NASA aircraft captures stunning footage of August 12 total solar eclipse from 50,000 feet; watch

NASA has shared a stunning new video of the total solar eclipse captured on August 12. The footage was taken using a suite of cameras aboard the WB-57 aircraft, which took off from Iceland to study the Sun’s outer atmosphere, called the corona. According to NASA, the plane flew at an altitude of 50,000 feet along the path of totality—the regions where the Moon completely covered the Sun. 

The video captures the eclipse going from partial to total and darkening the sky as the Moon fully blocked the Sun. A zoomed-in view into the Sun shows a prominence (a glowing loop of plasma) emerging from its edge. In a statement, NASA had said that the cameras aboard the plane will take high-resolution images (at least 20 per second) of the corona in several different wavelengths of visible and infrared light. The cameras were part of an instrument developed at NASA’s Langley Research Center to record structures, outflows, and rapid changes in the corona. 

The objective of this observation was to investigate how solar prominences form and how the corona heats to a million degrees. These images may also help scientists understand how the material in the corona and the solar wind are related. The total solar eclipse on August 12 was the first to be observed from mainland Europe since 1999 and the first for Spain since 1905.

Countries like Russia, Iceland, Greenland, Spain and small part of Portugal witnessed the total eclipse, whereas other parts of Europe, the US, Canada, and northwestern Africa saw a partial eclipse. 

When is the next solar eclipse? 

The year 2027 is bringing not one but two solar eclipses. The first is an annular eclipse that will create a ‘ring of fire’ on February 6, whereas a total solar eclipse will occur on August 2. The latter is being called the ‘eclipse of the century,' as the totality will last 6 minutes and 23 seconds. This total solar eclipse—the longest since 1991—will pass across North Africa, and the longest one after this won’t be visible until 2114. Read more about it here. 

As for the annular eclipse, it will pass over southern Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, a small part of Brazil, and the Atlantic Ocean. The Moon will cover about 93 percent of the Sun, and the peak will last for about 7 minutes and 51 seconds. 

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