At second contact, the edge of the moon reaches the closest inside edge of the sun. Notice the bright pink prominences at the lower edge. These are places where hot gases are being released in the sun’s atmosphere. The burst of white light comes from a minute sliver at the edge of the sun that hasn’t yet been blocked by the moon.

This image was taken with a 300mm lens in white light.

Photo by Eric Blackhurst, OPT


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