Earth during June 21 solar eclipse. (Image: Twitter/Chris Cassidy)
The first solar eclipse of the year 2020 just concluded. Pictures of the annular solar eclipse made it to the social media platforms where we could see the partial solar eclipse as well as the maximum eclipse showing a “ring of fire”.
When the eclipse looked so magnificent from the Earth, imagine what it would have looked like from space. Well, there is no need to imagine because we have actual pictures and videos showing just that. Astronauts and satellites in the space saw the round shadow of the moon over Earth’s surface and they shared it for us to see as well.
Also read | Solar Eclipse 2020 June 21 highlights: Next Solar Eclipse date, timings
NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy, who is living and working in space, shared pictures of the Earth during the solar eclipse. In the pictures, we can see the shadow passing over the Earth’s surface, and it looks exotic, to say the least.
“Super cool view of the Annular Solar Eclipse which passed by our starboard side as we flew over China this morning,” Cassidy wrote. “A pretty neat way to wake up on Father’s Day morning! Hoping all of the dads in the world have a wonderful day.”
Super cool view of the Annular Solar Eclipse which passed by our starboard side as we flew over China this morning. A pretty neat way to wake up on Father’s Day morning! Hoping all of the dads in the world have a wonderful day! #Eclipse #FathersDay #HappyFathersDay2020 pic.twitter.com/vJx5yOFAcb
— Chris Cassidy (@Astro_SEAL) June 21, 2020
The official twitter handle of NOAA Satellites tweeted a GIF of the Earth showing the Moon’s shadow travelling across the Earth. The GIF comes courtesy of the Meteosat 8, which is operated by EUMETSAT.
Here’s some #MondayMotivation for you this morning—another view of yesterday’s annular #SolarEclipse courtesy of #Meteosat8, operated by our partners @EUMETSAT. This type of #eclipse occurs when the moon passes in front of the sun, but doesn’t completely cover it. pic.twitter.com/y0ArDEjc1m
— NOAA Satellites (@NOAASatellites) June 22, 2020
Russia’s Elektro-L No.2 weather satellite also shared the GIF of the Earth showing the Moon’s travel across the planet from an altitude of 36,000 km.
Российский космический аппарат #ЭлектроЛ № 2 с высоты 36 000 км запечатлел прохождение тени по поверхности Земли от кольцевого солнечного затмения, которое состоялось 21 июня ☀#затмение2020 #затмение #солнечноезатмение pic.twitter.com/akVyRNXoA6
— РОСКОСМОС (@roscosmos) June 22, 2020
Another satellite also recorded the annular solar eclipse and shared it on Twitter. This particular GIF looks rich and clearly shows the shadow as well as the nigh time overlapping the day time.
#SATELLITE SPOTLIGHT: The first day of #AstronomicalSummer started with an #AnnularEclipse! In this #Himawari8🛰️ loop, you can see the shadow of the #Moon pass over eastern #Asia. This kind of #eclipse appears as a #RingofFire in the sky, which was seen from #Africa to #Taiwan. pic.twitter.com/cIhyk4cqzb
— NOAA Satellites – Public Affairs (@NOAASatellitePA) June 21, 2020
