"[The eclipse is an opportunity] absolutely breathtaking for science," Guhathakurta told a media teleconference on Tuesday.
The observations are going to be made by Earth-based observatories, high flying balloons and rockets launched into the stratosphere that are "absolutely unobtainable from any other sources or platforms," Guhathakurta said.
The "ring of fire" eclipse on October 14 will be visible only in the narrow path of annularity that stretches from the state of Oregon to Texas, as well as parts of Mexico, Central America and South America, Guhathakurta said.
Rockets fired into space will carry instruments to measure the electric and magnetic fields of the Earth's particle distribution during the eclipse, Guhathakurta added.
Outside the path of annularity of the full eclipse, people across the contiguous United States, Puerto Rico, and parts of Alaska and Hawaii will still have the chance to see a partial solar eclipse, when the Moon covers part of the Sun without creating the "ring of fire" effect, according to NASA.