July 6, 2019
In the grand ledger of cosmic time, a human life is breathtakingly brief. But brevity is not insignificance.
8 Minute and 30 Second Eclipse
Birthday · July 6, 2019
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APOD published July 6, 2019. Credit: Bob Minor. A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.
The total phase of the July 2nd solar eclipse lasted about 4 minutes and 30 seconds at the point of maximum eclipse. On the surface of planet Earth, that was about 600 nautical miles north of Easter Island in the Southern Pacific Ocean. But from 41,000 feet above, on a charter flight intercepting the Moon's shadow, the Moon could be seen to completely block the Sun for about 8 minutes and 30 seconds. With a tailwind at the mid-eclipse intercept point, the plane was traveling around 488 nautical miles per hour chasing along the Moon's shadow track. From above the clouds this wide-field image of the totally eclipsed Sun and shimmering solar corona over the wing records the spectacular view from a window seat on the sunward side of the aircraft.
Image credit: Bob Minor