A total solar eclipse provides opportunities for science

An eclipse is about what scientists are looking forward to. We are just days away from a rare celestial event and total solar eclipse on April 8th. More than 31 million people will be on track to experience this event. This includes here in the Granite State. Joining us now is Dr. Kelly, right? Director of NASA's eclipse program. It's great to see you. Love your title, Peter. People have known how to predict eclipses for thousands of years, but NASA has a mission to make these predictions more accurate more recently. Can you tell us about how scientists are using the LUNAR RECON ORBITER to improve eclipse predictions? definitely. Thank you. The Lunar Recognition Orbiter, which has measured the Moon very precisely at every peak in the valley, so when we come back with Artemis, we know what we're detecting. In fact, it's also helped us get a better map of this eclipse, and that's what we're using to create NASA's map of the eclipse and this path. very precise. We used all the measurements from each peak and valley to tell you exactly where this shadow will be during the eclipse. Amazing thing. Now, a solar eclipse isn't the only big celestial event you'll see. On April 8, Satan's Comet may also be visible. Can you tell us what's so special about this comet? So this comet is very faint, and you may be able to see it because it is very faint near the sun during this time. All comets are special. Since these icy bodies travel through the solar system, this body has this name simply because it appears to have two tails. Well, our viewers here in New Hampshire are sure to be excited about this eclipse and totality. Can you tell us some ways we can get involved in solar science during a total solar eclipse? There are three great ways you can get involved in solar science. So we have citizen science available. We have the Globe Observer app, where you can download an app and take measurements of the temperature and cloudiness during this eclipse, there's also an Eclipse audio tape where you'll observe from the animals and people around you and see what's going on during the noise during the total solar eclipse. And then another way is this SUN SKETCHER app, where you use your cell phone to take measurements of the sun during the total eclipse and around the total eclipse to actually tell us to help us understand the size of the sun better. This is something we have not yet measured accurately. Yes, it will be an exciting few minutes. Astronauts on the International Space Station. They are also preparing for Monday's event. So what does the eclipse look like for them on ES. So, it's a great vantage point to be at the top looking down. What you see from that point is actually the moon's shadow coming from Earth. This is the view they will see of the eclipse. Doctor, what are you most excited about about this upcoming eclipse? So what I'm most excited about is sharing this with so many people. This is the big event. It creates it all, it's a full-body experience, and it's always a great time to experience this with others and inspire others. So I'm really looking forward to that. Yes, we are looking forward to that too. Doctor, thank you very much for your time and insight, we hope