In Photos: A ‘Secret’ Solar Eclipse In Space That Nobody Saw Coming

Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin On June 29, 2022, NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) witnessed a partial solar eclipse from . . .

[+] space. NASA When is the next solar eclipse? You just missed one. Since America is in a golden age of solar eclipses and eclipse-chasing is becoming a popular past-time you’d think that it would be impossible for anyone to miss one.

But that’s exactly what happened this week when the New Moon drifted across the Sun—but only as seen from an orbiting space observatory. Solar eclipses have been accurately predicted down to the second for some time. Look an NASA’s retired eclipse calculator Fred Espenak’s website and you’ll find eclipse calculations covering five millennia .

ADVERTISEMENT However, those calculations are done only for Earth observations of solar eclipses. After all, a solar eclipse—when the Moon appears to cross the disk of the Sun—is an optical illusion. Nothing is actually happening and the event has no real significance.

It’s all and only down to your place in space and your point of view. On June 29, 2022, NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) captured the Moon as it begun to cross the disk of the Sun. It took 35 minutes and obscured 67% of the Sun’s disk at the peak of the event.

On June 29, 2022, NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) witnessed a partial solar eclipse from . . .

[+] space. NASA ADVERTISEMENT It was able to do so because it’s in a geosynchronous orbit of our planet at an altitude of 22,238 miles/ 35,789 kilometers—so it has a slightly different point of view than we do on the planet’s surface. It’s not the first time that SDO has had its own exclusive eclipse experience.

Another example of a solar eclipse only viewed from space occurred during the 1960s and 1970s when Apollo astronauts witnessed the Sun being blocked by the Moon as they traveled to the latter. Neil Armstrong even said that the totality he experienced on the way to the Moon was his own personal highlight of the Apollo 11 mission that saw him become the first person to walk on the lunar surface. ADVERTISEMENT However, Earth is not the only planet in the solar system whose Moon is capable of causing a solar eclipse .

Earlier this year a Martian annular solar eclipse was filmed in exquisite detail by NASA . On June 29, 2022, NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) witnessed a partial solar eclipse from . .

. [+] space. NASA The next solar eclipse viewable from Earth will occur on October 25, 2022 when Europe and Asia will witness the Moon partially covering the Sun.

Up to 82% of the Sun will be eclipsed by the Moon with the maximum eclipse point in a remote part of Russia. ADVERTISEMENT Observers will need to wear solar eclipse glasses at all times to avoid the threat of blindness. All cameras and telescopes will need solar filters.

The next total solar eclipse —which is the kind of eclipse that’s worth traveling to experience—will see tiny Exmouth Peninsula in Western Australia, as well as Timor Leste and West Papua—go under the shadow of the Moon for about a minute. The last total solar eclipse on Earth was seen only from Antarctica in December 2021 . After that the countdown begins to April 8, 2024 and the next total solar eclipse in North America .

Wishing you clear skies and wide eyes. .