Varying Views

Join Our Community of Science Lovers!

COMPARISONS OF DATA collected by different instruments during the total eclipse help scientists learn how events on the solar surface affect the sun's atmosphere and the resulting solar wind. The center of the composite image (left is a view of the sun snapped during the eclipse by the Extreme Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (EIT) on board the SOHO spacecraft. It clearly shows the turbulent events taking place on the sun's surface and in its lower atmosphere (below, left).

The surrounding image (below, right) was made by an optical telescope on the island of Aruba. It shows the sun's corona or, outer atmosphere, as a shimmering veil surrounding the central shadow of the moon. The corona consists of electrically charged gas that has been heated to one million degrees Fahrenheit as it streams from the solar surface at 250 miles per second.

On supporting science journalism

If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.

DATA from EIT will also be compared to images made by another instrument on SOHO, the Large Angle and Spectrometric Coronagraph (LASCO). Like an artificial eclipse, a coronagraph makes it possible to view the faint solar corona by blocking out the light from the sun's disk.

Images: JAY PASACHOFF,
Williams College; SOHO EIT CONSORTIUM, LASCO

Back to There Goes the Sun

It’s Time to Stand Up for Science

If you enjoyed this article, I’d like to ask for your support. Scientific American has served as an advocate for science and industry for 180 years, and right now may be the most critical moment in that two-century history.

I’ve been a Scientific American subscriber since I was 12 years old, and it helped shape the way I look at the world. SciAm always educates and delights me, and inspires a sense of awe for our vast, beautiful universe. I hope it does that for you, too.

If you subscribe to Scientific American, you help ensure that our coverage is centered on meaningful research and discovery; that we have the resources to report on the decisions that threaten labs across the U.S.; and that we support both budding and working scientists at a time when the value of science itself too often goes unrecognized.

In return, you get essential news, captivating podcasts, brilliant infographics, can't-miss newsletters, must-watch videos, challenging games, and the science world's best writing and reporting. You can even gift someone a subscription.

There has never been a more important time for us to stand up and show why science matters. I hope you’ll support us in that mission.

Thank you,

David M. Ewalt, Editor in Chief, Scientific American