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White-Light Coronal Imaging at the 21 August 2017 Total Solar Eclipse

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Abstract

We describe the solar corona as imaged in the 21 August 2017 total solar eclipse from sites in Oregon and Illinois, USA separated by nearly one hour. Our composite images, each made from dozens of individual frames, show helmet streamers, nearly radially oriented narrow rays, and polar coronal holes filled with polar plumes. The Ludendorff flattening index of 0.24 is compared with measurements from the last two centuries. We discuss the most remarkable coronal dynamics detected over a nearly one-hour interval between the two observing sites.

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Acknowledgments

We are very grateful to R. Vaňúr (Slovakia) for his efforts in preparing processed WLC images for this eclipse. We thank our collaborators on site, including especially Williams College undergraduates Cielo Perez ’19, Christian Lockwood ’20, Erin Meadors ’20, Ross Yu ’19; alumnus Daniel B. Seaton ’01; and colleagues Aristeidis Voulgaris, Ron Dantowitz, Michael J. Person (MIT), Jennifer Catelli, and Marcos A. Peñaloza-Murillo (Universidad de los Andes, Mérida, Venezuela). Our cameras operated automatically, programmed by Perez to be controlled with Xavier Jubier’s Solar Eclipse Maestro. For the coordinated Carbondale observations, we acknowledge Thanasis Economou (U. Chicago), who thanks A. Golemis, N. Plexidas and N. Tzimkas (Astronomical Society of Western Macedonia, Greece). We thank Felix Klitzke of Wellesley College, a summer student of the Keck Northeast Astronomy Consortium (supported by an NSF Research Experience for Undergraduates grant); and Peter Knowlton (Williams College ’21.5) for editing assistance. We are pleased to continue working with Wendy Carlos on her image compositing. We thank Stephen E. Thorsett, Richard W. Watkins, and Honey Wilson for providing access to and arranging our observational site at Willamette University, Salem, Oregon. For the loan of the 800-mm Nikkor telephoto, we are grateful to Tom O’Brien, National Geographic Magazine of National Geographic Partners, and Jessica Elfadl of the Exploration Technology Lab of the National Geographic.

Funding

J.M. Pasachoff’s current research about eclipses is sponsored by grant AGS-1903500 of the Solar Terrestrial Program, Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences Division of the NSF, succeeding AGS-1602461 during the period of the 2017 eclipse. V. Rušin has been supported by the Slovak Academy of Sciences projects VEGA 2/0003/16 and 2/0048/20. Targeted support for the 2017 expedition came from the Committee for Research and Exploration of the National Geographic Society, grant 9876-16, with additional support from the Sigma Xi Honorary Scientific Society. Additional support for undergraduate participation came from the NSF, NASA’s MAGC, and Williams College.

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  1. Williams College – Hopkins Observatory, Williamstown, MA, 01267, USA

    Jay M. Pasachoff

  2. Astronomical Institute, Slovak Academy of Sciences, 059 60, Tatranská Lomnica, Slovakia

    Vojtech Rušin

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  1. Jay M. Pasachoff
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Correspondence to Jay M. Pasachoff.

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Pasachoff, J.M., Rušin, V. White-Light Coronal Imaging at the 21 August 2017 Total Solar Eclipse. Sol Phys 297, 28 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11207-022-01964-z

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