A group of Southeast Missouri State University students led by Dr. Peggy Hill, Southeast professor of physics, and Dr. Mike Rodgers, Southeast professor of chemistry, are participating in the Citizen Continental American Telescopic Eclipse (CATE) project to observe the total solar eclipse on Aug. 21.
They are one of 70 citizen-astronomer groups located along the path of totality across the United States to take images and video of the changes that happen in the inner solar corona. The team will be located at the Perryville (Missouri) Municipal Airport, where totality is expected to last two minutes and 40 seconds.Other nearby sites include Bald Knob, Illinois; Carbondale, Illinois; Giant City State Park, Makanda, Illinois; Hermann, Missouri; and Hillsboro, Missouri. Their work will be combined with data from the other sites and stitched together into one video. The 90-minute video will provide scientists and solar enthusiasts the opportunity to see the sun in a whole new light. Some of these studies will include examining the coronas polar plumes, magnetic field, flares and coronal mass ejections, and magnetic instabilities. The data collected will help to better understand these components and the relationship between the earths magnetic field and the solar atmosphere.
For more information on the Citizen CATE project, visit http://news.semo.edu/southeast-faculty-students-gear-up-for-solar-eclipse-citizen-cate-project/.