Physics Buzz

Are you ready? We* are just one week away from a total solar eclipse, an event NASA calls “one of nature’s most awe inspiring sights.” Considering all of the inspiring sights NASA has unveiled over the years, that’s saying a lot! The total solar eclipse will be visible from a narrow band of the United States stretching from coast to coast on August 21. Weather permitting, everyone in the United States (including Hawaii and Alaska) along with people in regions of South America, Africa, and Europe will have the opportunity to see at a least partial solar eclipse. For more on logistics and geography, check out The Great American Eclipse, Part I .

According to a new image, scientists jumped the gun when they announced Comet ISON’s death last December. A recent paper that reveals the first image of Comet ISON in visible light indicates that the comet remained intact shortly after its signals in the extreme-ultraviolet ceased upon approaching perihelion on November 28. The dark center is the portion of the sun, which the scientists blocked. The second inner ring is the visible image the team took and the outer portion of the image is a different image taken by the LASCO/C2 satellite . Notice the band of light that extends from the outer image to the middle image that is a continuation of Comet ISON as it passes perihelion. Credit: Miloslav Druckmuller “We took the image after the comet had gotten to its closest approach point to the Sun,” said Shadia Rifai Habbal at the University of Hawaii and an author of the paper, which appeared in The Astrophysical Journal Letters this month. “We took the image at 19:12 UT” -- 27 minu