NASA’s Meir captures solar eclipse from space station

NASA astronaut Jessica Meir photographed the August 12 total solar eclipse from aboard the International Space Station, offering a rare orbital perspective of the Moon's shadow sweeping across Earth's surface. The images, credited to NASA, show a partial solar eclipse as seen from the station's vantage point, with approximately 18% of the Sun covered from the ISS's orbital position.facebook+1

Eclipse From Two Perspectives

While millions on the ground watched the first total solar eclipse to cross mainland Europe since 1999, Meir documented the event from roughly 250 miles above Earth. The ISS, carrying a crew of seven as part of Expedition 75, passed through regions where only a partial eclipse was visible from its orbital track. Separately, NASA photographer Joel Kowsky captured the station itself silhouetted against the partially eclipsed Sun from near Houlton, Maine, assembling twelve frames showing the ISS transiting at roughly five miles per second.friendsofnasa

From space, orbital imagery showed the Moon's umbra — the darkest part of its shadow where observers on the ground experienced totality — as a large circular shadow moving across the planet's surface from the Arctic toward Spain.facebook+1

A Historic Eclipse on the Ground

The total solar eclipse traced a path across northern Russia, Greenland, Iceland, the Atlantic Ocean, northern Spain, and a small corner of Portugal on August 12. Totality lasted up to two minutes and 18 seconds near Iceland. Cities across Spain including Zaragoza, Valencia, and León experienced brief moments of totality, while a partial eclipse was visible across much of Europe, northwest Africa, and the northern United States.wikipedia+2

Rare ISS Eclipse Photography

Photographing a solar eclipse from the ISS requires precise orbital alignment, making such images uncommon. Previous ISS crews have captured the Moon's shadow on Earth during eclipses, but opportunities depend on whether the station's orbit intersects with the eclipse path at the right time. Meir's images from the August 12 event add to a small collection of orbital eclipse photography in the station's 25-year history.facebook+1