It's almost total solar eclipse time in North America. On Monday 8 April, the moon will pass between Earth and the sun, turning day into night. And if you're hoping to capture the moment, there's a NASA-funded smartphone app to help you do just that.
The SunSketcher app was created at Western Kentucky University (WKU) to allow anyone to capture every moment of the the total eclipse safely with any one of the best camera phones. And it's all in the name of scientific research.
Available for Android and iOS, the SunSketcher app aims to further research into a solar phenomenon known as Baily’s Beads. These are small flashes of light caused by caused by light from the sun filtering through valleys on the moon at the beginning and end of totality. And they could provide clues above the sun's oblateness.
Whatness? Oblateness. It's the quality of a round shape that becomes flattened at the poles. Although we often think of the sun as being a perfect sphere, centrifugal force causes it to slightly flatten into an irregular ellipse. The same thing happens to Earth, but crucially scientists still know relatively little about the precise shape of the sun. Mass data on the eclipse from different locations could help measure it and from there to infer our star's inner structure.
Baily's beads during the 2017 total eclipse (Image credit: NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)
Until now, attempts to measure the sun’s oblateness have usually used specialized equipment., but SunSketcher aims to allow anyone to take part with any smartphone (see deals below). After the eclipse, users can choose to upload their photos, location details and camera settings to contribute to researchers' analysis.
Photos of the October 2023 annular eclipse taken using a pre-release version of the SunSketcher app (Image credit: Western Kentucky University)
Example images taken during the October 2023 annular eclipse using a pre-release version of the SunSketcher app may not seem to reveal a lot of detail, but the app automatically captures images throughout the eclipse to ensure that no vital glimpses of Baily's beads are missed.
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Joe is a regular freelance journalist and editor at Creative Bloq. He writes news, features and buying guides and keeps track of the best equipment and software for creatives, from video editing programs to monitors and accessories. A veteran news writer and photographer, he now works as a project manager at the London and Buenos Aires-based design, production and branding agency Hermana Creatives. There he manages a team of designers, photographers and video editors who specialise in producing visual content and design assets for the hospitality sector. He also dances Argentine tango.
