A team of Indian researchers from ARIES (Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences) traveled with scientific instruments to study the sun during the total solar eclipse at the Cotton Bowl Stadium in Dallas. The equipment used to capture scientific data during the eclipse was quite heavy, and I couldn’t help but imagine the struggle that the team must have gone through to transport them from across the world. Despite their efforts, the weather was not cooperative until just before the totality, when clouds cleared up and allowed for a successful recording of the extraordinary phenomenon. The team was extremely happy with the results, and their hard work and dedication ultimately paid off during and after the totality.
It was a unique and fascinating experience to see the science happening at this event, especially from researchers who had brought instruments to study the Sun’s corona from the other side of the world. Dr. Dipankar Banerjee, a solar physicist and director at ARIES, led a team to observe and study the corona of the Sun during a total solar eclipse from the Earth. The team will compare their observations with the data collected by the Aditya L1 spacecraft for the same viewing period, which studies the solar corona and dynamics of Coronal Mass Ejections (CME) using the Visible Emission Line Coronagraph (VELC) payload.
We also met with Heliophysicists from SWRI (Southwest Research Institute) in Boulder and Dr. Craig DeForest, the PUNCH team PI for the SWRI-NASA mission. Learning the science from the top researchers in this field was a truly rewarding experience.
Cool little swag from the PUNCH team, a pinhole projector, was a hit with both kids and adults.
My family volunteered at the tri-agency solar eclipse viewing event for NOAA, NASA, and NSF at the Cotton Bowl Stadium in Dallas. We operated a Celestron Solar Telescope that was made available for public viewing. Witnessing this celestial event alongside thousands of eclipse watchers was an incredible experience.
My daughter shot this picture using a Nikon D850 with a Nikkor 200-500mm lens.
For a detailed account of the event, check out my daughter’s blog post here.
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