In four frenetic minutes, operating seven telescopes, astronomers conducted investigations into such cosmic mysteries as interplanetary dust, which produces zodiacal light, and solar winds. Atmospheric conditions hampered some experiments, including an infrared look at solar dust rings. Even so, the eclipse still produced the first infrared pictures of the solar corona. Most scientists won’t really know what they have found for weeks. The only “instant science” came from a group working on the James Clerk Maxwell radio telescope. John Jeffries of the National Optical Astronomical Observatories in Tucson, Ariz., expects that new information will change our perception of the chromosphere, the area between the corona and the sun’s visible surface. Current models depict the chromosphere as relatively airy and homogenously built, but, says Jeffries, “the atmosphere is much denser than the standard model would indicate.” He predicts a new model “will probably turn out not to be homogenous.”
Donald Hall, of the University of Hawaii’s Institute for Astronomy, called the eclipse “by far the most spectacular I’ve ever seen.” When steam clouds appeared on Mauna Loa, the active volcano near the observatory, some wondered if an eruption might also be in the offing. Hall had another idea: “I think it can be laid to post-eclipse euphoria.” Or maybe it was the visitors below, steamed at the patch of cloudy weather that blocked their views. Above the 13,800-foot summit of Mauna Kea, where the scientists perched, the skies were mostly clear. Views were unobstructed in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, too, where thousands of eclipto-maniacs gathered to celebrate. There, confused animals went back to bed and “shadow bands,” rapidly moving strips of light and dark, appeared on the ground. Baffled animals slept, grown men wept. It’s time to mark your calendars: the next total eclipse in North America is Aug. 21, 2017.
