Humans photograph 'ring of fire' from deep space satellite 1 million miles from Earth

Over the weekend, millions of people around the world looked upward for the annular solar eclipse - a cosmological phenomenon that occurs when the moon lines up perfectly between the Sun and Earth.

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In some locations around the world people were able to catch the "ring of fire" phenomenon, an effect that takes place when the moon covers the entire middle section of the Sun, blotting out the majority of the light it emits and only leaving visible a yellow/orange outer ring. While this perspective of the event would truly be incredible, another unique perspective has been captured from 1 million miles away by the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR).

This satellite lies 1 million miles from Earth and from its position, offers an interesting perspective of the solar eclipse, perhaps one that not many people have seen before. From the above image, you can see the area of the planet that is currently being covered the shadow of the moon. The region of the planet covered in this black patch is seeing the solar eclipse event take place, and it will move further southward over the course of the day.

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"Ring of fire" solar eclipse

Images such as this offer a unique perspective of how a solar eclipse occurs and why different locations of the planet see the event at different times.

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