NASA 's Satellite Captured a 'Spooky' Appearance of the Earth Passing By the Sun
EARTH ECLIPSES THE SUN: On Valentine's Day, Feb. 14th, NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory witnessed an eclipse of the sun -- by our very own planet. Earth passed directly between the spacecraft and the solar disk, producing a near-total blackout.
This event marks the beginning of eclipse season for SDO. Twice a year, in the weeks leading up to the equinoxes, Earth can pass directly between the sun and SDO. This is the "spring season." Between now and mid-March, these eclipses will repeat once a day around 07:30 UT.
At the beginning of the season, eclipses are short, only a few minutes long. Their duration increases to 72 minutes, mid-season, before tapering off to minutes again as the season winds down. Because most eclipses are relatively short, there is still plenty of uninterrupted time for SDO to monitor activity on the sun. Researchers estimate a scant 2% data loss averaged over the weeks ahead.
Clips, images credit: NASA/SDO & Helioviewer.org
