EXPEDITIONARY SOLAR SCIENCE
AT THE EDGE OF TOTALITY
Thirty years. Twenty expeditions.
ONE STAR
Solar Wind Sherpas deploys scientific expeditions to total solar eclipses worldwide. Led by solar physicist Dr. Shadia Habbal, the team installs portable observatories and captures unique data on the solar corona and solar wind during totality. With over forty peer-reviewed publications and collaborations with NASA and NSF, the team has spent three decades turning brief minutes of totality into lasting scientific knowledge.
WHY
TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSES
EXIST AT ALL
© 2019 Miloslav Druckmüller, Peter Aniol
The Sun is 400 times larger than the Moon, and 400 times farther away. Four independent parameters aligned precisely to produce the only known place in the solar system where a moon covers its star almost exactly.
This won't last forever. The Moon drifts away from Earth at roughly four centimeters per year. In 500–600 million years, total solar eclipses will no longer be possible. Within our planet's 4.5 billion year history, this phenomenon exists in a window of roughly one billion years. We're in the later half of that window.
WHY
IT MATTERS
The Sun is the most studied star in the universe, yet fundamental questions remain unanswered. How is the solar corona heated to millions of degrees? What drives the solar wind? Total solar eclipses are the most powerful natural laboratory for investigating these questions—and Solar Wind Sherpas has spent three decades making the most of every one.
Solar Corona
The Sun's outer atmosphere, millions of kilometers into space, reaching temperatures far higher than the surface. Why it's so hot remains a central unsolved problem in solar physics.
Solar Wind
A continuous stream of charged particles flowing from the corona into the solar system. Understanding it requires direct corona observation—only possible during total solar eclipses.
Space Weather
Solar wind and corona variations drive space weather events affecting satellites, communications, and power grids. Solar Wind Sherpas research contributes to understanding and anticipating these phenomena.
WHAT WE DO
Solar Wind Sherpas operates at the intersection of field science and solar research—every expedition is both a scientific mission and a logistical undertaking.
SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH
The team maintains one of the most comprehensive observational records of the solar corona available through ground-based eclipse science. Using custom-built spectrometers, the team captures data that complements what space-based observatories provide.
EXPEDITIONS
Every total solar eclipse is a narrow window—minutes long, accessible only from a specific path on Earth. Solar Wind Sherpas plans and executes expeditions to these locations, deploying portable observatories under demanding field conditions. Over twenty expeditions across thirty years have taken the team to every continent, training graduate students and early-career researchers in expedition-based solar science.
PARTNERS &
COLLABORATORS
