Diamond within the Sky

When the shadow of the Moon raced across planet Earth’s southern hemisphere on December 14, sky watchers along the shadow’s darkish central course were treated to the finest total solar eclipse of 2020. All by the Unique Moon’s shadow play this glistening diamond ring was viewed for a moment, even in cloudy skies. Identified because the diamond ring give up, the transient spectacle if truth be told occurs twice. Accurate ahead of and straight after totality, a thin sliver of solar disk visible within the encourage of the Moon’s edge creates the appears to be like of a fascinating jewel space in a darkish ring. This dramatic snapshot from the course of totality in northern Patagonia, Argentina captures this eclipse’s 2nd diamond ring, along with inserting solar prominences lofted beyond the fringe of the Moon’s silhoutte.