclipses, the next total solar eclipse over the contiguous U.S. is not until 2044, and the next annular eclipse is not until 2046. \u201cWe have to make hay while the Sun shines \u2026 or, I suppose for eclipse science, while it doesn\u2019t,\u201d Barjatya joked. \u201cIn all seriousness though, this data set will reveal the widespread effects that eclipses have on the ionosphere at the smallest spatial scales.\u201d<\/p>\n

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