A Double Eclipse of the Sun
Image Credit & Copyright:
Thierry Legault
Can the Sun be eclipsed twice at the same time?
Last Friday was noteworthy because part of the Earth was treated to a rare
total eclipse of the Sun.
But also on Friday, from a
part of the Earth
that only saw part of the Sun eclipsed, a second object
appeared simultaneously in front of the Sun: the Earth-orbiting
International Space Station.
Although
space station
eclipses are very quick -- in this case only 0.6 seconds, they are
not so rare.
Capturing this composite image took a lot of planning and a little luck,
as the photographer had to dodge a series of third objects that kept,
annoyingly, also lining up in front of the Sun:
clouds.
The above superposed time-lapse sequence was taken from
Fregenal de la Sierra in southern
Spain.
The dark disk of the Moon dominates the lower right, while the
Sun's textured surface shows several
filaments and, over an edge, a
prominence.