Astronomy Picture of the Day
Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.
2024 October 8
Image Credit & Copyright: Alexis Trigo
Explanation: Can you find the Sun? OK, but can you explain why there's a big dark spot in the center? The spot is the Moon, and the impressive alignment shown, where the Moon lines up inside the Sun, is called an annular solar eclipse. Such an eclipse occurred just last week and was visible from a thin swath mostly in Earth's southern hemisphere. The featured image was captured from Patagonia, Chile. When the Moon is significantly closer to the Earth and it aligns with the Sun, a total solar eclipse is then visible from parts of the Earth. Annular eclipses are slightly more common than total eclipses, but as the Moon moves slowly away from the Earth, before a billion more years, the Moon's orbit will no longer bring it close enough for a total solar eclipse to be seen from anywhere on Earth.
Tomorrow's picture: galaxy's center
Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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