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Discoveries > Sun IV

SOLAR ECLIPSES



Path of totality of the eclipse of August 21, 2017 across North America (maximum at 18h 25m UTC) 
Credit P. Rocher/IMCCE


 

Picture taken during the eclipse of August 1999 showing the solar corona and the protuberances 

Credit : L. Duriez

Observed by mankind since millenia, solar eclipses impress witnesses. When the eclipse is total, the stars become visible and this is the only time where we can observe the solar corona. Today, their prediction is easy and accurate. In August 1999, a total solar eclipse was visible in Europe. As in all eclipses, from only a small strip of territory it was possible to see the total eclipse.
( Click here for more details on this eclipse).

Here , an animation showing a total eclipse: we are at first dazzled by the Sun (the eclipse is not total) and when the Sun is hidden by the Moon, the corona appears bright around the Sun (the animation is accelerated).

Credit : F. Espenak