Scientists from the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) have led a team in the Citizen Continental-America Telescopic Eclipse (CATE) experiment, which imaged the Sun’s outer atmosphere during a short solar eclipse. The team used four platforms in the northwest corner of Australia, successfully observing the million-degree solar corona at the April 20 eclipse viewed from the Exmouth peninsula. With this observation, scientists will be able to study the complexities of the Sun’s corona, including its shape and how it changes over time. The CATE 2024 project will use a network of 35 teams of citizen scientists to make a continuous 60-minute high-resolution movie during the April 8, 2024, solar eclipse over the United States. The project aims to engage a diverse range of communities along the eclipse path as an integral part of a major scientific research effort, stoking curiosity and inspiring the future generation of scientists. The Citizen CATE is part of a growing family of NASA citizen science projects gearing up for the Heliophysics Big Year initiative in 2023-2024, which aims to provide excellent participatory science opportunities. The current project builds on the experience of the first Citizen CATE experiment, where CATE 2024 expands the scientific objectives by measuring polarized light and engaging with teams across the new eclipse path. SwRI is leading the Citizen CATE 2024 experiment, which includes the National Center for Atmospheric Research, the National Solar Observatory, the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado Boulder, and the Space Science Institute.
