Last weekend, eclipse watchers in the United States had the chance to watch the moon align with the sun, creating an annular eclipse. They watched from the ground and waited for a brief experience that wasn’t completely dark. NASA’s Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) recorded what was happening from Earth orbit to gain a new perspective on the event.

This was different from most solar eclipses that attract public attention when they occur. Because it was circular, it did not create the fear of darkness that most people associate with these events.

An annular eclipse depends on unique circumstances. First of all, as in a total solar eclipse, the Moon must be exactly in line with the Sun. In one of these, the Moon appears to completely block the Sun because it is at the correct distance from the Earth. During totality, people can only observe the corona and the visible events occurring at that moment.

However, there is a slight difference between the total solar eclipse and what everyone saw in the last event. During an annular eclipse, the Moon is at its maximum distance from the Earth. The technical term for this distance is “apogee”. Because of this distance, the Moon could not completely “cover” the Sun. The Sun’s outer edge was still visible and appeared to observers as a reddish-yellow-hot “ring of fire.”

What NASA’s DSCOVR mission saw

As spectacular as the view from the ground is during the eclipse, it’s also interesting to see what’s coming from space. NASA’s DSCOVR mission captured a photo of the shadow passing over the United States. It is located at Lagrange point 1, which is a gravitationally stable orbital point. The mission’s Earth Multicolor Imaging Camera (EPIC) captured the view. Usually this camera is used to capture global images of our planet.

The image shows a sizeable shadow visible in a wide swath stretching from Oregon in the Pacific Northwest to Texas in the south.

The darkest part of the shadow (the axis line) was where people saw the golden ring around the moon. Observers outside the centerline saw only a partial eclipse. The duration of the eclipse (and the size of the eclipse) depended on where the observers were located.

No more eclipse

The crazy eclipse will continue this year and next year, and there will be a lunar eclipse on October 28 that will be visible in parts of Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia.

The next major solar eclipse will occur on April 8 and will be visible from Mexico across the United States to northeastern Canada. This will give satellites the opportunity to observe the shadows that cover the Earth when the Sun and Moon meet again. Source