November 20, 2024

Australian Total Solar Eclipse Captured in Stunning Image

This total solar eclipse image was caught from Exmouth, Australia, on April 20, 2023. Credit: Mantarays Ningaloo, Australia/MIT-NASA Eclipse Expedition
This composite image of an overall solar eclipse was captured on April 20, 2023 from Exmouth, Australia, a small coastal town in Western Australia understood for its stunning beaches, diverse marine life, and distance to the Ningaloo Reef.
An overall solar eclipse takes place when the Moon passes directly in front of the Sun, blocking the bright solar disk and revealing the Suns external environment, or corona, which looks like white banners extending far from the Sun. The pinkish, peak-like function seen in the lower left part of the corona in this image is a solar prominence– a towering structure of solar product suspended above the Sun by electromagnetic fields.
The next total solar eclipse will cross Mexico, the United States, and Canada on April 8, 2024.

By Vanessa Thomas, NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center
April 22, 2023