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Satellite Captures Eclipse Passing Over Africa

November 4, 2013
Image of a eclipse and the earth.

On November 3, 2013 a hybrid eclipse moved quickly from west to east over the Atlantic, passing over Africa around 13:25 UTC. At the same time, the Suomi NPP satellite orbited over the area, capturing this image of the lunar umbra. The umbra appears as a somewhat circular shadow centered over the Gulf of Guinea and extending into Western Africa. Three orbits of the Suomi NPP satellite are shown here, each around 97 minutes apart. No signs of the eclipse are visible, in the preceding and following orbits.