During the total solar eclipse on 12 August, scientists from around the world will have their eyes – and scientific instruments – on the sun. But even if you aren’t a scientist, you can help in their investigations, both during the eclipse and year-round.

A total solar eclipse occurs when the sun and moon line up just right so that the moon blocks out the entire disc of the sun from the perspective of Earth. It is a huge cosmic coincidence that both the sun and the moon happen to be just the right size and at the right distance to give us such a spectacle, and a scientifically useful one at that.

On 12 August, a total eclipse will be visible over parts of Europe and the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, with a partial eclipse covering much of Europe, Canada, north-west Africa and parts of the US. An eclipse like this one is visible from somewhere on Earth just once every 18 months approximately, so during each eclipse, scientists rush out to gather as much data as they can. Here are some ways that you can help out:

1. Record shadow bands from the path of totality: In the moments before and after a total solar eclipse, strange phenomena called shadow bands billow across the ground. These bands are caused by the combination of Earth’s atmosphere and the hidden disc of the sun – it is similar to the effect that causes more distant stars to twinkle. If you are in the path of totality, all you have to do to see them is set out a white sheet or piece of cardboard perpendicular to the direction of the sun. To , which aims to quantify how shadow bands differ based on altitude and distance from the centre of totality, just set up a camera to film the sheet.

2. Photograph the sun with your smartphone: The sun is very nearly spherical, but it isn’t perfect. One of the best ways to measure its shape with precision is to have lots of pictures taken from lots of different locations – that’s what does. It’s a smartphone app that you can set up and leave running as you enjoy watching the eclipse, and it will take carefully timed pictures to capture a phenomenon called Baily’s Beads, or the diamond ring effect. When the very last of the sun is about to be covered by the moon, the lunar landscape lets through tiny points of light, which shine along its edge. The same happens when the other side of the moon is just about to let the sun shine past it again, and these points of light are Baily’s Beads. When lots of photos of the beads, all precisely geolocated, are combined with a map of the lunar topography, that can give us an extraordinarily precise measurement of how far the disc of the sun is from a perfect circle.

3. Measure the darkening of the sky during the eclipse: Even if you are only going to see a partial eclipse, you can still help with scientific research. The Gaia4Sustainability project requires a little bit more equipment and set-up time, but once you have it sorted, you can leave it running all year round and keep collecting useful data. It consists of a small device with a bunch of sensors on it to measure the brightness of the sky and other meteorological factors, and the overarching goal of the programme is to measure light pollution so we can better understand its effects. But during the eclipse, the same sensors can be used to , and the more different spots the team has data from, the more they will be able to learn about atmospheric dynamics during eclipses.

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4. Hunt for sun-grazing comets: As is the case for pretty much all astronomical events, a huge portion of the world won’t be able to see August’s total eclipse at all. Not to worry! There are still ways to get involved in solar science. In the , you can download satellite pictures of the sun and look for moving objects on its outskirts. Some of the objects will be comets skimming past the sun, and once researchers know those comets are there, they can do more detailed research. A huge proportion of the known comets were discovered through Sungrazer. All it takes is a computer, an internet connection and some spare time.

5. Join a DEB observation team for next year: If you want to do something a bit more involved, the might be more up your street. It’s an scheme where teams receive training and some relatively basic equipment to observe eclipses across the path of totality, building up a huge repository of data that can then be used to study the evolution of the corona, the outermost layer of the sun’s atmosphere. Because of the training required, it is too late to join or create a DEB team for this year, but if you are going to be able to spot the 2027 eclipse that will sweep over northern Africa, you can sign up ahead of time.

Even during the eclipse, you shouldn’t look directly at the sun without a solar filter or eclipse glasses to protect your eyes.

The Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile is finally beginning its mammoth survey of the universe. After a year of testing and calibration, it is starting the Legacy Survey of Space and Time, which is poised to become the most detailed record of the universe ever captured.

“Today, we begin filming the greatest cosmic movie ever made,” said Brian Stone at the US National Science Foundation in a .

For the next decade, Rubin will collect about 10 terabytes of data every night in the form of hundreds of high-resolution images of the southern sky. Each image will cover an area about 40 times the size of the full moon, and the completed survey will include nearly the entirety of the sky that is visible from the southern hemisphere.

This treasure trove of data will serve several purposes. The first, which has already begun, is to alert researchers to anything changing in the night sky, such as the appearance of supernovae or the motion of asteroids and comets.

“Millions of alerts in just the last couple of months show that Rubin is up and running as a discovery machine,” said at Stanford University in California, who is part of the Rubin team. “Now we’re putting it all together.”

These alerts have already led to the discovery of more than 11,000 new asteroids, and they are expected to result in the most complete inventory of solar system objects ever created.

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In addition to canvassing the solar system, Rubin will provide information about more distant objects, building a detailed map of the Milky Way galaxy and peering deeper into the universe.

An early-release image (above) shows a sea of stars, interstellar gas and even distant galaxies. Such deep, detailed images taken again and again over 10 years will enable researchers to study rare cosmic events and even gain insight into dark matter, dark energy and the expansion of the universe.

The Lyrid meteor shower hits its peak on the evening of 22 April, or early hours of the 23rd, but you can look for them any time between the 16th and 25th. ��è����Ƶ‘s stargazing companion will talk you through what to look for. You can find the audio below or in the podcast episode feed for The world, the universe and us.

Meteors are caused by high-speed debris from space hitting Earth’s atmosphere. These tiny grains of dust or rock enter the atmosphere at such speeds that the friction between them and the air makes them burn up, producing a flash that moves across the sky.

As Earth makes its yearly journey around the sun, it passes through a series of clouds of dust and debris, left behind by comets or asteroids, causing an increase in the number of meteors we see. This is why the same meteor showers happen at similar times each year.

The Lyrids meteor shower is caused by the long-period comet C/1861 G1, also known as Thatcher. Discovered in 1861, Thatcher takes 415 years to orbit the sun. It is expected to return to our part of the solar system around the year 2278.

You don’t need to look in one part of the sky to see a meteor shower. But each one is named after the bit of the sky where the meteors seem to start, or radiate from. In this case, it is the northern hemisphere constellation Lyra, which contains the bright star Vega.

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If you are in the northern hemisphere, you can look for the constellation Lyra. The constellation won’t be visible from the southern hemisphere, but meteors can travel in all directions, so some shooting stars might be visible if you look east.

From the northern hemisphere, Lyra will be in the east just after sunset. If you’re looking a little later, it will be higher up in the sky, making it a better time to look for meteors – although the closer you get to sunrise, the brighter the sky will be.

The easiest way to find Lyra is to look for a pattern of stars known as the Summer Triangle, so named because it is made up of three bright stars in a triangle shape and, in summer in the northern hemisphere, around midnight, it appears directly overhead. At midnight in late April, the three bright stars will appear near the eastern horizon. The highest of these is Vega, and this is in Lyra.

If you’re looking at the peak, and you have clear and dark skies, you could see between 10 and 18 meteors in an hour.