NASA Earth Observatory originally published this article on April 10, 2024. Edits by EarthSky.
April 8 total solar eclipse from space
On April 8, 2024, thousands and thousands of People noticed day flip quickly to nighttime because the moon handed between the sun and Earth to create a total solar eclipse.
Numerous folks seemed up and noticed the moon conceal the brilliant orb of the sun and obscure all however its wispy corona. In the meantime, Earth-observing satellites captured imagery of the moon’s shadow because it raced eastward over North America.
About 1 million miles from Earth, NASA’s EPIC (Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera) imager on the DSCOVR (Deep Space Climate Observatory) satellite captured the above views of Earth between 16:02 and 20:32 UTC (12:02 and 4:32 p.m. ET). DSCVR is a joint NASA, NOAA, and U.S. Air Power satellite constructed to look at our planet from Lagrange Point 1, a gravitationally steady place between the sun and Earth.
The moon’s shadow swept over North America, from the Pacific coast of Mexico, by means of Texas, and over the Nice Lakes earlier than crossing the Atlantic coast of Newfoundland, Canada.
The sun’s corona
Observers on the bottom had a uncommon view of the sun’s energetic outer environment, or corona. They also saw glowing loops of plasma referred to as solar prominences extending into the corona. Plasma is super-hot ionized gasoline which flows alongside the tangled and twisted construction of the sun’s magnetic fields.
Michael Kirk, a analysis scientist within the Heliophysics Division at NASA’s Goddard House Flight Middle throughout a live broadcast of the eclipse from Dallas, Texas. Through the broadcast, Kirk famous that the spiky and asymmetrical nature of the corona was an indication that the sun’s magnetic discipline was energetic and approaching solar maximum. He commented:
This view of the corona won’t ever occur once more, ever.
Because the moon’s shadow moved east throughout North America, the NOAA-20 satellite orbited the Earth from pole to pole and captured photographs of Earth from east to west. The picture beneath is a mosaic comprised of swaths of photographs collected by the satellite at three totally different instances on April 8. The best third of the picture reveals the jap United States at about 1:10 p.m. Japanese Time (17:10 Common Time), earlier than the eclipse had begun.
The center half was captured at about 1:50 p.m. Central Time (18:50 Common Time), when the eclipse was in progress within the middle of the nation. Even outdoors of the trail of totality, skies have been a lot darker all through the U.S.. The left third of the picture was collected at about 1:30 p.m. Pacific Time (20:30 Common Time), after the moon’s shadow had moved out over the Atlantic Ocean.
The trail of totality included parts of Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine. The following total solar eclipse to journey throughout the decrease 48 states from coast to coast can be in 2045.
NASA Earth Observatory photographs by Michala Garrison and Wanmei Liang, utilizing knowledge from DSCOVR EPIC and VIIRS knowledge from NASA EOSDIS LANCE, GIBS/Worldview, and the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS). Story by Emily Cassidy.
Backside line: NASA Earth Observatory initially revealed this text concerning the total solar eclipse of April 8, 2024, as seen from space. Edits by EarthSky. The original article is here.
