Satellites viewed the moon's shadow from space on Monday (April 8).
The 2024 total solar eclipse was visible in parts of the United States, Canada and Mexico that day, dazzling millions of onlookers across North America — and from space, satellites were able to see the moon's shadow falling across those areas in real time.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) displayed the resulting images, captured using the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) series. For example, the imager on the GOES-16 satellite tracked the moon's shadow using its advanced primary imager.
SpaceX's Starlink satellites also watched the show from over North America, in between their regular jobs of beaming broadband to remote areas.
Related: Will the total solar eclipse of 2024 be visible from space?
NOAA's GOES-16 weather satellite in geostationary orbit tracked the moon's shadow from a wider view, showing the entire globe.
Meanwhile, the NOAA-20 weather satellite was able to show the difference between the eclipsed portion of North America and how it normally looks during a non-eclipse period, from its own position in Earth's orbit.
Astronauts on Expedition 71 aboard the International Space Station (ISS) captured the shadow racing across our planet as well, with the Moon completely blocking the Sun from Earth's perspective.
The equipment on board the ISS right now is also better than what was available on the station during its last opportunity to capture a North American eclipse in 2017, Michael Barrett, a NASA astronaut with Crew-8, said previously.
More satellites will join this group in the coming years. NOAA's GOES-U spacecraft will fly by on June 25, if schedules continue, to examine the sun's corona, or outer atmosphere. NOAA's Space Weather Observatory Program (SWFO-L1) is also expected to launch in 2025 to fly within 1 million miles of Earth and examine space weather, also known as the impact of solar activity on our planet.
If you're looking to observe future solar eclipses on Earth, we've got you covered. Our guide on how to safely observe the sun tells you what you need to know to look at the sun. We've also got a guide to solar eclipse glasses, and how to photograph the sun safely if you want to exercise before the big day.
Send your story photos! If you captured a photo of the April 8 total solar eclipse or any of these strange effects and want to share it with Space.com readers, send photos, videos, comments, your name and location, and permission to use the content to [email protected].
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