Where to stream total solar eclipse & why and how scientists study surya grahan

Unless you're travelling to continental America next week, you are likely going to have to see the sampurna surya grahan on April 8 online. If you want to see telescope images of the total solar eclipse in real time next week, NASA will stream the celestial event for hours, as the eclipse's path of totality shifts north from Mexico to Canada. NASA TV will show telescope views of the sun, as well as conversations with scientists and astronauts, from 10.30 pm India time. NASA will also be blasting small rockets with science instruments into the ionosphere. Among these are three rockets that will study how the light changes during eclipse affect Earth's upper atmosphere - leading this project is Indian-origin scientist Aroh Barjatya, a professor of engineering physics at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Florida where he directs the Space and Atmospheric Instrumentation Lab.

Why solar eclipses fascinate scientists and researchers

Eclipses aren’t just captivating celestial events, they’re also invaluable opportunities for scientific discovery. For over a century, solar eclipses have served as windows to unravel mysteries about the sun’s structure, the theory of general relativity, and even the discovery of new elements.

Even today, scientists continue to harness the power of eclipses to unlock new insights into the sun, earth, and our broader space environment. Total solar eclipses, in particular, offer a unique chance to study the sun’s corona, a faint outer atmosphere typically obscured by the sun's brilliance. Instruments like coronagraphs attempt to mimic the conditions of an eclipse, but they often struggle to capture the innermost part of the corona where critical processes occur.