Get the world’s most fascinating discoveries delivered straight to your inbox.
You are now subscribed
Your newsletter sign-up was successful
Want to add more newsletters?
Join the club
Get full access to premium articles, exclusive features and a growing list of member rewards.
An account already exists for this email address, please log in.
Totality! See incredible photos of the Aug. 12 total solar eclipse from across Europe
From Baily's Beads, a bright-pink prominence to awe-struck eclipse-watchers from across the European continent, check out these stunning images from yesterday's total solar eclipse.
Captured Wednesday (Aug. 12) by NASA scientists during a special eclipse livestream from Spain, the images show the moon completely blocking the visible surface of the sun, plunging the daytime sky into twilight for roughly 90 seconds and allowing our star's elusive corona (its wispy outer atmosphere) to shine through.
In this incredible image taken with a solar-filtered telescope, the moon appears as a black circle, cloaking the sun. The white spikes of light encircling the moon are the corona, a mysterious part of the sun that is rarely visible to the naked eye. (Why is it so mysterious? For one thing, the corona is millions of degrees hotter than the sun's surface, and scientists aren't sure why.)
On the left side of the image, a bright-pink blob shoots off of the solar surface. This is not a solar flare, but a prominence — a towering structure of plasma held in place above the sun by powerful magnetic fields. Prominences often measure many times taller than Earth is wide, making them clearly visible from 93 million miles (150 million kilometers) away.
Another image, taken just before totality, shows "Baily's Beads" shining in the small gap between the sun and the moon. This effect occurs when the last vestiges of sunlight shine through the uneven mountains on the moon, creating a bright and bumpy spectacle.
Moments before and after totality, a "diamond ring" effect occurs when the last bits of sunlight shine through the uneven mountains on the edge of the moon. These bead-like structures, seen on the left of the image, are known as Baily's Beads.
(Image credit: NASA)
Yesterday's eclipse followed a narrow path of totality — the path of the moon's dark inner shadow cast on Earth — from near the North Pole to Greenland, western Iceland and northern Spain. Viewers outside the path of totality were treated to a partial eclipse of up to 90% coverage in Europe and a much humbler 10% to 25% coverage in the northeastern U.S. and Canada.
A view of the partial phase of the eclipse over Spain, courtesy of timeanddate.com and NASA's livestream.
(Image credit: NASA / timeanddate)
Here's how you guys watched the eclipse around the world:
Sign up for the Live Science daily newsletter now
Get the world’s most fascinating discoveries delivered straight to your inbox.
A crowd watches the partial solar eclipse along the banks of the Garonne River in Toulouse, France, as the moon covers nearly 98% of the sun.
(Image credit: Pat Batard / Hans Lucas via AFP / Getty)
A composite photo showing different stages of the total solar eclipse as the sun passed across the sky over the Mediterranean Sea in Port de Soller, Mallorca, Spain.
(Image credit: Gongora/NurPhoto/Getty Images)
Hundreds of people gather to view the solar eclipse at the Debod Temple in Madrid, Spain.
(Image credit: David Canales/NurPhoto/Getty Images)
The partial solar eclipse seen from Aras de los Olmos, Spain.
(Image credit: Alex Juarez/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Crowds gather to watch the partial solar eclipse beside the historic St. Michael's Church tower at the top of Glastonbury Tor in the UK.
(Image credit: Matt Cardy/Getty Images)
People react as they observe the total solar eclipse from the sea port of Tarragona, northeastern Spain.
(Image credit: Josep LAGO / AFP/Getty Images)
The sun's corona peeps through, forming a luminous halo around the Moon's silhouette as it completely obscures the Sun's bright disk in Madrid, Spain.
(Image credit: Marcos del Mazo/LightRocket/Getty Images)
View of the total solar eclipse at the Yebes Observatory in Yebes, Guadalajara, Castilla-La Mancha, Spain.
(Image credit: Alberto Ortega/Europa Press via Getty Images)
The total solar eclipse darkens the skies over northeastern Spain, with Corbera d'Ebre, in Tarragona, Spain.
The sky show will keep going tonight as the Perseid meteor shower continues to grace our skies after peaking yesterday. The skies will still be especially dark after last night's new moon, so you'll be able to see these shooting stars in all their splendor. More eclipses are also on the way, with the first coming in just two weeks.
As is always the case, today's solar eclipse will be paired with a lunar eclipse. Two weeks from now, on Aug. 27-28, a deep partial lunar eclipse will be visible across most of North and South America starting around midnight EDT. Almost completely engulfed in Earth's shadow, the moon will take on a faint reddish hue.
Then, next year, the longest total solar eclipse of the century will be visible from southern Spain and northern Africa. Mark your calendars for Aug. 2, 2027. This is one solar spectacle you won't want to miss.
Brandon is the space / physics editor at Live Science. With more than 20 years of editorial experience, his writing has appeared in The Washington Post, Reader's Digest, CBS.com, the Richard Dawkins Foundation website and other outlets. He holds a bachelor's degree in creative writing from the University of Arizona, with minors in journalism and media arts. His interests include black holes, asteroids and comets, and the search for extraterrestrial life.
You must confirm your public display name before commenting
Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.
