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Credit & Copyright: EUMETSAT
Explanation:
When the
Moon's shadow reached out and touched the
Earth
last week, the result was a
solar eclipse.
Such an eclipse is total only for observers located along a
narrow path corresponding to the ground track
of the shadow's dark central portion or
umbra.
For this eclipse, racing along at nearly 2000 kilometers per hour,
the Moon's umbra obligingly crossed over land along regions of
Africa and
Australia.
Totality lasted for about two
minutes or less at a given location.
Many nearby regions fell within the lighter but much wider
outer shadow region, the
penumbra, and witnessed a
partial solar eclipse.
The above movie follows the Moon's shadow as it crossed
Africa during a
similar eclipse in June 2001.
Each frame is separated in time by about 20 minutes.
The movie was created from frames taken by the orbiting
European satellite
MeteoSat-6.
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: solar eclipse
Publications with words: solar eclipse
See also: