APOD: 2024 October 8 Б Annular Eclipse over Patagonia
Explanation:
Can you find the Sun?
OK, but can you explain why thereБs a big dark spot in the center?
The spot is
the Moon,
and the impressive alignment shown, where the
Moon lines up inside the Sun, is called an
annular solar eclipse.
Such an eclipse occurred
just last week and was visible from a
thin swath mostly in
Earth's southern hemisphere.
The featured image was captured from
Patagonia,
Chile.
When the Moon is
significantly closer to the Earth and it aligns with the Sun,
a
total solar eclipse
is then visible from parts of the Earth.
Annular eclipses are
slightly more common than total eclipses, but as
the Moon moves slowly away from the
Earth, before a
billion more years, the Moon's orbit will
no longer
bring it close enough for a
total solar eclipse to be seen from anywhere on
Earth.
Gallery:
Annular Eclipse of October 2024
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.
