Eclipses, Science, NASA Firsts: Heliophysics Big Year Highlights

One year ago today, a total solar eclipse swept across the United States. The event was a cornerstone moment in the Heliophysics Big Year, a global celebration of the Sun’s influence on Earth and the entire solar system. From October 2023 to December 2024 — a period encompassing two solar eclipses across the U.S., two new NASA heliophysics missions, and one spacecraft’s history-making solar flyby — NASA celebrated the Sun’s widespread influence on our lives.  

An infographic showing key numbers summarizing the activities and events of the Heliophysics Big Year, which spanned from Oct. 14, 2023 – Dec. 24, 2024. 

NASA/Miles Hatfield/Kristen Perrin

Annular Solar Eclipse

An annular (or “ring of fire”) solar eclipse occurred Oct. 14, 2023, and kicked off the Helio Big Year with a bang. Millions of people across North America witnessed the Moon crossing in front of the Sun, creating this brilliant celestial event. NASA’s live broadcast had more than 11 million views across different platforms.  

On Oct. 14, 2023, an annular solar eclipse crossed North, Central, and South America. Visible in parts of the United States, Mexico, and many countries in South and Central America, millions of people in the Western Hemisphere were able to experience this “ring of fire” eclipse. NASA’s official broadcast and outreach teams were located in Kerrville, TX, and Albuquerque, NM, to capture the event and celebrate with the communities in the path of annularity. 
Credit: NASA/Ryan Fitzgibbons 

Before the eclipse, NASA introduced the 2023 Eclipse Explorer, an interactive map to explore eclipse details for any location in the United States. NASA shared tips on eclipse safety, including through a video with NSYNC's Lance Bass and even with an augmented reality filter. 

Scientists also studied conditions during the annular eclipse with sounding rockets, balloons, and amateur radio.  

Total Solar Eclipse 

On April 8, 2024, millions of people across North America experienced a total solar eclipse that darkened parts of 15 U.S. states in the path of totality.  

Ahead of the event, NASA hosted a widespread safety campaign, handed out over 2 million solar viewing glasses, and produced an interactive map to help viewers plan their viewing experience. On eclipse day, NASA also hosted a live broadcast from locations across the country, drawing over 38 million views. 

Researchers studied the eclipse and its effects on Earth using a variety of techniques, including international radar networks, scientific rockets, weather balloons, and even high-altitude NASA WB-57 jets. Several NASA-funded citizen science projects also conducted experiments. These projects included more than 49,000 volunteers who contributed an astounding 53 million observations.  

This infographic shares metrics from citizen science projects that occurred during the total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024.

NASA/Kristen Perrin

“We have opened a window for all Americans to discover our connection to the Sun and ignited enthusiasm for engaging with groundbreaking NASA science, whether it’s through spacecraft, rockets, balloons, or planes,” said Kelly Korreck, a Heliophysics program scientist at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “Sharing the excitement of NASA heliophysics with our fellow citizens has truly been amazing.” 

Science Across the Solar System 

NASA’s heliophysics missions gather data on the Sun and its effects across the solar system.  

The Atmospheric Waves Experiment (AWE) mission launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida Nov. 9, 2023, and was installed on the International Space Station nine days later. This mission studies atmospheric gravity waves, how they form and travel through Earth’s atmosphere, and their role in space weather. 

Orbital footage from the International Space Station shows NASA’s Atmospheric Waves Experiment (AWE) as it was extracted from SpaceX’s Dragon cargo spacecraft.

NASA/International Space Station

On Nov. 4, 2024, the Coronal Diagnostic Experiment (CODEX) mission also launched to the space station, where it studies the solar wind, with a focus on what heats it and propels it through space.  

Pictured is the CODEX instrument inside the integration and testing facility at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.

NASA/CODEX team

The Aeronomy of Ice in the Mesosphere (AIM) mission ended after 16 years studying Earth's highest clouds, called polar mesospheric clouds.  

An artist’s concept shows the Aeronomy of Ice in the Mesosphere (AIM) spacecraft orbiting Earth.  

NASA’s Goddard Space Flight/Center Conceptual Image Lab 

NASA’s Ionospheric Connection Explorer (ICON) also ended after three successful years studying the outermost layer of Earth’s atmosphere, called the ionosphere. 

