Space.com

'EPIC' Solar Eclipse View Captured from 1 Million Miles Away (Video)

News
By published

It's one "EPIC" eclipse view: NASA's Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera, aka EPIC, recorded the moon's shadow crossing the United States yesterday (Aug. 21) from 1 million miles (1.6 million kilometers) away.

This eclipse was extra-special for the United States, as millions of viewers watched totality cross the nation coast to coast for the first time since 1918. But DSCOVR is always viewing Earth's sunlit side, so it frequently gets the chance to watch the moon's shadow cross Earth during total and annular solar eclipses.

NASA's EPIC camera on NOAA's DSCOVR satellite snapped this vivid view of the total solar eclipse crossing Earth on Aug. 21, 2017. (Image credit: NASA EPIC Team)

DSCOVR sits at Lagrange Point 1, a gravitationally stable spot between Earth and the sun where spacecraft can more or less "park." The satellite launched in 2015, and its photos allow researchers to track clouds and weather systems' movement across the surface, as well as changes in deserts, forests and seas. 

DSCOVR also monitors the levels of ozone and aerosols in Earth's atmosphere; vegetation; and how much ultraviolet light Earth reflects, NASA officials have said. On the sun side, DSCOVR monitors the stream of charged particles flowing away from the sun, called the solar wind.

Email Sarah Lewin at slewin@space.com or follow her @SarahExplains. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.

Sarah Lewin
Space.com Staff Writer