Did you come out and See the solar eclipse yesterday? It was a really worth seeing place, or at least that’s what I was told as I’m nowhere near it the path of totality. It looked mighty spectacular in the hundreds of photos I’ve seen on Instagram over the past few hours, but these cell phone snaps have nothing to do with the view astronomers had from space yesterday.
The solar eclipse was caused when the The moon passed in front of the sun, causing a massive shadow to fall across the U.S. in states from Texas to Maine. This huge shadow, officially known as the umbra, was visible from space. The stunning sight was captured by NASA astronauts aboard the International Space Station as well as weather monitoring satellites orbiting over the US at just the right time.
Over on The Weather ChannelThe National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shared a very satisfying video of the moon’s shadow moving across the United States. In the clip, you can see the giant shadows engulfing states like Arkansas, Missouri and Illinois.
The shadow crossed the United States at a speed of about 1,500 miles per hour and took just 40 minutes to travel from Texas to Maine. That journey is sped up dramatically in The Weather Channel’s clip, but it stands out the path of totality and shows the solar eclipse dissipating at its edges.
Another great look at the astronomical phenomenon came from the ISS, where NASA astronauts Matthew Dominick and Jeanette Epps took photos of the moon’s shadow on Earth. As NASA explained in a blog Post Office:
The windows of the dome, the “outpost’s window to the world,” were open and NASA flight engineers Matthew Dominick and Jeanette Epps were inside, photographing and filming the Moon’s shadow on Earth and the umbra beneath it, respectively. They orbited 260 miles over southeastern Canada as the moon’s umbra moved from New York state to Newfoundland.
The space station experienced a total loss of approximately 90% during its overflight. Views of the solar eclipse itself, during which the Moon orbits directly between the Sun and Earth, were only accessible through two windows on the Roscosmos segment of the space station, which may have been inaccessible due to cargo limitations.
Aboard the ISS has to be one of the most impressive places to watch a solar eclipse, right? However, if you can’t make it into orbit in time for the next total solar eclipse, you may want to start planning your next trip north, as the 2026 eclipse will be visible from places like Greenland and Iceland.