We normally observe solar eclipses from our perspective here on the surface — or even from an aeroplane — but this image from NASA’s Deep Space Climate Observatory shows this week’s total solar eclipse from a rather unique vantage point.
This animation of the March 9 total solar eclipse was assembled from 13 images captured by NASA’s Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC) on the DSCOVR satellite. All individual images in the series can be downloaded here (zip).
Looking at these images, you can see how the eclipse made its way from the Indian Ocean to the north of Australia, and then across the open waters and islands of Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. You can see how the shadow moves in the same direction as the Earth rotates.
All images: DSCOVR EPIC team/NASA. Animation by Joshua Stevens.