Total Solar Eclipse 2024: The Moon’s Moment in the Sun

On April 8, 2024, much of North America will experience a solar eclipse: a cosmic alignment of Sun, Moon, and Earth, in that order. The Moon’s shadow path will make landfall on Mexico’s Pacific coast, cross the United States from Texas to Maine, and exit North America via Newfoundland, Canada, continuing into the Atlantic Ocean. 

Learn how to safely observe the 2024 Solar Eclipse

It’s All About Perspective

Solar eclipses on Earth are a convenient coincidence. The Sun’s diameter is about 400 times larger than the Moon’s, and the Sun is almost 400 times farther away from us than the Moon is. This combination makes the Sun and Moon appear nearly the same size in our sky, setting up a spectacular show when they align. Try experimenting with apparent size for yourself by holding up a small item, like your thumb, and moving it closer and farther away to block different-sized objects from your view. 

The Moon’s distance from Earth varies, though only slightly. The Moon’s orbit is not a perfect circle, and it is not quite centered on our planet. At its closest, the Moon is about twenty-eight Earth diameters away; at its farthest, about thirty-two. As a result, the Moon’s apparent size changes over time, and eclipses are not all alike. 

A total solar eclipse is only possible when the Moon is closer to Earth than average. When the Moon is farther away, its apparent size is smaller than the Sun’s, so it does not completely block the Sun’s bright disk. In this configuration, when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, a “ring of fire” remains visible – that’s an annular solar eclipse.

An Orbital Dance

Ever wonder why solar eclipses don’t happen more often? Earth, Moon, and Sun don’t line up perfectly every month because the Moon’s orbit is tilted by about 5 degrees compared to Earth’s orbit around the Sun. Most of the time, the Moon’s shadow misses our planet. 

When all three celestial bodies do align, views of the eclipse depend not just on our position in the solar system, but also on our location on Earth. The Moon’s shadow has two parts, the umbra and the penumbra. Observers in the umbra (or “path of totality”) will experience a total solar eclipse. For those in the penumbra, the eclipse will be partial.

If you are planning to observe the eclipse, you’ve probably consulted a shadow path map like this one. But how do we know exactly where and when the Moon will cast its shadow? Eclipse prediction depends, first and foremost, on understanding the positions and movements of the Moon, Sun, and Earth. Modern maps build on a long human history of eclipse forecasting. And since 2009, NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) has been mapping the Moon in unprecedented detail. LRO’s lunar topography data enables us to make more accurate eclipse predictions than ever before.

Moonshadow: The Making of a Map

The Moon is a rugged world of peaks, craters, basins, and valleys. Since the lunar horizon is bumpy and jagged, the shadow it casts is not quite round. Knowing the precise shape of the Moon helps us understand exactly where its shadow will darken Earth’s surface. Of course, our own planet is not perfectly round, either. Today’s eclipse maps account not only for the lunar landscape, but also for the contours of Earth’s mountain ranges, lowlands, and other features.

Bursts of Light: Baily’s Beads and the Diamond Ring Effect

Casual observers don’t usually notice that the Moon’s silhouette is rough around the edges. At a distance of 239,000 miles (that’s the average gap between Earth and the Moon), our nearest neighbor in space looks round – even mountains appear too small for the human eye to distinguish. But, for two brief moments during a solar eclipse, craggy lunar terrain commands the spotlight.

On the brink of totality, as the Moon moves into full Sun-blocking position, the Sun’s edge doesn’t go dark all at once. Last rays of sunlight peek through valleys on the lunar horizon. These isolated areas of intense brightness can resemble a string of glowing beads or a single dramatic burst of light like the gem on a ring. The same phenomena, sometimes called Baily’s Beads and the Diamond Ring Effect, can also occur as the Moon edges out of totality (or annularity). Since we know the shape and position of the Moon so well, we can predict where the first and last bits of sunlight will appear.

NASA Eclipse Science and You

NASA scientists take full advantage of the unusual atmospheric and environmental conditions the Moon’s passing shadow creates, and you can too. Here are just a few places to start.

• Join a community eclipse science project like Eclipse Soundscapes or GLOBE Eclipse.
• A solar eclipse is a rare opportunity to directly observe a new moon. Document your experience and kick off a month of Moon observations with our special edition Moon Observation Journal. 
• Learn more about lunar and solar eclipses. 
• Connect with observers around the world and keep celebrating the Moon’s place in science and culture on the next International Observe the Moon Night, Sept. 14, 2024. 

