America’s total solar eclipse 2017: What can we learn from this astronomical phenomenon?

Sun's corona will be observed in total solar eclipse which will be happened on 21 August 2017

It has been happening for years that solar eclipse influences the human’s civilizations. Ancient civilizations have taught us about this periodical events and some of them tell scary stories. Solar eclipse which is just like comet were providing different perspectives to the ancient civilizations and many of them sounded like catastrophic event. Is that true?

In this year on 21 August 2017, the Americas will be witnessing the most incredible astronomical phenomenon called total solar eclipse. The solar eclipse is happened when the moon is standing between the Earth and the Sun. This positions of space objects create barrier to prevent solar radiation arriving to the Earth so there will be certain places that will be covered by the moon generating dark situation in daylight.

However, this natural phenomenon is not only some sort of tourism site that many people could witness it but also the source of astronomical data to learn many things. In traditional civilizations, there were many theories explaining the solar eclipse. In the northern part of the European, the Viking explained that solar eclipse was the eating process of sky wolf, while in Vietnam, traditional story tells the frog wants to eat the moon or the sun. On the other hand, the ancient Egyptians showed the Sun which was considered as their god "Ra" will be consumed by the whale. However, these could explain how the ancient people predict the process implying in planning of the agricultural activities.

The astronomical event of solar eclipse actually can provide lots of understanding about the Sun. Wait, how can darker condition give us information related to the activity of the Sun. The answer actually lies on the darker condition itself.

During the eclipses in particular the total eclipse, the solar radiation that comes to the impacted area will be in low intensity providing the best way in observing the Sun. In the meantime, the sky which will be in darker condition so we could observe the Sun’s corona. This observation could lead us to the measurement of distance of solar radiation and what types of electromagnetic wave could be arrived on Earth.

Despite of the astronomical topics, the presence of solar eclipse will decrease the temperature and pressure conditions above 26 thousand meters from the ground. This condition is similar to Mars’s surface which will give us hints about the system, for example, what would be happening for airborne chemical compounds, or what would happen to the living things such animals on the air or the ground.

To conclude, solar eclipses actually provide lots of information to be analyzed. The understanding of the Sun will be deeper than before while the changing temperature and pressure will give us similar condition of Mars’s surface. But more importantly, do not forget to use safety googles when witnessing the total solar eclipse.

Reference

[1] Image is downloaded from www.sciencenews.org