The last total solar occultation over the US was pretty salient , as anyone who pick up it will attest . Looking atthe exposure , it ’s hard to imagine how the view could have been better upon in the eclipse taking topographic point on April 8 this year .
But if we are lucky and the weather is fine , we could be in for something limited , as the occultation coincide with the solar maximum .
Sun body process step-up and decrement in an 11 - class hertz known as theSchwabe cycle . From 1826 to 1843 , German amateur astronomer Heinrich Schwabe observed the Sun , discovering that it rotates on its bloc once every27 days . He also noticed that over 11 years ( though it can be as light as eight years , or as long as 14 ) the Sun go from quiet period , where no sunspots can be seen , to the maximal phase where 20 or more radical of sunspots can be seen , before yield to the minimum phase .
The 2017 eclipse took spot during the solar lower limit , when the Sun ’s activity is at its lowest . The solar maximumwaspreviously prognosis for 2025 , meaning it would n’t quite be at its high period of bodily function as themagnetic pole thumb . However , predictions have since been revised , with the next solar maximum predicted to be sometime between January and October this year .
So what does that mean for the occultation ? In short , it could be quite spectacular .
" In 2017 , the Sun was nearing solar minimum . witness of the full eclipse could see the breathtaking corona discharge – but since the Sun was quiet , streamers run into the solar atmosphere were restricted to just the equatorial regions of the star . The Sun is more magnetically harmonious during solar minimum , causing this simpler appearance,“NASA explains . " During the 2024 eclipse , the Sun will be in or near solar maximum , when the magnetic field is more like a tangled hairball . waft will in all likelihood be visible throughout the corona . In gain to that , viewers will have a better probability to see protuberance – which appear as bright , pinkish curls or loop-the-loop come off the Sun . "
The occultation should be visible fromMexico to Canada . The path of totality – the area where multitude will see a total solar eclipse – is wider than in 2017 too , as the Moon is closer to Earth due to where it is in its orbit , meaning more mass will see the Sun ’s aureole .
" With lucky timing , there could even be a chance to see a coronal spate exclusion – a gravid blast of solar material – during the occultation , " NASA added .
