NASA Eclipse Imagery

During a total solar eclipse, ground-based telescopes can observe the lowest part of the solar corona in a way that can’t be done at any other time, as the dim corona is normally obscured by the bright light of the Sun. The structure in the ground-based corona image — defined by giant magnetic fields sweeping out from the Sun’s surface — can clearly be seen extending into the outer image from the space-based telescope. The more scientists understand about the lower corona, the more they can understand what causes the constant outward stream of material called the solar wind, as well as occasional giant eruptions called coronal mass ejections.

Innermost image: NASA/SDO

Ground-based eclipse image: Jay Pasachoff, Ron Dantowitz, Christian Lockwood and the Williams College Eclipse Expedition/NSF/National Geographic

Outer image: ESA/NASA/SOHO

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensor on the Terra satellite captured this mosaic comprised of data collected at three different times. The right third of the image shows the eastern United States at about 12:10 p.m. Eastern Time (16:10 Universal Time), before the eclipse had begun. The middle part was captured at about 12:50 p.m. Central Time (17:50 Universal Time), when the eclipse was in progress in the center of the country. The left third of the image was collected at about 12:30 p.m. Pacific Time (19:30 Universal Time), after the eclipse had ended. Terra has a polar orbit and the MODIS sensor collects imagery in swaths that are roughly 1,450 miles (2,330 kilometers) wide.

Credit: NASA Earth Observatory images by Joshua Stevens and Jesse Allen, using MODIS data from the Land Atmosphere Near real-time Capability for EOS (LANCE) and EOSDIS/Rapid Response

Hinode is a joint endeavor by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, the European Space Agency, the United Kingdom Space Agency and NASA. Credit: JAXA/NASA/SAO/NAOJ

A total solar eclipse swept across a 70-mile-wide path of the contiguous United States for the first time in 99 years. During the rare celestial event, the moon’s shadow moved from west to east creating a diagonal path of totality in 14 states from Oregon to South Carolina. Spectators along the path of totality experienced more than two minutes of twilight in the middle of the day. Observers in the remainder of North America, and parts of South America, Africa and Europe saw a partial solar eclipse where the Moon covered part of the Sun’s disk.

Credit: NASA/Rami Daud, Alcyon Technical Services

Credit: "Total Solar Eclipse 2012 Education Resources." Total Solar Eclipse 2012 Education Resources. Astronomical Association of Queensland; Science Teachers Association of Queensland, 2012. Web