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.

February 27, 1998

Solar Eclipse: A Composite View
Credit: J. Pasachoff (Williams College), J. Gurman (NASA/GSFC), SOHO-EIT Consortium

Explanation: Yesterday, the Moon's shadow reached out and touched the Earth, treating a large portion of the Western Hemisphere to an Eclipse of the Sun. This composite image combines pictures of the Sun made from both Earth and space. The central direct image of the solar surface was recorded yesterday by the Extreme Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope on board the space based SOHO observatory. It is surrounded by a telescopic picture of the Sun as seen from the island of Aruba during the total eclipse. The surrounding view of the eclipsed Sun reveals the shimmering solar corona, visible to ground based observers during totality. Such combined images can help connect explosive events and features on the Sun's surface with the corona and solar wind.

Tomorrow's picture: Eagle's Eggs


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Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (USRA)
NASA Technical Rep.: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA/ GSFC
&: Michigan Tech. U.