The Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute (KASI) captured the moment of the diamond ring effect during the total solar eclipse that occurred across North America, the astronomy agency said Tuesday.A solar eclipse is an astronomical phenomenon that occurs when the moon covers the sun. It happens when the Earth that orbits around the sun and the moon that orbits around the Earth line up with the sun in a straight line.This year’s total solar eclipse traversed the North American continent from the west coast of Mexico, crossed 13 U.S. states and entered Canada. As this was the first total solar eclipse to cross the North American continent in seven years, the astronomy agency said it sent two research teams to Texas to observe the astronomical phenomenon. KASI said it captured the eclipse using a specialized coronagraph telescope developed in collaboration with NASA. The coronagraph, called CODEX, is an instrument that will be installed on the International Space Station this September.
The sun’s corona is the outermost part of the sun’s atmosphere. Though it can be visible to the eye on the ground during a total solar eclipse, the device is designed to precisely observe the outermost part because eclipses are short in duration and rarely seen. “Despite the cloudy weather, the KASI and NASA team managed to obtain both polarized and unpolarized images through four filters that allowed us to determine the corona’s temperature and velocity,” said Cho Kyung-suk, a principal scientist of KASI.”We will analyze the polarization characteristics of the corona and the polarization influence of the Earth’s atmosphere in detail through future data analysis.”KASI’s results will be used in conjunction with observations from CODEX, which will be installed on the International Space Station later, to study the corona. These observations are being 스포츠토토존 utilized to study the solar corona and the source of the solar wind.