NASA astronaut captures the striking shadow of the ISS ‘ring of fire’ solar eclipse


The large shadow is from the moon during Sunday’s annular solar eclipse.

NASA / Chris Cassidy

A few lucky places in the world on Sunday witnessed a annular solar eclipse of “ring of fire” that hid most of the sun. Astronauts on the International Space Station were treated with a very different vision of the event.

NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy on Sunday shared a collection of wild photos showing the shadow of the moon darkening Earth below.

“A super cool view of the Annular Solar Eclipse, which passed our starboard side when we flew over China this morning,” wrote Cassidy. She took the opportunity to also wish all the parents of the world a happy Father’s Day.

Eclipse viewers on Earth saw a partial or total annular eclipse. Since the moon was too far from Earth to completely hide the sun, it created a “ring of fire” effect. From the ISS point of view, the eclipse appeared as a large shadow cast by the moon.

We have one more solar eclipse that we expect this year on December 14 for parts of South America. For more information on capturing lunar and solar eclipses, check out our CNET guide.


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