Science Advisor: Ernie Wright, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center

About the Author

Caela Barry

Explore More

2 min read

NASA Launches Snap It! Computer Game to Learn About Eclipses

Article


3 days ago

4 min read

NASA’s Global Precipitation Measurement Mission: 10 years, 10 stories

Article


1 week ago

2 min read

Eclipse Ambassadors off the Path: Reaching Underrepresented Audiences

Article


2 weeks ago

Keep Exploring

Discover More Topics From NASA

NASA Eclipse Science

Moon Phases

International Observe the Moon Night

Supermoons

Powered by WPeMatico

Get The Details…

Statement from NASA’s Janet Petro on Fiscal Year 2025 Budget Request

“The rollout of the President’s 2025 budget offers the opportunity to highlight some of the exciting happenings that are helping launch humanity’s future at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Every dollar spent on the agency goes toward U.S. prosperity and improving life on Earth. In the state of Florida, more than 27,000 jobs can be attributed to work performed here.

“Kennedy is proud to support the administration’s goals and priorities for NASA, including the Artemis campaign, an American presence in low Earth orbit, and the development of new space technologies. Through Artemis, NASA is returning to the Moon with its sights set on Mars. At Kennedy, we are updating the ground systems and processing the hardware to take us there. The Artemis II launch in 2025 will be the first crewed mission on NASA’s path to establish a long-term presence on the lunar surface.

“Kennedy also continues launching the science missions that study Earth and our solar system, as well as sending crews and cargo to the International Space Station.  Research on the orbiting laboratory ranges from DNA studies to 3D printing, helping us solve problems here on Earth while serving as a proving ground for capabilities we will need during long-duration human space exploration.

“Other innovative work at Kennedy in physics, dust mitigation, and space gardening will lead to the technologies humans will need to live and work in space – including the ability to maintain a commercial supply chain in deep space.

“Along the way, NASA is helping grow the domestic market. Kennedy has led the way in developing relationships that are so instrumental to our nation’s future in space.

Through more than 90 commercial partners and nearly 250 partnership agreements, our spaceport provides continuous access to space using the same creativity and innovation that have become the hallmark of our agency. Additionally, NASA programs at Kennedy create expanded opportunities for new and current launch providers and payload processors.

“We do all of this thanks to our diverse and talented workforce. Our employees are second to none, and they are the reason that Kennedy has ranked among the Best Places to Work in the Federal Government for five years in a row. I hope you will join me in celebrating these accomplishments and looking forward to another exciting year of exploration, innovation, and inspiration at the world’s preeminent spaceport.”

Read NASA Administrator Bill Nelson’s statement on the FY2025 budget request here. 

Images of Janet Petro are available from NASA’s image library in vertical and horizontal  formats.

For more information about Kennedy Space Center, visit:

www.nasa.gov/kennedy

-end-

Patti Bielling
Kennedy Space Center, Florida
321-501-7575
patricia.a.bielling@nasa.gov

Powered by WPeMatico

Get The Details…
Patricia A. Bielling

Moon and Sun Over Wyoming

The Moon passes in front of the Sun in this Aug. 21, 2017, image taken at the point of the maximum partial eclipse. This photo was taken near Banner, Wyoming, where a partial eclipse was visible. However, a narrow portion of the contiguous United States from Lincoln Beach, Oregon to Charleston, South Carolina saw a total solar eclipse.

On April 8, 2024, a total solar eclipse will cross North America, passing over Mexico, the United States, and Canada. A total solar eclipse happens when the Moon passes between the Sun and Earth, completely blocking the face of the Sun. The sky will darken as if it were dawn or dusk.

See the path of the eclipse and how to safely watch it. If you’re not in the path of the eclipse, watch with NASA from anywhere in the world. We will provide live broadcast coverage on April 8 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. EDT (1700 to 2000 UTC).

Image Credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky

Powered by WPeMatico

Get The Details…
Monika Luabeya

President’s NASA FY 2025 Funding Supports US Space, Climate Leadership

The Biden-Harris Administration Monday released the President’s Budget for Fiscal Year 2025, which includes funding to invest in America and the American people and will allow NASA to continue advancing our understanding of Earth and space while inspiring the world through discovery.

