On August 12,
the Moon's shadow reached out to touch our fair planet.
Beginning in the Arctic Ocean, it swept along a narrow track that
led the dark lunar umbra across parts of
Greenland, Iceland, the Atlantic, Portugal, and
northern Spain.
And for a moment,
denizens of Earth
who found themselves with clear skies under the shadow of the Moon
could witness a total solar eclipse.
After dodging the weather by sea and making a landing along
Rype Fjord on the Greenland east coast
(at 71.07055N, 27.71252W),
this hard-won snapshot was captured at 17:33:26 UTC.
That's near the initial reach of clearing skies along
the path of totality,
so the image is likely one of the first unobstructed views of the
totally eclipsed Sun.
Through a break in the clouds, the stunning photo also
records one of this eclipse's
transient diamond rings
and the
magnificent solar corona
emerging near the moment totality began.