Solar eclipse: satellite captures moon’s shadow passing over earth

Satellites captured incredible video of the moon’s shadow passing over the Earth’s surface during yesterday’s partial solar eclipse.

This phenomenon occurs when the Moon blocks part of the Sun’s surface as it moves between our planet and a star.

Shadow views are available from a unique vantage point 22,000 miles (36,000 km) above our planet thanks to three Meteosat satellites.

These satellites are in “geostationary orbit” where their periods of revolution are equal to the period of the Earth’s rotation, so they practically remain in the same place relative to us.

They are equipped with cameras that provide weather forecasting data to the European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (Eumetsat).

However, they can also provide an exclusive view of a rare solar or partial solar eclipse.

“You can see the shadow of the moon move from left to right, eventually merging into the darkness of the sunset,” Simon Proud, a space scientist at RAL Space and NERC’s National Earth Observation Center in the UK, tweeted.

Satellites captured incredible video of the Moon's shadow passing over the Earth's surface during yesterday's partial solar eclipse.

Satellites captured incredible video of the Moon’s shadow passing over the Earth’s surface during yesterday’s partial solar eclipse.

METEOSAT SATELLITES

The Meteosat series satellites are geostationary meteorological satellites operated by Eumetsat.

They make images using visible light and infrared radiation reflected from the Earth’s surface to provide early detection of severe weather, weather forecasting and climate monitoring.

Meteosat-9 is based over the Indian Ocean, while Meteosat-10 and -11 are based over Africa.

The 27-day orbit of the Moon around the Earth is tilted compared to the Earth’s orbit around the Sun, so the three bodies don’t line up this way every month.

When this happens, the silhouette of our natural satellite blocks view part or all of the bright surface of the Sun during a so-called partial solar eclipse.

It happened yesterday morning with 15 per cent of the sun blocked out for most of the UK, with a partial solar eclipse reaching its maximum around 11:13 am BST.

Three Meteosat satellites are in geostationary orbit over Europe, Africa and the Indian Ocean.

They make images using visible light and infrared radiation reflected from the Earth’s surface to provide early detection of severe weather, weather forecasting and climate monitoring.

Proud has shared for the first time a black and white clip of a faint shadow passing over the top of Europa. Twitter the picture was taken by the Meteosat satellite on October 25th.

He said: “Look at the top of the video, especially on the right: do you see the dark area moving? It’s a shadow!

He later provided more videos in particular, from the Meteosat-9 satellite, which is located over the Indian Ocean.

The final clip was posted on the official Twitter account US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) satellites, and in color.

This was done by the Meteosat-11 satellite, which is based over Africa but also provides images of Europe.

The agency tweeted, “In this #GeoColor image, you can see the moon’s shadow travel across the North Atlantic and Europe before ending over Asia.”

This was the last solar eclipse of the year, however the last lunar eclipse of 2022 is due on November 8th and cannot be seen from the UK.

The next partial eclipse visible from the UK will occur on March 29, 2025, when up to 47 percent of the Sun will be covered by the Moon.

This will be followed by another on August 12, 2026, when up to 90 percent of the sun will be closed in the UK.

The UK won’t see a total solar eclipse, when the Sun’s disk is completely covered by the Moon, until September 23, 2090.

The Meteosat series satellites (pictured) are geostationary meteorological satellites operated by Eumetsat. Meteosat-9 is based over the Indian Ocean, while Meteosat-10 and -11 are based over Africa.

A bird flies in front of the sun during yesterday's partial solar eclipse in Bucharest, Romania.

A bird flies in front of the sun during yesterday’s partial solar eclipse in Bucharest, Romania.

WHEN WILL THE NEXT TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSE BE?

A total solar eclipse occurs when the Sun, Moon, and Earth are directly in line with each other, and the solar side is completely covered.

People who see a total eclipse are at the center of the moon’s shadow as it falls to Earth. The sky becomes very dark, as if it were night.

The next U.S. solar eclipse will occur on April 8, 2024, from Texas to Maine.

The next total solar eclipse after this will occur on August 12, 2026 and can be observed from the Arctic, Greenland, Iceland, Spain and northeastern Portugal.

On September 2, 2035, China, northern Japan and Korea will witness a total solar eclipse.

Between 2023 and 2038, the largest number of total solar eclipses will occur in Australia.

Five solar eclipses will be visible from the continent between April 20, 2023 and December 26, 2038.

The next total solar eclipse visible from the UK will not occur until 2093.