NASA is deploying a high-altitude WB-57 aircraft and dozens of scientific balloons into the path of the August 12, 2026 total solar eclipse, aiming to capture high-resolution data on the solar corona while millions across Europe and the Arctic observe a rare celestial alignment.
Celestial mechanics are aligning for an astronomical spectacle on August 12, 2026, when a total solar eclipse sweeps across Greenland, Iceland, the Atlantic Ocean, Spain, parts of Portugal, and Russia. While millions of skywatchers across Europe and the Arctic prepare to witness daytime skies turn dark, space agencies and scientific teams are organizing a campaign to turn the brief minutes of shadow into a high-altitude laboratory.
The celestial event occurs late in the day for observers in parts of Spain.
NASA Airborne and Balloon Experiments Target the Solar Corona
The path of totality offers a fleeting window—lasting a maximum of two minutes and 18 seconds from the ground—for researchers to study the Sun’s outer atmosphere. To maximize observation time, NASA is sending one of its distinctive WB-57 high-altitude research aircraft flying at roughly 50,000 feet along the path of the Moon’s shadow.
Mounted in the plane’s nose, the SCIFLI Multispectral Airborne Imager (SAMI)—developed by the Scientifically Calibrated In-Flight Imagery team at Langley Research Centre—will record at least 20 images every second in visible and infrared wavelengths.
“From our unique perspective on Earth during a total solar eclipse, scientists can study the Sun’s corona in a way we can’t from anywhere else in the solar system,” NASA quotes Kelly Korreck, eclipse programme manager at NASA Headquarters in Washington, as saying. “The Sun impacts our daily life, satellites, and astronauts in space, and we can take advantage of this moment to advance our understanding of that influence.”
Kelly Korreck, eclipse programme manager at NASA Headquarters in Washington
Flying above 50,000 feet places the aircraft far above cloud level and the vast majority of atmospheric water vapor, allowing instruments to capture infrared wavelengths that are normally absorbed by the lower atmosphere. Amir Caspi, a solar physicist at the Southwest Research Institute working on the project, notes the fundamental advantage of eclipse measurements.
“It’s a rare opportunity to be able to see and measure the sun’s outer atmosphere, the solar corona,” Caspi says. “The surface of the sun, the disk of the sun, is a million times brighter than the solar corona, at least in visible wavelengths. If you want to study and measure the solar corona, an eclipse gives you that opportunity by blocking out something that’s a million times brighter.”
Amir Caspi, solar physicist at the Southwest Research Institute
Alongside the jet, international teams are launching scores of scientific balloons.
Partial Visibility Extends Across North America
While the total eclipse remains out of reach for observers in the United States, people in parts of the country will experience a partial solar eclipse. States in the northern United States catch a fraction of the event.
Photo: Aerospace Global News
Safety Protocols and Equipment Guidelines for Viewers
Because the Moon does not completely block the Sun during a partial eclipse, safety officials emphasize that it is never safe to look directly at the Sun without certified protection. NASA guidelines mandate that observers use solar viewing glasses or handheld viewers conforming to the ISO 12312-2 international standard.
Photographers face similar equipment risks when pointing cameras or smartphones at the partial phases. Unprotected lenses can concentrate solar rays, burning through filters and destroying internal digital sensors. NASA advises that camera lenses require dedicated solar filters during partial phases, which must be removed only at totality for observers fortunate enough to be in the path.
As scientific teams prepare their instruments, the data gathered on August 12 will feed into improved climate models and deepen heliophysics research. What remains uncertain is precisely how Earth’s upper atmosphere and radiation levels will react during those fleeting minutes of shadow.
Everything you need to know about the August 12th solar eclipse | AFP
