THE SHADOW OF THE MOON

Yesterday, Earth-orbiting satellites watched a dark spot race across the southern hemisphere. It was the shadow of the Moon:

This is what a solar eclipse looks like from space. When the New Moon passes in front of the sun, a Moon-shaped shadow lances out and touches the face of Earth. In this case, it made landfall in southern Chile and Argentina.

Inside the shadow, onlookers witnessed a total eclipse. The black disk of the Moon completely covered the sun, revealing the sun's ghostly corona.

Just one problem: As the satellite images show, the path of totality was almost completely overcast. Many observers had to squint through gaps in clouds to see the eclipse--hence this picture from Neuquen, Argentina:

"We got about 1.5 minutes of totality," says photographer Andreas Moeller. "My photo shows second contact with Baily's Beads, solar prominences, and shadow bands in the clouds." Not bad for a rainy day...