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As millions of people attend up to the sky to see the moon temporarily ( and completely ) halt out the sun during theApril 8 full solar eclipse , the extraordinary cosmic event also shift unseeable " time signals " being beamed from the U.S. across the Earth , new datum shows . But do n’t worry , these adapted signals did not result in any change to thetimewe respect during or after the event .
The shifted time signal derive from the WWV receiving set station — a National Institute of Standards and Technology ( NIST ) facility turn up in Fort Collins , Colorado , that monitors and disseminate high - frequencyradio waves .
As the moon’s shadow passed along the path of totality it altered the upper layers of the atmosphere, which shifted the frequency of some radio waves.
WWV , which is collectively operated byNASA ’s Ham Radio Citizen Science Investigation ( HamSCI ) , always broadcasts a special signaling embedded with " digital time code " to million of receiver around the world . equipment that pick up this signal interpret the digital codes engraft within the transmittance and utilize them to stay in sync with NIST’satomic pin grass , which suffice as the gold standard for all U.S. timekeeping .
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However , for do this , the signal must be bounced off the ionosphere — the upper part of the standard pressure between 50 and 370 miles ( 80 and 600 klick ) above the Earth ’s surface , where gases are turn intoplasma , according to theNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration . And during the eclipse , the ionosphere was slightly altered as the moon ’s shadowraced across the U.S. at more than 1,500 mph ( 2,400 klick / h ) .
Researchers noticed a significant shift in the frequency of their signals during the eclipse.
As a resolution , the frequency of the signal being bounced off this part of the standard atmosphere was shifted slightly , Spaceweather.com ab initio reported . alike frequency fracture were also seen in other radio signals get off or receive by amateur radio operators across the country , HamSci report .
Luckily , the change to the WWV signal ’s frequency was so small that the digital time computer code transmitted by the wireless waves were unchanged , think of devices that rely on the signal to keep time were unaffected , according to Spaceweather.com .
receiving set undulation from other major time sign station across the mankind , including WWV ’s sister station WWVH in Hawaii , were untouched by the occultation .
The WWV station in Fort Collins, CO, constantly bounces radio waves off the ionosphere to measure its height.
A ‘quick flip to darkness’
The break to the WWV signal is know as a Doppler shift , which happens when the space a signal must travel either increases or decreases . These changes can either stretch or cut short the waves , which in bend alters the frequency and wavelength of the moving ridge .
Similar Doppler shifts happen naturally at least twice every 24 hours as the sun originate and set , Kristina Collins(radio callsign KD8OXT ) , a research worker at the Space Science Institute in Boulder , Colorado , told Live Science in an email . " Every day , light from the sun make photoionization in the ionosphere , causing ionospheric layers to move , coalesce or separate . "
From morning onward , this cause the ionosphere to lucubrate , which means radio receiver waves do not jaunt as far before bouncing off this unseeable barrier , Collins suppose . But when the Sunday place , the ionosphere contract , allow signal to journey farther before being bounced back to the surface , she add . As a consequence , radio signals have to jaunt further at nighttime , which slightly increases their wavelength .
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The same matter happened during the " quick somerset to dark " of the occultation , Collins suppose . " Essentially , it ’s like a daylight / Nox cycle in toy . "
Similar , less extreme Doppler shift can also be because of changes in solar activity , including large gusts of solar air current , explosivesolar flaresandcoronal mass ejections , which can all alter Earth ’s ionosphere when they bomb our planet , Collins added .