“As history has proven, as the present has shown, and as the future will continue to demonstrate, an investment in NASA is an investment in America for the benefit of humanity,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “President Biden’s budget will fund our nation’s abilities and leadership for the future of space exploration, scientific discovery, cutting-edge technology, climate data, the next generation of aeronautics, and inspiring our future leaders – the Artemis Generation.”

The budget allows NASA to launch the Artemis II mission, which will send astronauts around the Moon for the first time in more than 50 years, research Earth’s changing climate, grow commercial markets to serve America’s interests in space, and inspire the Artemis Generation of science, technology, engineering, and math professionals.

“This budget shows NASA’s value in contributing to the global leadership of the United States,” said Nelson. “Every dollar supports our ability to continue exploring new cosmic shores and making the impossible possible, all while creating competitive and good-paying jobs in all 50 states.”

At NASA, the budget request would:

• Invest in the U.S.-led Artemis campaign of lunar exploration: The budget includes $7.8 billion for the Artemis campaign, which will bring astronauts – including the first woman, first person of color, and first international astronaut –to the lunar surface starting this decade as part of a long-term journey of science and exploration.
• Enhance climate science and information: The budget invests $2.4 billion in the Earth science program for missions and activities that advance Earth systems science and increase accessibility to information to mitigate natural hazards, support climate action, and manage natural resources.
• Advance U.S. space industry technology development: The budget provides $1.2 billion for NASA’s space technology portfolio to foster innovative technology research and development to meet the needs of NASA, support the expanding U.S. space industry, which is creating a growing number of good jobs, and keep America ahead of competitors at the forefront of space innovation.
• Support highly efficient and greener commercial airliners: The budget invests $966 million in NASA’s aeronautics program, which will develop hybrid-electric jet engines, lightweight aircraft structures, and a major new flight demonstrator to pave the way for new commercial airliners that would be cheaper to operate and produce less pollution.
• Continue the transition to commercial space stations: The budget funds continued operation of the International Space Station, a vehicle to safely de-orbit the space station after it is retired in 2030, and the commercial space stations that NASA will use as soon as they become available.
• Increase STEM opportunities at minority-serving institutions: The budget provides $46 million to the Minority University Research and Education Project, to increase competitive awards to Historically Black Colleges and Universities, tribal colleges and universities, and other minority-serving institutions, and recruit and retain underrepresented and underserved students in STEM fields.

Following historic progress made since the President took office – with nearly 15 million jobs created and inflation down two-thirds – the budget protects and builds on this progress by lowering costs for working families and reducing the deficit by cracking down on fraud, cutting wasteful spending, and making the wealthy and corporations pay their fair share.

For more information on NASA’s fiscal year 2025 budget request, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/budget

-end-

Faith McKie / Abbey Donaldson
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
faith.d.mckie@nasa.gov / abbey.a.donaldson@nasa.gov

Powered by WPeMatico

Get The Details…
Roxana Bardan

Digital Services Governance Framework

Summary

In responding to Milestone 4.2 of the Digital Government Strategy, NASA heeded the Advisory Group’s encouragement to “build upon existing structures and processes as much as possible.” To locate the gaps in existing governance structures, NASA’s Digital Strategy response team identified all necessary decisions concerning digital services, using the three layers pointed out in the Digital Strategy-information, platform, presentation-as a guide.

This decision matrix illustrated gaps in governance that need to be addressed in order for NASA’s Digital Services to align with the Digital Government Strategy. Going forward, these gaps will be addressed by the NASA Digital Services Governance Framework. This newly established framework, in conjunction with established Agency policy and procedural requirements, encompasses the requirements for overseeing the development and delivery of enterprise digital services. It proposes a new implementation body, the Digital Services Board, reporting to the established Mission Support Council, which will serve as the policymaking body. NASA expects to charter the Digital Services Board in early 2013. In all other ways, the framework relies on existing governance and organizational responsibilities.

In the Digital Services Governance Recommendations, the discussion of an ideal digital services governance structure is set around six essential elements. The first three elements (Clearly Defined Scope of Authority, Core Principles to Guide Action, and Established Roles and Responsibilities) are addressed in this document. The next three (Stakeholder Input and Participation, Consistent Communications, and Performance Metrics) will be addressed in NASA’s follow-up in January 2013, along with reporting on performance and customer satisfaction measuring tools.

