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These are photos and videos of the April 2024 solar eclipse from space

On April 8, people across the United States, Canada and Mexico watched in awe as the moon danced between the sun and Earth. While countless breathtaking images captured the darkness falling over the land, a completely different spectacle was taking place high above our planet. Satellites and astronauts documented the eclipse's progress, providing a breathtaking perspective that cannot be seen from the ground.

videos

While a total solar eclipse occurs when the moon blocks the sun's light from those in its shadow, the view from space offers a unique perspective. Fortunately, some satellites were able to capture this celestial event.

The Geostationary Environmental Satellite (GOES-16) captured the Moon's shadow moving over North America and showed its orbit from 4:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. CEST (2:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. UTC). These satellites, a collaboration between NOAA and NASA, are positioned approximately 36,000 kilometers from Earth. ESA shared the time-lapse video:

YouTube videoYouTube video

SpaceX's Starlink satellites also captured footage of the shadow racing eastward across North America.

Aside from the satellites, NASA astronaut Jessica Meir also shared footage of Totality's flight over North Texas that she captured from the sky. At the time of the eclipse she was in a T38 jet flight at an altitude of 11,900 meters.

“We saw the darkness coming towards us from behind. It soon caught up with us and we had a total of several minutes to follow its path,” Meir wrote on Instagram. “Then we were back in the light. Not a bad day at the office.”

Pictures

In addition to videos, the view of the solar eclipse from space was also captured in some photos. One of these is from NASA's EPIC camera on DSCOVR. This Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera from the Deep Space Climate Observatory satellite took a series of images between 4:00 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. UTC that showed Earth bathed in sunlight as the eclipse progressed.

Solar eclipse on April 8thSolar eclipse on April 8th
Image credit: NASA Earth Observatory

NASA also shared a NOAA-20 satellite mosaic of images. It shows the path of the solar eclipse from east to west with images taken before, during and after the event.

Solar eclipse on April 8thSolar eclipse on April 8th
Image credit: NASA Earth Observatory

Did you see the April 8 solar eclipse? Did you manage to take photos?

[via IFLScience]

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