NASA OUTLINES PLANS TO STUDY FEB. 26 TOTAL ECLIPSE

The Feb. 26 total eclipse will be visible from a narrow corridor which begins in the Pacific, continues through the Caribbean and ends off the Atlantic coast of Africa. Much of the south and eastern U.S. will see a partial eclipse.

NASA's plans to study the eclipse include:

* Researchers from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, will be among international teams of scientists who will observe the eclipse from Curacao, Guadeloupe, and Aruba, using solar telescopes to analyze the structure and magnetic activity of the Sun's corona. Scientists are available to discuss the upcoming solar eclipse. Contact Bill Steigerwald, Goddard Public Affairs Office, 301/286-8955 (see note below for live interviews on NASA TV).

* The NASA/European Space Agency's (ESA) Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) spacecraft will assist eclipse expeditions from around the world by making simultaneous observations during the eclipse that will reveal a more complete picture of what is occurring on the Sun. Contact Bill Steigerwald, Goddard Public Affairs Office, 301/286-8955.

* The NASA/ESA Ulysses spacecraft, now in polar orbit around the Sun, will give scientists a "birds-eye view" of huge loops of solar material tearing away from the Sun's corona. These ejections of solar mass can be seen from ground-based observatories during solar eclipses, but Ulysses' orbit above the Sun's poles gives scientists another perspective from which to better understand these potentially dangerous storms. Ulysses scientists are available for interviews about the upcoming solar eclipse by contacting Diane Ainsworth in the Media Relations Office at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, 818/354-5011.

NASA TV plans the following:

* An eclipse preview Video File will run on NASA-TV several times in February. Elements in the Video File include animation showing the path of the eclipse, some safe eclipse viewing tips, and examples of how scientists use 'artificial' eclipses to study the Sun's corona.

* NASA will offer live interviews with Art Poland of the SOHO team. Dr. Poland will give eclipse viewing tips & fun facts and explain how scientists use artificial eclipses to continuously monitor the Sun's corona. The Live Shots are scheduled the evening of Feb. 25 and the morning of Feb. 26. Contact Wade Sisler, Goddard Space Flight Center, 301/286-6256.

* A time-lapse movie of the moon's shadow as it sweeps across the Earth will be taken by the GOES satellite during the four-hour event. If the images can be processed in time, NASA TV will broadcast a special edition of the Video File around 4- 5 p.m. EST.

NASA Television is available through the GE-2 satellite, transponder 9C located at 85 degrees West longitude, vertical polarization, with a frequency of 3880 MHz, and audio at 6.8 MHz.

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