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Birthday · April 14, 2024

How a Total Solar Eclipse Ended

April 14, 2024

You were born on a tiny world orbiting an ordinary star in an unremarkable galaxy — and yet, the fact that you exist at all is the most...

How a Total Solar Eclipse Ended

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APOD published April 14, 2024 · Video still. Credit: David Duarte. A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.

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How a Total Solar Eclipse Ended

Original APOD · April 14, 2024

How does a total solar eclipse end? Yes, the Moon moves out from fully blocking the Sun, but in the first few seconds of transition, interesting things appear. The first is called a diamond ring. Light might stream between mountains or through relative lowlands around the Moon's edge, as seen from your location, making this sudden first light, when combined with the corona that surrounds the Moon, look like a diamond ring. Within seconds other light streams appear that are called, collectively, Bailey's beads. In the featured video, it may seem that the pink triangular prominence on the Sun is somehow related to where the Sun begins to reappear, but it is not. Observers from other locations saw Bailey's beads emerge from different places around the Moon, away from the iconic triangular solar prominence visible to all. The video was captured with specialized equipment from New Boston, Texas, USA on April 8, 2024. Solar Eclipse Imagery: Notable Submissions to APOD

Image credit: David Duarte

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