A rare double eclipse was captured by NASA this week when both the Earth and the moon blocked the sun from the view of their Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). SDO keeps a constant eye on the sun, but during SDO’s semiannual eclipse seasons, Earth briefly blocks SDO’s line of sight each day – a effect of SDO’s geosynchronous orbit.
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The New Moon’s dark shadow crossed planet Earth on September 1. The end of the Earth eclipse happened just in time for SDO to catch the final stages of the lunar transit.
The earth has a less distinct shadow due to the fact that it absorbs some light from the sun into its atmosphere.
Stargazers in parts of Africa have been dealt with a tremendous “ring of fire” in the sky as a sun eclipse occurred in the skies of South Africa.
At the eclipse’s peak, all that was visible was a ring of light encircling the black moon.
The phenomenon, known as an annular solar eclipse, happens when there is a near-perfect alignment of the Earth, moon and sun. The increased distance causes the moon’s apparent size to be smaller, so it doesn’t block the entire face of the sun.
On the French Indian Ocean territory of Mayotte off the east coast of Africa, prayers were said in mosques calling for residents to be spared from harm.
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Waiting on the Indian Ocean’s Reunion Island, eclipse watchers enjoyed a view just north of the eclipse centerline, the annular phase lasting a few minutes or less.
