Moon Shadow
Explanation:
When the Moon's shadow
reached out and touched the Earth last
month, 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 1,200 miles per hour, the Moon's umbra
obligingly crossed over land along
pleasant tropical locales
in South America and the Caribbean islands.
Totality lasted for about 3 minutes or less at a
given location.
Sizable fractions of North and South America fell
within the lighter but much wider outer shadow region,
the "penumbra", and witnessed a partial eclipse.
This movie gif follows the Moon's shadow from Central and South
America eastward across the Atlantic - as seen
from the vantage point of an orbiting
Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES),
22,000 miles above Earth.
The three frame animation spans about 2 hours.
GOES satellite images are
a corner stone of
U.S. weather monitoring and forecast operations.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
