The moon made the ultimate photobomb this week when it moved past the sun and blocked the blazing surface with a dark silhouette under the gaze of a satellite.
The GOES solar observation satellite and its SUVI (Solar Ultraviolet Imager) instrument captured the cosmic spectacle while observing the sun’s hot outer atmosphere, or corona.
The photobomb was a solar eclipse that was only visible from space and lasted for several hours.
The satellite observes solar emissions that act as harbingers of solar flares, which can cause power outages on Earth, and captured a filament erupting at the northwest limb near the pole once the moon disappeared .
“Still, we might see isolated periods of geomagnetic storm at the G1 (minor) level due to the influence of high-velocity solar wind from a coronal hole,” EarthSky reports.
The moon has moved past the sun, blocking the blazing surface with a dark silhouette during an eclipse visible only in space
The moon cast a silhouette between 10:30 a.m. and 12:00 p.m. UTC on November 23.
An image of the moon blocking out part of the sun was shared on Twitter, where one user said, “Looks like the moon is taking a bite out of the sun.”
Observations of solar emissions aid in the early detection of solar flares, coronal mass ejections (CMEs), and other phenomena that impact the geospatial environment.
The early warning given when SUVI observes a solar flare comes at least 15 hours before the associated CME arrives on Earth.
The GOES sun observation satellite and its SUVI (Solar Ultraviolet Imager) instrument observe the hot outer atmosphere or corona of the sun.
The moon seemed to come out of nowhere. An image of the moon blocking out part of the sun was shared on Twitter, where one user said: “The moon seems to be taking a bite out of the sun”
CMEs are large expulsions of plasma and magnetic fields from the solar corona.
They can eject billions of tons of coronal material and carry an embedded magnetic field (frozen in flux) stronger than the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) strength of the solar background wind.
Although this eclipse was not seen on Earth, those in the United States witnessed a stunning cosmic display of a reddish-hued moon hanging in the dark sky on November 8.
Known as a blood moon, it occurs when Earth’s shadow covers the moon and blocks the reflection of all direct sunlight, causing the moon’s color to fade to a coppery red .
Maximum totality – the eclipse phase where the moon is entirely in Earth’s shadow – occurred around 5:00 a.m. ET.
The large red moon was seen over New York, Washington DC, Virginia and other parts of the United States until it returned to its silver color about two hours later.
Satellite observes solar emissions that act as warning signs of solar flares, which can cause power outages on Earth, but solar activity captured during photobombing is believed to be low
Although this eclipse was not seen on Earth, those in the United States witnessed a stunning cosmic display of a reddish-hued moon hanging in the dark sky on November 8.
Tuesday’s event marks the second blood moon this year, following one in mid-May, and the next isn’t expected until March 14, 2025.
The eclipse was also visible across East Asia, Australia, the Pacific, South America and all of North America.
Skywatchers in Asia and Australia saw it with their evening moonrise.
At the same time, the spectacle unfolded for observers in other parts of North America in the early morning hours before the moon set.
And it was visible to the naked eye wherever the sky was clear in those regions.
The entire eclipse spanned nearly six hours as the moon gradually weaved its way into Earth’s paler outer shadow, its “penumbra”, and then entered Earth’s darker inner shadow, or “shadow”, before reaching totality and finally emerging on the other side.
NASA said the moon was 242,740 miles from Earth during this lunar event which lasted about 90 minutes.
#Video #captures #moon #bombarding #sun