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| May 29, 2017 07:30am ET-
Credit: Ian Hitchcock/Getty
Amazing Images
A total solar eclipse will cross the U.S. on Aug. 21, 2017 , wowing skywatchers from Oregon to South Carolina. Here are amazing images of previous solar eclipses worldwide.
Shown here, only a small portion of the sun’s disk is visible behind the moon, during the seconds before totality on Nov. 14, 2012. This total solar eclipse was photographed from Palm Cove, Australia. Thousands of eclipse-watchers gathered in a part of North Queensland to enjoy the solar eclipse.
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Credit: NASA/SKO
Lunar Transit
On Jan. 30, 2014, the moon moved between NASA’s space-based Solar Dynamics Observatory , or SDO, and the sun, giving the observatory a view of a lunar transit from space. SDO captures a lunar transit two to three times each year. Partial solar eclipses are also visible from Earth two to three times per year on average, but total solar eclipses are only visible from Earth about once every 18 months, and are visible over a much smaller area. This lunar transit lasted for 2.5 hours, which is the longest the spacecraft has ever recorded.
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Credit: JAXA/NASA/SAO
Hinode Sun-Observing Satellite
A screen capture from video taken by the Hinode sun-observing satellite on Nov. 13, 2012, showing a partial solar eclipse that was also visible on the ground. The spacecraft — a joint effort between NASA and Japanese Aerospace Agency JAXA — viewed the eclipse on two of its orbits that day.
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Credit: JAXA/NASA/SAO
2012 Solar Eclipse
This screen capture from video taken by the Hinode satellite shows the spacecraft’s first view of the Nov. 13, 2012, solar eclipse. Following this observation, the spacecraft orbited around the Earth, and made it back in time to see the eclipse again.
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Credit: Feng Li/Getty
Annular Solar Eclipse from Tiananmen Square
The moon begins to obstruct the disk of the sun during an annular solar eclipse seen from Tiananmen Square on Jan. 15, 2010, in Shenyang, Liaoning Province of China. An annular eclipse occurs when the moon is far away from the Earth in its orbit, causing it to appear smaller in the sky; the reduced size means the moon cannot completely cover the disk of the sun, and a thin ring of the sun’s disk (a “ring of fire”) remains visible around the edge of the moon. The eclipse, which first became visible in Tamil Nadu city of Kanyakumari, is predicted to be the longest annular eclipse between the years 2000 and 3000 (although a slightly longer annular eclipse took place in 1955).
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Credit: Abid Katib/Getty
Partial Solar Eclipse in Gaza City, Gaza Strip
This partial solar eclipse was photographed on March 29, 2006, in Gaza City, Gaza Strip. A partial eclipse occurs when sun and moon are not exactly in line, and the moon only partially obscures the sun.
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Credit: National Astronomical Observatory of Japan/Getty
Total Solar Eclipse from Iwo Jima, Japan
The July 22, 2009, total solar eclipse, as seen from Iwo Jima, Japan. The longest total eclipse of the sun of this century, the event triggered tourist fever in Asia as astronomy enthusiasts flocked to watch the moon cover the disk of the sun. The eclipse was visible from within a narrow corridor that began in India and crossed through Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar and China (including Shanghai), but passed south of most of Japan.
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Credit: Fox Photos/Getty
Total Solar Eclipse from Harvard College Observatory
This snapshot by the Harvard College Observatory captures the total solar eclipse of March 7, 1970 . The eclipse was visible along parts of the U.S. East Coast, from Delaware to Florida.
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Credit: JAXA/NASA/Hinode/Getty
Sun Spots
Sun spots can be seen in this image that captures the moon moving across the face of the sun during an annular eclipse on May 20, 2012. The eclipse was visible in Tokyo; the shadow then traveled across the Pacific Ocean and all the way to Texas.
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Credit: Masashi Hara/Getty
Annular Solar Eclipse from Tokyo
A crescent of light from the disk of the sun is visible behind the moon during the annular Solar Eclipse of May 21, 2012, seen from Tokyo.
