A Sunflower’s View of Totality

On August twelfth, skywatchers in northern Spain witnessed a total solar eclipse, with the path of totality passing through San Millán de los Caballeros. For roughly two minutes, NASA Science reports, the Moon blocked the Sun, revealing the Sun's glowing outer atmosphere—the corona—and dramatic loops of plasma called solar prominences. The timing was tight: sunset was approaching, and totality lasted only until eight thirty p.m. local time. NASA science teams chased the eclipse from a high-altitude jet and launched scientific balloons to measure how Earth's atmosphere changed when the Sun was blocked. The next total solar eclipse will occur on August second, twenty twenty-seven, with the path of totality crossing southern Spain, North Africa, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen.

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