Solar eclipse from space! Watch the moon's shadow sweep across Earth in satellite footage (video)

Elizabeth Howell
·2 min read
16
view of earth as a circle with a shadow in the middle. clouds and land dot the globe. australia is visible at bottom
view of earth as a circle with a shadow in the middle. clouds and land dot the globe. australia is visible at bottom

A silent shadow creeps across Earth in a unique view of a solar eclipse.

Japan's Himawari weather satellite spotted the rare hybrid solar eclipse Wednesday (April 19) from geostationary orbit, at an altitude of about 22,300 miles (36,000 kilometers). That's roughly 10 times higher than the International Space Station flies.

Climate scientist Simon Proud, who is affiliated with the United Kingdom's National Centre for Earth Observation, processed the data and shared it on Twitter. "You can see the moon's shadow zooming from left to right," Proud posted in a thread today (April 20).

Related: Rare hybrid solar eclipse 2023 delights South Pacific skywatchers (photos)

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Solar eclipses occur when the moon blots out a part of the sun's disk from Earth's perspective. (Never look at a solar eclipse without protection, and use basic safety protocols to keep your eyes safe.)

Hybrid solar eclipses include a combination of all three kinds of eclipses along the entire track: partial, total and annular "ring of fire" eclipses. Observers in one particular location will only see one of the set of eclipse types, however.

The solar eclipse — which took place on Wednesday and today — was visible in a narrow band in the Southern Hemisphere, mostly in remote locations at sea. A total solar eclipse was visible from Exmouth Peninsula in Western Australia, Timor Leste and West Papua.

If you want to get all set up to view a solar eclipse, we have guides to the best cameras for astrophotography, and the best lenses for astrophotography. Our how to photograph a solar eclipse guide will also help you plan for your next solar-observing adventure.

Elizabeth Howell is the co-author of "Why Am I Taller?" (ECW Press, 2022; with Canadian astronaut Dave Williams), a book about space medicine. Follow her on Twitter @howellspace. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom or Facebook.