Science & Tech

Unique solar eclipse photo shared by International Space Station astronauts

Unique solar eclipse photo shared by International Space Station astronauts
Solar eclipse plunges Houlton, Maine into darkness
Reuters

Millions across North America watched the total solar eclipse occur on Monday (April 8) and while people on Earth watched the rare celestial event, astronauts up in space had some pretty unique views.

If you're on board working and living on the International Space Station, then you'll orbit the Earth about every 90 minutes and see 16 sunrises and sunsets per day.

And when it comes to eclipses, astronauts can witness up to five per year - and the view from 261 miles above Earth is just as incredible as you would expect.

For the recent total solar eclipse, an image from ISS shows it wasn't just the moon blocking the Sun that the astronauts could see, they also had a view of the Moon's shadow which had covered parts of Canada, the US and Mexico in darkness.

It's an eerie perspective, with a floating black hole in a perfect circular shape looming over part of the world.

This image provided by NASA shows the Moon's shadow covering portions of Canada and the U.S. during a total solar eclipse as seen from the International Space Station on Monday, Aug. 8, 2024. NASA via AP


Meanwhile, NASA also posted a video showing the astronaut's view from the ISS.

"I can hardly imagine the view being better than the one we have now, but if there is one it's from the space station for sure," a reporter said in the clip.

However, this wasn't the only view from space as SpaceX founder Elon Musk also shared a video from Starlink satellite which was able to capture the eclipse during an orbit.


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