On August 21, 2017, a total solar eclipse will appear over a 70-mile wide path that crosses the country from Oregon to South Carolina. During the total eclipse, researchers will be able to see the faintest regions of the sun, as well as study the sun’s effects on Earth’s upper atmosphere. The exceptionally long path over land of this total eclipse will provide an unprecedented opportunity for cross disciplinary studies of the sun, moon, Earth, and their interactions. Stars and planets will also be visible. NASA is supporting research using balloons, ground measurements, and planes that “chase” the eclipse, all of which can help scientists take continuous measurements of the sun and the eclipse’s effects on Earth for relatively long periods of time.
During a total eclipse, the lower parts of the sun's atmosphere, or corona, can be seen in a way that cannot completely be replicated by current human-made instruments. The lower part of the corona is key to understanding many processes on the sun, including why the sun’s atmosphere is so much hotter than its surface, as well as the process by which the sun sends out a constant stream of solar material and radiation, which can cause changes in the nature of space and impact spacecraft, communications systems, and orbiting astronauts. Total solar eclipses are also an opportunity to study Earth under uncommon conditions: In contrast to the global change in light that occurs every day at dusk and dawn, a solar eclipse changes illumination of Earth and its atmosphere only under a comparatively small region of the moon’s shadow. This localized blocking of solar energy is useful in evaluating our understanding of the sun’s effects -- temperature, for example -- on our atmosphere. Of particular interest is the impact on Earth’s upper atmosphere, where solar illumination is primarily responsible for the generation of a layer of charged particles called the ionosphere.
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Credits: http://www.ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/news/2017/08/19/united-states-solar-eclipse-nyc-protection-science-next-eclipse.html
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