NASA's ICON, shown in this artist’s concept, studied the frontiers of space, the dynamic zone high in our atmosphere where terrestrial weather from below meets space weather above. 

NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Conceptual Image Lab 

Voyager has been operating for more than 47 years, continuing to study the heliosphere and interstellar space. In October 2024, the Voyager 1 probe stopped communicating. The mission team worked tirelessly to troubleshoot and ultimately reestablish communications, keeping the mission alive to continue its research.  

In this artist's conception, NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft has a bird's-eye view of the solar system. The circles represent the orbits of the major outer planets: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. Launched in 1977, Voyager 1 visited the planets Jupiter and Saturn. The spacecraft is now 13 billion miles from Earth, making it the farthest and fastest-moving human-made object ever built. In fact, Voyager 1 is now zooming through interstellar space, the region between the stars that is filled with gas, dust, and material recycled from dying stars. NASA's Hubble Space Telescope is observing the material along Voyager's path through space.

NASA/STSci

While the goal of the NASA heliophysics fleet is to study the Sun and its influence, these missions often make surprising discoveries that they weren't originally designed to. From finding 5,000 comets to studying the surface of Venus, NASA highlighted and celebrated these bonus science connections during the Helio Big Year. 

Solar Maximum 

Similar to Earth, the Sun has its own seasons of activity, with a solar minimum and solar maximum during a cycle that lasts about 11 years. The Helio Big Year happened to coincide with the Sun's active period, with NASA and NOAA announcing in October 2024 that the Sun had reached solar maximum, the highest period of activity. Some of the largest solar storms on current record occurred in 2024, and the largest sunspot in nearly a decade was spotted in the spring of 2024, followed by a colossal X9.0 solar flare Oct. 3, 2024.  

Sunspots are cooler, darker areas on the solar surface where the Sun’s magnetic field gets especially intense, often leading to explosive solar eruptions. This sunspot group was so big that nearly 14 Earths could fit inside it! The eruptions from this region resulted in the historic May 2024 geomagnetic storms, when the aurora borealis, or northern lights, were seen as far south as the Florida Keys.
Credit: NASA/Beth Anthony

Viewers across the U.S. spotted auroras in their communities as a result of these storms, proving that you can capture amazing aurora photography without advanced equipment. 

The Big Finale: Parker's Close Approach to the Sun 

NASA's Parker Solar Probe holds the title as the closest human-made object to the Sun. On Dec. 24, 2024, Parker made history by traveling just 3.8 million miles from the Sun's surface at a whopping 430,000 miles per hour.  

"Flying this close to the Sun is a historic moment in humanity’s first mission to a star,” said Nicky Fox, associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters. 

Controllers have confirmed NASA’s mission to “touch” the Sun survived its record-breaking closest approach to the solar surface on Dec. 24, 2024. 
Credit: NASA/Joy Ng

Parker Solar Probe’s close approach capped off a momentous Heliophysics Big Year that allowed NASA scientists to gather unprecedented data and invited everyone to celebrate how the Sun impacts us all. In the growing field of heliophysics, the Helio Big Year reminded us all how the Sun touches everything and how important it is to continue studying our star’s incredible influence.  

A Big Year Ahead 

Though the Helio Big Year is over, heliophysics is only picking up its pace in 2025. We remain in the solar maximum phase, so heightened solar activity will continue into the near future. In addition, several new missions are expected to join the heliophysics fleet by year’s end. 

The PUNCH mission, a set of four Sun-watching satellites imaging solar eruptions in three dimensions, and EZIE, a trio of Earth-orbiting satellites tracing the electrical currents powering Earth’s auroras, have already launched. The LEXI instrument, an X-ray telescope studying Earth’s magnetosphere from the Moon, also launched through NASA's CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative. 

Future missions slated for launch include TRACERS, which will investigate the unusual magnetic environment near Earth’s poles, and ESCAPADE, venturing to Mars to measure the planet’s unique magnetic environment. 

The last two missions will share a ride to space. The Carruthers Geocorona Observatory will look back at home, studying ultraviolet light emitted by the outermost boundaries of our planet’s atmosphere. The IMAP mission will instead look to the outermost edges of our heliosphere, mapping the boundaries where the domain of our Sun transitions into interstellar space. 

By Desiree Apodaca
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center 

Source: Eclipses, Science, NASA Firsts: Heliophysics Big Year Highlights  - NASA Science