During total solar eclipses — such as this one seen from the
northern tip of Australia on Nov. 13, 2012 — the light halo of the sun’s
atmosphere, called the corona, can be seen. Not only are such eclipses
beautiful, they also provide a unique opportunity for scientists to study the
corona.
Credits: NASA/Courtesy of Romeo Durscher
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NASA, in partnership with the Exploratorium Science Center in San
Francisco, will host activities around the March 8 total solar eclipse,
including opportunities to talk with solar scientists and live coverage of the
eclipse originating from Woleai island in Micronesia.
NASA will host a Facebook Q and A at 2 p.m. EST on Monday, March
7, with solar scientists from NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in
Huntsville, Alabama.
At 1 p.m. on Tuesday, March 8, solar scientists from NASA's
Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, will participate in a
Reddit Ask Me Anything.
NASA Television will
begin coverage at 8 p.m. on March 8. The period of total eclipse, called
totality, will occur from 8:38 to 8:42 p.m.
Twitter, Google+, Facebook, and Instagram users will be able to
join the conversation and ask questions using the hashtag #eclipse2016. The
NASA Twitter account for the eclipse is @NASASunEarth. The public will be able
to tag and share their images of the solar eclipse on the NASA Flickr group at:
https://www.flickr.com/groups/eclipse2016/.
Media representatives may arrange interviews with solar scientists
by contacting Dwayne Brown at dwayne.c.brown@nasa.gov
or 202-358-1726.
The total eclipse will be visible in parts of South East Asia and
a partial eclipse will be visible in parts of Alaska, Hawaii, Guam, and America
Samoa. An eclipse occurs when the moon passes directly between Earth and
the sun. When the moon's shadow falls on Earth, observers within that shadow
see the moon block a portion of the sun's light.
Information about eclipses is available online at:
For solar eclipse video resources, visit: