Collaborative Research: Citizen CATE Next-Generation 2024 Total Solar Eclipse Experiment, Phase 3

NSF Award Search · 01002526DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT · $69,882 · view on nsf.gov ↗

Abstract

Despite well over 100 years of scientific observation, many fundamental questions about the nature of the solar corona remain unanswered. The corona is permeated by complex, highly structured and intense magnetic fields coupled to hot plasma at temperatures of 1–10 million Kelvin, over 100 times hotter than the underlying surface, the photosphere. The middle corona mediates almost all the outflow from the Sun to the heliosphere and hosts transitions between the physical regimes of the inner and outer coronae but remains poorly characterized due to the difficulty in observing the dim emission from this region. This project will (1) determine the connectivity of structures that span the middle corona; (2) measure the flow of the nascent solar wind; (3) identify and characterize magnetic reconnection; and (4) characterize polarization in prominences to derive physical parameters important for solar and stellar understanding. Through these investigations, this project will characterize the processes that shape the heating, structure, and evolution of the solar corona at scales that have not been previously studied in this way. Total solar eclipses offer rare opportunities to study the solar corona without the inherent limitations of ground- or space-based coronagraphs, providing optimal conditions for ground-based observations that can achieve high resolution, high cadence, and wide field of view, with essentially zero stray light from the occulter (the Moon). The science obje

Key facts

NSF award ID
2511905
Awardee
Predictive Science Incorporated (CA)
SAM.gov UEI
C2XFYLH7Y977
PI
Cooper Downs
Primary program
01002526DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT
All programs
THEORETICAL & COMPUTATIONAL ASTROPHYSICS, OBSERVATIONAL ASTRONOMY
Estimated total
$69,882
Funds obligated
$69,882
Transaction type
Standard Grant
Period
09/01/2025 → 08/31/2027