The moon made the best photobomb this week when it moved in front of the sun and blocked out the blazing surface with a dark silhouette while watching a satellite.
The GOES sun-observing satellite and its SUVI (Solar Ultraviolet Imager) instrument captured the space show while observing the sun’s hot outer atmosphere, or corona.
The photobomb was a solar eclipse that was only visible from space and lasted several hours.
The satellite monitors solar emissions, which act as warning signs of solar flares that can cause blackouts on Earth, and captured a filament erupting at the northwest end near the pole after the moon disappeared.
“However, we may see isolated periods of G1 (minor) geomagnetic storm due to the influence of the high-speed solar wind from the coronal hole,” reports EarthSky.
The moon moved in front of the sun, blocking the blazing surface with a dark silhouette during an eclipse visible only in space
The moon silhouetted between 10:30 AM and 12:00 PM UTC on November 23.
An image of the moon blocking part of the sun was shared on Twitter, where one user said: “The moon looks like it’s taking a bite out of the sun.”
Observations of solar emission help in the early detection of solar flares, coronal mass ejections (CMEs), and other phenomena that affect the geospace environment.
The early warning given when SUVI observes a solar flare comes at least 15 hours before the associated CME arrives at Earth.
The GOES solar observation satellite and its SUVI (Solar Ultraviolet Imager) instrument observe the sun’s hot outer atmosphere, or corona.
The moon seemed to appear out of nowhere. An image of the moon blocking part of the sun was shared on Twitter, where one user said: “The moon looks like it’s taking a bite out of the sun.”
CMEs are large ejections of plasma and magnetic fields from the solar corona.
They can eject billions of tons of coronal material and carry an embedded magnetic field (frozen in flow) stronger than the strength of the background interplanetary magnetic field of the solar wind (IMF).
While this eclipse was not seen on Earth, those in the US witnessed a stunning cosmic image of a reddish-hued moon hanging in the dark sky on November 8.
Known as a blood moon, it occurs when the Earth’s shadow covers the moon and blocks the reflection of all direct sunlight – this causes the color of the moon to darken and turn a coppery red.
The peak total eclipse—the stage of eclipse when the moon is entirely in Earth’s shadow—occurred around 5:00 a.m. ET.
The big red moon was seen over New York, Washington, Virginia and other parts of the US until it returned to its silvery color about two hours later.
The satellite monitors solar emissions that act as warning signs of solar flares that could cause blackouts on Earth, but the solar activity captured during the photobomb is considered low
Although this eclipse was not seen on Earth, those in the US witnessed a stunning cosmic image of a reddish-hued moon hanging in the dark sky on November 8
Tuesday’s event marks the second blood moon this year, following one in mid-May, and the next one isn’t expected until March 14, 2025.
The eclipse was also visible in East Asia, Australia, the Pacific Ocean, South America and all of North America.
Sky watchers in Asia and Australia saw it with the evening moonrise.
At the same time, the spectacle played out for observers in other parts of North America in the early morning hours before the moon set.
And it was visible to the naked eye wherever the sky was clear in those regions.
The total eclipse unfolds over nearly six hours as the moon gradually emerges into Earth’s paler outer shadow, its “penumbra,” then enters Earth’s darker inner shadow, or “umbrella,” before reaching wholeness and eventually come out the other side.
NASA said the moon was 242,740 miles from Earth during this lunar event, which lasted about 90 minutes.
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