Addressing the Elements

Element A: Clearly Defined Scope of Authority

The world is connected more now than ever before, and there is an exponential growth in the number of services available online. In carrying out our missions, NASA offers a number of services both to internal customers and to the public in the form of information delivery, transactional applications, and other mechanisms across a variety of platforms.

At NASA, the governance of the Digital Strategy is shared among several key stakeholder groups, most prominently the Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) and the Office of Communications (OCOMM). These stakeholders realize the value and potential of embracing digital services to lower costs, increase citizen participation, and make it easier to collaborate and share information.

With this distribution of ownership, the question of accountability and leadership becomes critical. The proposed Digital Services Board (DSB) will represent all stakeholders within NASA and carry the authority, responsibility, and resources to gather, prioritize, and direct the implementation of Agency-wide requirements.

Element B: Core Principles to Guide Action

NASA is dedicated to a number of principles by which we guide our delivery of digital services. The Agency’s primary customers are the American public. This presents a broad service concept that can be segmented into different audiences with needs for different digital services: information for the general public, educational materials for teachers and students, procurement opportunities for businesses, and research efforts for the scientific and engineering communities. Any of these individual audiences may be best served by different elements of NASA. Each aspect of our mission is dedicated to providing the maximum value and benefit to citizens, and every NASA employee and contractor is responsible for ensuring the success of that mission.

The American public deserves nothing less than excellence in the digital services NASA offers both to the public and to its own operations. As such, the Agency is focused on creating a Digital Strategy that, much like our work in space, is bold, innovative, and lasting. We believe that the Digital Strategy is as much an exercise in quantitative measurements as it is a qualitative exercise in future-based policymaking. Thus, we have developed the following core principals that guide us:

• Every NASA service ought be created with a focus on its intended audience, which will lead to better user experience, expandability, and efficiency.
• Within the bounds of existing policies, NASA employees should be able to securely and seamlessly access and share information regardless of their location or preferred device.
• Digital Services should further NASA’s vision and purpose, including to “provide for the widest practicable and appropriate dissemination of information concerning its activities and the results thereof”.

Element C: Established Roles and Responsibilities

Overall responsibilities of organizations with Digital Services roles can be found in NASA Policy Directive (NPD) 1000.3, “The NASA Organization.” The foundational layer of security, including roles and responsibilities, is governed under NASA Policy Directive (NPD) 2810.1, “NASA Information Security Policy,” and NASA Procedural Requirements (NPR) 2810.1, “Security of Information Technology.” Privacy is governed under NPD 1382.17, “NASA Privacy Policy,” and NPR 1382.1, “NASA Privacy Procedures.”

The information layer is largely governed by the NASA Office of Communications at NASA Headquarters, with supporting offices at each of the NASA Centers ensuring appropriate dissemination of information, correctness of information, style, and NASA branding protection.

Provisioning and governing the platform layer is largely the responsibility of the NASA Chief Information Officer, with support from the Service Executive for Web Services, the Web Services Board, the Enterprise Change Advisory Board, and Center Chief Information Officers at each of the NASA Centers.

Currently, governance of the presentation layer falls under existing policies for style, privacy, records management, etc., while leaving the NASA Centers, mission directorates, and mission support offices the flexibility and authority to present content in the most effective manner in consideration of the data or information, targeted audience, and means of access (mobile devices, machine to machine interfaces, etc.).

NASA Digital Services Governance Framework: Target State

In reviewing current governance of digital services, NASA identified the gaps that the new governance framework will address. Existing governance structures are built with a clearly defined scope of authority, core principles, and established roles and responsibilities; going forward, gaps in governance will be addressed with these elements, as well as stakeholder input and participation, consistent communications, and performance metrics.

Gap Proposed Process No group charged with working across NASA to develop Agency-wide requirements for digital services. The Mission Support Council will use input and recommendations from the proposed Digital Services Board to develop Agency-wide requirements for digital services and provide guidelines for their implementation. No cross-Agency group charged with policy development, implementation, and enforcement. The Mission Support Council will be the policymaking body for Digital Services, holding the Digital Services Board responsible for implementation and allocating resources for implementations. No repeatable process for the creation of new websites, the introduction of new free services to the Agency, taking successful pilot projects into Agency-wide operation, or spreading best practices across the agency. Based on policies established by the Mission Support Council, the Digital Services Board will work with stakeholders to develop and implement these processes.

Last Updated: Aug. 7, 2017

Editor: Jason Duley

Powered by WPeMatico

Get The Details…
dbehren1