On April 8, 2024, a total solar eclipse crossed North America, and NASA supported various research projects to study the sun’s effect on Earth’s atmosphere.

Citizen scientists played a key role in the Citizen CATE 2024 project, capturing over 47,000 images of the sun’s corona during totality.

Despite some challenges, the data collected in polarized light will help scientists understand the corona’s behavior, Phys.org has reported.

Additionally, NASA’s WB-57 aircraft followed the eclipse, capturing detailed images and spectrometer data of the corona, with promising results leading to plans for future experiments.

Written by B.C. Begley