MLSO Home Page

Only 1/2 solar rotation until the August eclipse!

K-Cor image 3 CR before August 21st eclipse

The NCAR K-Cor coronagraph in Hawaii records artificial eclipse images. The Sun takes 27.3 days to rotate as seen from Earth. The corona usually changes slowly so we can imagine what the eclipse will look like using pictures of the corona taken a few solar rotations before the eclipse. The 1/2 rotation image is flipped left-to-right to make it look like a full solar rotation.

2017-05-31, 3 solar rotations before August eclipse

K-Cor image 2 CR before August 21st eclipse

The NCAR K-Cor coronagraph in Hawaii records artificial eclipse images. The Sun takes 27.3 days to rotate as seen from Earth. The corona usually changes slowly so we can imagine what the eclipse will look like using pictures of the corona taken a few solar rotations before the eclipse. The 1/2 rotation image is flipped left-to-right to make it look like a full solar rotation.

2017-06-27, 2 solar rotations before August eclipse

K-Cor image 1 CR before August 21st eclipse

The NCAR K-Cor coronagraph in Hawaii records artificial eclipse images. The Sun takes 27.3 days to rotate as seen from Earth. The corona usually changes slowly so we can imagine what the eclipse will look like using pictures of the corona taken a few solar rotations before the eclipse. The 1/2 rotation image is flipped left-to-right to make it look like a full solar rotation.

2017-07-25, 1 solar rotation before August eclipse

K-Cor image 1/2 CR before August 21st eclipse

The NCAR K-Cor coronagraph in Hawaii records artificial eclipse images. The Sun takes 27.3 days to rotate as seen from Earth. The corona usually changes slowly so we can imagine what the eclipse will look like using pictures of the corona taken a few solar rotations before the eclipse. The 1/2 rotation image is flipped left-to-right to make it look like a full solar rotation.

2017-08-08, 1/2 solar rotation before August eclipse

Eclipse Coronal Magnetic Field Prediction by Predictive Science

These images show the expected direction of the Sun's coronal magnetic field during the total solar eclipse on August 21, 2017 based on a model of the solar corona from the Predictive Science, Inc. team (courtesy J. Linker and P. Riley; see: http://www.predsci.com/corona/aug2017eclipse/). The red/blue image and gray/black image show what the Coronal Multi-Channel Polarimeter (CoMP) instrument at MLSO in Hawaii is expected to see on the day of the eclipse. The CoMP instrument takes images of the Sun's corona in polarized light of ionized Iron which allows scientists to determine the direction of the coronal magnetic field (the red/blue image) and how the coronal structures are polarized (the gray/black) image. The lines superposed on both images show the direction of the Sun's magnetic field.

Plane-of-sky magnetic direction

Linear polarization fraction

Understanding the structure and strength of the coronal magnetic field is of primary importance for predicting Space Weather since most forms of solar activity derive their energy from the coronal magnetic field. CoMP records images of the Sun nearly every day. To get the data please visit the MLSO Home Page.