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Credit: Masashi Hara/Getty
Ring of Fire
The “ring of fire” created by the sun’s surface surrounds the moon during the annular solar eclipse observed on May 21, 2012, in Tokyo.
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Credit: David McNew/Getty
Annular Cclipse from Grand Canyon National Park
The annular eclipse of May 20, 2012, photographed from Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona. Differing from a total solar eclipse, the moon in an annular eclipse appears too small to cover the sun completely, leaving a “ring of fire” around the moon.
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Credit: David McNew/Getty
Sun Spots
Sun spots are visible in this snapshot during the annular solar eclipse of May 20, 2012, viewed from Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona.
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Credit: Philipp Guelland/Getty
Partial Solar Eclipse from Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany
In this composite image, the moon passes between the sun and the Earth to create a partial solar eclipse on March 20, 2015, viewed from Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany.
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Credit: Ian Hitchcock/Getty
Total Solar Eclipse in Palm Cove, Australia
Totality is seen during the solar eclipse on Nov. 14, 2012, in Palm Cove, Australia.
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Credit: Ian Hitchcock/Getty
Totality in Palm Cove
Totality, or the time when the moon completely covers the disk of the sun, is seen here during the total solar eclipse of Nov. 14, 2012, from Palm Cove, Australia.
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Credit: Ian Hitchcock/Getty
Total Solar Eclipse in Palm Cove, Australia
The solar eclipse of Nov. 14, 2012, is seen nearing totality from Palm Cove, Australia.
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Credit: Ian Hitchcock/Getty
Near Totality in Palm Cove
The total solar eclipse of Nov. 14, 2012, near totality in this image from Palm Cove, Australia.
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Credit: Mark Kolbe/Getty
Moment of Totality
The sky darkens similar to twilight during the moment of totality, captured in this photo on Nov. 14, 2012, in Palm Cove, Australia.
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Credit: Mark Kolbe/Getty
Moon Shadow
The moon’s shadow begins to drape across the landscape moments before totality in this image of the Nov. 14, 2012, total solar eclipse, taken in Palm Cove, Australia.
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Credit: Bill Stafford/NASA/Getty
Partial Solar Eclipse in Arlington, Virgina
A partial solar eclipse is visible just before sunset on Oct. 23, 2014, in Arlington, Virginia.
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Credit: Philipp Guelland/Getty
Partial Solar Eclipse at Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germay
The beginning of a partial solar eclipse on March 20, 2015, seen from Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany.
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Credit: Alexander Hassenstein/Getty
Partial Solar Eclipse at Munich, Germany
A dove photobombed this picture of the partial solar eclipse of March 20, 2015, in this image taken from Munich, Germany.
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Credit: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty
Partial Eclipse near Penzance, England
The moon crosses the sun causing a partial eclipse, viewed here above St. Michael’s Mount on March 20, 2015, near Penzance, England.
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Credit: Clive Mason/Getty
Partial Solar Eclipse at Northampton, England
A partial solar eclipse is seen over Northamptonshire on March 20, 2015, in Northampton, England.
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Credit: Ian Hitchcock/Getty
Totality at Palm Cove, Australia
Totality is seen during the solar eclipse on Nov. 14, 2012, in Palm Cove, Australia.
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Credit: Ulet Ifansasti/Getty
Total Solar Eclipse from Palembang
A total solar eclipse is seen from the city of Palembang on March 9, 2016, in Palembang, South Sumatra Province, Indonesia. The total solar eclipse was celebrated in the region with parties, colorful tribal rituals and Muslim prayers.
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Credit: NASA/JAXA
Moon Traversing the Sun
The Hinode satellite captured images of the moon traversing the face of the sun during a total solar eclipse of July 22, 2009. The path of the moon’s umbral shadow began in India and crossed through Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar and China. A partial eclipse was seen over a much broader area that included most of eastern Asia, Indonesia and the Pacific Ocean.
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Credit: NASA/SDO
Lunar Transit
NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) saw a lunar transit — when the moon passes between the spacecraft and the sun — on Aug. 2, 2016, from 7:13 a.m. to 8:08 a.m. EDT. In this way, the SDO enjoys solar eclipses that are not always visible on Earth. Credit: NASA/SDO
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