Some astronauts were present on the International Space
Station at the time of the eclipse. He captured interesting pictures of the
solar eclipse in the camera. The crew of NASA’s Expedition 66 watched the solar
eclipse through a 360-degree window. This raised crescent-shaped window fits
over the upper wall of the space station. Often astronauts see the view of
space from this window without going out.
This year's last solar eclipse occurred last week. It was
not visible from most parts of the world. This eclipse was visible from
Antarctica, while people in some other countries such as Australia and New
Zealand, including Nigeria were able to see a partial solar eclipse.
But ever wondered how a total solar eclipse would appear
when seen from space? NASA shared images captured from a space observatory on
Instagram, which showed the Moon's shadow as it passed over Antarctica.
NASA captioned the post, “Have you ever seen a total solar
eclipse? How about seeing a total solar eclipse from space? The space agency
stated that the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) spacecraft captured the
shadow as it passed over Antarctica.
“Shaped like a cone extending into space, the shadow has a
circular cross-section most easily seen during a solar eclipse,” said the
agency.
The second and third images in the post show how the eclipse
would look “from another perspective” — inside the International Space Station
(ISS). Astronaut Kayla Barron snapped images of the eclipse from the ISS.
Visible in the foreground is a Russian segment of the orbiting laboratory.
NASA also explained in the post how a solar eclipse occurs:
“A solar eclipse happens when the Moon moves between the Sun and Earth, casting
a shadow on Earth, fully or partially blocking the Sun's light in some areas.
For a total solar eclipse to take place, the Sun, Moon, and Earth must line up
exactly.”
The Deep Space Climate Observatory is a joint project by
NASA and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). It was
launched in 2009 and “monitors changes in the solar wind and provides space
weather forecasts and alerts for solar storms that could temporarily disrupt
power grids and GPS”. Orbiting about a million miles from the Earth, DSCOVR
takes a new photo of Earth every two hours.