Explanation:
What does the Earth look like during a total solar eclipse?
It appears
dark in the region where people see the eclipse,
because that's where the
shadow
of the Moon falls.
The shadow spot rapidly shoots across the
Earth
at nearly 2,000 kilometers per hour,
darkening locations in its path -- typically for only a few minutes --
before moving on.
The featuredбvideo shows the Earth during the
total solar eclipse earlier this month.
The time-lapse sequence, taken from a
geostationary satellite,
starts with the
Earth below showing night
but the sun soon rises at the lower right.
Clouds shift as day breaks over the
blue planet.
Suddenly the
circular shadow of the
Moon appears
on the left and moves rapidly across
South America,
disappearing on the lower right.
The video ends as nightfall begins again.
The next total solar eclipse will occur next December --
but be
visible only from parts of Antarctica.
Gallery:
Notable images of the recent Total Solar Eclipse submitted to APOD
