Eclipse science next week at the 2024 Triennial Earth-Sun Summit

Live eclipse preview and experiments during totality at TESS

4 April 2024


Hilton Anatole
2201 N Stemmons Fwy
Dallas, Texas 75207
7-12 April 2024

Press contact:
Samson Reiny, +1 (202) 777-7494, [email protected]

WASHINGTON — Next week, the world’s solar physics community will meet in Dallas, Texas to witness the 8 April total solar eclipse and talk Sun science at the 2024 Triennial Earth-Sun Summit (TESS24) sponsored by the American Geophysical Union (AGU) and American Astronomical Society (AAS).

Space weather impacts satellites, communications, GPS and power grids. TESS unites the community dedicated to the study of the Sun and its interactions with Earth and the other worlds in the solar system.

In this advisory:

  1. Pre-eclipse live broadcast from Dallas
  2. Scientific program
  3. Eclipse experiments featured at TESS
  4. Press registration
  5. Save the date for future conferences

Pre-Eclipse live broadcast 11 – 11:45 a.m. CDT

Join us before the eclipse on Monday, 8 April, for an eclipse preview at 11 – 11:45 am CDT (UTC-5 hours), streaming across our social media channels: Instagram, X (Twitter), Facebook, LinkedIn & YouTube. Watch the livestream here with AGU Media Relations’ Samson Reiny and guests:

  • Mike Liemohn, Prof. of Climate and Space Sciences at the University of Michigan
  • Nicholeen Viall, Chair of Solar Physics Division, NASA PUNCH Mission Scientist
  • Fallon Konow, PhD Candidate Georgia State University, University of Rome Sapienza

Journalists can send questions in advance or live to [email protected] or tag on social media. No registration required.

Conference program

Browse by day or keyword search nearly 400 presentations in the online program. Please email [email protected] for assistance contacting presenters and obtaining remote access to slides and poster presentations. All presentations are in-person and will not be recorded.

Eclipse experiments at TESS24

Total solar eclipses are opportunities for scientists — including students and organized citizen scientists — to test models and make new observations of the Sun and its influence on Earth. Learn about eclipse research taking place during the 8 April event from researchers convening to discuss the experiments and their preliminary outcomes at TESS24.

The HamSCI solar eclipse QSO party
The Ham Radio Science Citizen Investigation group collected radio observations of the ionosphere’s response to the 14 October 2023 annular eclipse, in preparation for a similar event during the 8 April 2024 total eclipse. HamSCI’s overarching goal is to improve our understanding of the effects of the eclipse on the terrestrial ionosphere. Tuesday 9 April, 5:45 – 6:00 pm CT in Carpenter (Hilton Anatole)

Sounding the Moon’s shadow
 Sounding rockets will launch into the path of the eclipse, heading straight up to the ionosphere and returning with observations. Rocket instruments and coordinated ground-based sounders, which bounce radio waves off the ionosphere, will directly measure the response of the ionosphere to the changes in solar radiation during the eclipse. Tuesday, 9 April, 5:30 – 5:45 pm, Carpenter (Hilton Anatole)

Space Weather UnderGround (SWUG) students observe magnetic effects of eclipse
SWUG high school and undergraduate students will deploy student-built magnetometers at four sites in the path of the total eclipse, including the University of Texas at Dallas. Wednesday, 10 April, 11:00 am – 12:30 pm, Stemmons A (Hilton Anatole)

Citizen scientists team up to capture extended video of Sun’s corona as the eclipse traverses North America
The Citizen Continental-America Telescopic Eclipse (CATE) 2024 experiment trained 35+ teams of community volunteers from cities along the eclipse path to operate telescopes during the 8 April eclipse, capturing a 60-minute movie of the inner solar corona in polarized light. Observations will reveal physical processes that shape the solar corona at scales that cannot be studied outside of a total solar eclipse. The team effort will extend the observation time long enough to observe changes in topology of the corona. Volunteers will keep the equipment in their communities for future outreach, education, and public engagement activities. Wednesday, 10 April, 5:30 – 5:45 pm, Stemmons B/D (Hilton Anatole)

Chasing the eclipse at 50,000 feet
NASA’s WB-57 research aircraft will chase the Sun’s shadow through the path of totality from above local weather systems, observing the corona and collecting data on infrared wavelengths obscured from the ground by atmosphere. Learn about their instrumentation, coordination with other eclipse observations and future campaigns. Friday, 12 April, 3:06 – 3:17, Stemmons A (Hilton Anatole)

Live coronal prediction for the April 8, 2024 total solar eclipse
Total solar eclipses allow scientists to peer into the Sun’s middle corona, helping connect the star’s surface to its interior. Continuous observations feed time-dependent models of the Sun’s magnetic field, which is crucial to improving space weather predictions. Tuesday 9 April, 4:45 – 5:00 pm CT in Carpenter (Hilton Anatole)
Related abstracts:

Press registration

Staff, freelance and student journalists are eligible to apply for complimentary press registration through the end of the conference. Press officers and institutional writers covering the meeting are also eligible. Learn about AGU’s press eligibility requirements.

Reporters and press officers interested in press registration should email [email protected]. Please include a link to your institution’s staff page, byline or masthead listing your name and position. Freelancers should provide a link to a portfolio or links to at least three bylined science news stories published in the last 12 months.

Media access to the meeting is issued at the discretion of TESS24 Media Relations. All press registrants must provide credentials regardless of whether they have attended in the past. Please email us at [email protected] if you have a question about eligibility, what group you should register under, or other conference questions.

Save the date for more 2024 science

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The Triennial Earth-Sun Summit (TESS) is a joint meeting of the Space Physics and Aeronomy Section of the American Geophysical Union (AGU) and the Solar Physics Division (SPD) of the American Astronomical Society. TESS takes place every three years, with the lead organization rotating each meeting. AGU is the lead for the 2024 meeting

AGU (www.agu.org) is a global community supporting more than half a million advocates and professionals in Earth and space sciences. Through broad and inclusive partnerships, AGU aims to advance discovery and solution science that accelerate knowledge and create solutions that are ethical, unbiased and respectful of communities and their values. Our programs include serving as a scholarly publisher, convening virtual and in-person events and providing career support. We live our values in everything we do, such as our net zero energy renovated building in Washington, D.C. and our Ethics and Equity Center, which fosters a diverse and inclusive geoscience community to ensure responsible conduct. 

AAS (https://aas.org/) is the major organization of professional astronomers in North America. The AAS was established in 1899 and is based in Washington, DC. Our membership of about 8,200 individuals also includes physicists, mathematicians, geologists, engineers, and others whose research and educational interests lie within the broad spectrum of subjects now comprising the astronomical sciences. The mission of the AAS is to enhance and share humanity’s scientific understanding of the universe as a diverse and inclusive astronomical community.