Credit & Copyright: Elias Chasiotis
Explanation:
Yes, but have you ever seen a sunrise like this?
Here, after initial cloudiness,
the Sun
appeared to rise in two pieces and during partial eclipse,
causing the photographer to describe it as the most stunning sunrise of his life.
The dark circle near the top of the
atmospherically-reddened Sun is
the Moon -- but so is the dark peak just below it.
This is because along the way, the
Earth's
atmosphere had an
inversion layer of unusually warm air which acted like a
gigantic lens and created a
second image.
For a normal sunrise or sunset, this rare phenomenon of
atmospheric optics
is known as the Etrucan vase effect.
The
featured picture was captured two mornings ago from
Al Wakrah,
Qatar.
Some observers in a narrow band of
Earth
to the east were able to see a
full annular solar eclipse --
where the Moon appears completely surrounded by the background Sun in a
ring of fire.
The next solar eclipse, also an annular eclipse, will occur in
2020 June.
Notable Images Submitted to APOD:
The
Partial Solar Eclipse of 2019 December
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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: eclipse
Publications with words: eclipse
See also: