{"id":780489,"date":"2024-04-08T21:51:58","date_gmt":"2024-04-09T02:51:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/?p=780489"},"modified":"2024-04-08T21:51:58","modified_gmt":"2024-04-09T02:51:58","slug":"eclipse-2024-5-of-the-best-pictures-of-the-total-solar-eclipse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/?p=780489","title":{"rendered":"Eclipse 2024: 5 of the best pictures of the total solar eclipse"},"content":{"rendered":"


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The total solar eclipse that passed across North America on 8 April drew millions out to the path of totality \u2013 the thin strip of land across which the moon\u2019s silhouette blocked out the entire disc of the sun. Even more gawked at the partial eclipse visible across most of the continent. Here are five of New Scientist<\/em>\u2019s favourite images from 2024\u2019s total eclipse.<\/p>\n

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The beginning of the solar eclipse<\/p>\n

NASA\/Aubrey Gemignani<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

On the right side of this image, which was taken in Kerrville, Texas, you can see the edge of the moon just beginning to encroach on the sun. Closer to the centre and left side of the sun are a pair of sunspots \u2013 dim areas where the surface of the sun is unusually cool.<\/p>\n

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Baily\u2019s beads<\/p>\n

NASA\/Aubrey Gemignani<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

This picture, also taken in Kerrville, Texas, shows a phenomenon called Baily\u2019s Beads. Just before and after complete totality, the topography of the moon allows small beams of sunlight to peek around its edges, creating bright spots on the edge of the moon\u2019s silhouette.<\/p>\n

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The shadow of the moon<\/p>\n

CIRA\/NOAA<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

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This image was taken by the GOES-East satellite, which observes Earth from space for weather monitoring and forecasting. The moon\u2019s shadow swept across Mexico and the US during the eclipse, creating a pool of twilight-like darkness at its centre and partial eclipses at its edges.<\/p>\n

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Prominences<\/p>\n

NASA\/Joel Kowsky<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

During totality, pictured here from Indianapolis, Indiana, several prominences were visible on the edges of the sun. These are areas where the sun\u2019s complex magnetic field shapes hot plasma into bright loops and flares that burst off the sun\u2019s surface, and they are easiest to observe when the disc of the sun is blocked by the moon.<\/p>\n

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Visible corona<\/p>\n

NASA\/Keegan Barber<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

For scientists, the main importance of a total solar eclipse is that it provides a unique opportunity to view the sun\u2019s diaphanous outer layer, the corona. When the disc of the sun is not blocked, it far outshines the corona, so an eclipse is the perfect time to study this mysterious sheet of plasma, shown here during totality in Dallas, Texas.<\/p>\n

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