Astronomy Picture of the Day

   [1]Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                               2021 January 7
    [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest
                        resolution version available.

                          Total Solar Eclipse 2020
    Image Credit & [3]Copyright: [4]Miloslav Druckmuller, Andreas Moller,
                     ([5]Brno University of Technology),

   Explanation: [6]Along a narrow path crossing southern South America
   through Chile and Argentina, the final New Moon of 2020 moved in front
   of the Sun on December 14 in the year's only [7]total solar eclipse.
   Within about 2 days of perigee, the closest point in its elliptical
   orbit, the New Moon's surface is faintly [8]lit by earthshine in this
   dramatic composite view. [9]The image is a processed composite of 55
   calibrated exposures ranging from 1/640 to 3 seconds. Covering a large
   range in brightness during totality, it reveals the dim lunar surface
   and faint background stars, along with [10]planet-sized prominences at
   the Sun's edge, an enormous [11]coronal mass ejection, and sweeping
   coronal structures normally hidden in the Sun's glare. [12]Look closely
   for an ill-fated sungrazing Kreutz family comet (C/2020 X3 SOHO)
   approaching from the lower left, at about the 7 o'clock position. In
   2021 eclipse chasers will see an annular solar eclipse coming up on
   June 10. They'll have to wait until December 4 for the only total solar
   eclipse in 2021 though. [13]That eclipse will be total along a narrow
   path crossing the southernmost continent of Antarctica.

                     Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
     __________________________________________________________________

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    Authors & editors: [25]Robert Nemiroff ([26]MTU) & [27]Jerry Bonnell
                                 ([28]UMCP)
          NASA Official: Phillip Newman [29]Specific rights apply.
              [30]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
                A service of: [31]ASD at [32]NASA / [33]GSFC
                           & [34]Michigan Tech. U.

References

   1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
   2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2101/Tse_2020_400mm_dmwa-rot.png
   3. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
   4. http://www.zam.fme.vutbr.cz/~druck/Index.htm
   5. http://www.vutbr.cz/en/
   6. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap201229.html
   7. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap201218.html
   8. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap170831.html
   9. http://www.zam.fme.vutbr.cz/~druck/Eclipse/Ecl2020a/Tse2020_400mm_wa/0-info.htm
  10. https://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/what-is-a-solar-prominence
  11. https://solarscience.msfc.nasa.gov/CMEs.shtml
  12. https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2020/recently-discovered-comet-seen-during-2020-total-solar-eclipse-SOHO/
  13. https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEplot/SEplot2001/SE2021Dec04T.GIF
  14. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap210106.html
  15. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
  16. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html
  17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html
  18. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html
  20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss
  21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html
  22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html
  23. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=210107
  24. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap210108.html
  25. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  26. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  27. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  28. http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  29. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  30. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  31. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  32. https://www.nasa.gov/
  33. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  34. http://www.mtu.edu/