A silent shadow creeps across the Earth in a unique view of a solar eclipse.
Japan’s Himawari satellite detected a rare hybrid solar eclipse on Wednesday (April 19) from geostationary orbit, at an altitude of about 22,300 miles (36,000 kilometers). This is about 10 times higher than that of International Space Station flies.
Climate scientist Simon Proud, affiliated with Britain’s National Earth Observing Centre, processed the data and shared it on Twitter. You can see the shadow of the moon running from left to right. Posted proud in today’s topic (Apr 20) (Opens in a new tab).
Related: A rare hybrid solar eclipse of 2023 will delight South Pacific observers (pics)
A slightly longer view of today’s eclipse. Full quality version here (150MB): pic.twitter.com/jMGOap5apXApril 20, 2023
A solar eclipse occurs when the moon erases part of the sun’s disk from Earth’s perspective. (Never look at a solar eclipse without protection, and use basic safety protocols to keep your eyes safe.)
Hybrid solar eclipses include a combination of all three types of eclipses along the entire path: partial, total, and ring-of-fire eclipses. However, observers at a given location will only see one of the combinations of eclipse types.
The solar eclipse – which occurred on Wednesday and today – was visible from a narrow swath in the Southern Hemisphere, mostly from remote locations out at sea. A total solar eclipse was visible from the Exmouth Peninsula in western Australia, East Timor and West Papua.
If you want to get ready to watch a solar eclipse, we’ve got guides to the best cameras for astrophotography and the best lenses for astrophotography. Our guide on how to photograph a solar eclipse will also help you plan your next solar observing adventure.
Elizabeth Howell is co-author of “Why am I taller (Opens in a new tab)? (ECW Press, 2022; with Canadian astronaut Dave Williams), a book on space medicine. Follow her on Twitter @employee (Opens in a new tab). Follow us on Twitter @employee (Opens in a new tab) or Facebook (Opens in a new tab).
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