Eclipse Shadow on Earth Seen From Space July 2009

A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between the Sun and the Earth. When all 3 astronomical bodies are perfectly aligned, a solar eclipse will occur. This is not a common event. Depending on the distance of the Moon from the Earth, a total or a partial eclipse can occur. In July, the Moon was closer to the Earth and created a total solar eclipse. The photo below shows what the Moon and Sun look like during the eclipse from Earth. The second photo is how the Earth looks from space during this eclipse. The area on Earth that was affected at the time the photo was taken is shown by the dark spot in the top left corner.

This is an excerpt from CosmicLog at msnbc,.com

A total solar eclipse cast a huge shadow on Earth Wednesday, captured by a Japanese satellite.

Shown here covering Taiwan on July 21, 2009 at 9:30 a.m. local time at nearly the height of the eclipse, the shadow covered some locations as long as six minutes, making it the longest solar eclipse of the century. The next one this impressive will not occur until 2132.

This image combines data from the MTSAT stationary satellite of the daytime portion of the globe with previous data from NASA of the nighttime portion.

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