Combined Solar Eclipse Corona from Earth and Space
Sometimes, a total eclipse is a good time to eye the Sun.
Taking advantage of an unusual juxtaposition of
Earth, Moon and Sun,
the featured image depicts the total
solar eclipse
that occurred last month as it appeared -- nearly simultaneously --
from both Earth and space.
The innermost image shows the total
eclipse from the ground,
with the central
pupil created by the bright
Sun covered by a comparatively dark Moon.
Surrounding the blocked solar disk is the
tenuous corona of Sun imaged in white light,
easily visible from the ground only during an eclipse.
Normally, this corona is hard to track far from the Sun, but the featured montage matches it to false-colored observations of the Sun from
NASA and
ESA's space-based, Sun-orbiting,
Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO).
Observations
like this
allow the study of the constantly changing
magnetic activity
both near and far from the Sun,
the same activity that ultimately drives
Earth's auroras.