The first scientifically useful photograph of a total solar eclipse was taken in Königsberg, Prussia, on July 28, 1851, using a silver-coated copper plate with a light-sensitive chemical layer.

Just as directly observing a solar eclipse without protective glasses can cause permanent eye damage, photographing an eclipse requires a specialized filter to prevent damaging your camera.

View historical records of solar observations and discoveries, from telescopes in the early 1600s revealing sunspots to NASA's Parker Solar Probe photographing the sun from within its outer corona in 2025.

Solar eclipses are a cosmic coincidence because the moon is 400 times smaller than the sun but about 400 times closer to Earth, allowing it to block sunlight for those on Earth within its shadow.

Visualize the path of every solar eclipse from 1900 to 2099 and see what each looks like when observed from different locations on Earth.

In 2025, the European Space Agency created the first artificial solar eclipse in space when one spacecraft cast a shadow onto another spacecraft to enable observations of the sun's outermost atmosphere.

According to the Greek historian Herodotus, the first person to successfully predict a solar eclipse was the Greek philosopher Thales of Miletus in 585 BCE, with the resulting celestial event ending a half-decade-long war.

A solar eclipse viewer can be made from everyday objects, such as a cereal box, aluminum foil, tape, and paper, to safely view the cosmic event.

Because the half of Earth that faces the sun is larger than the area of the shadow cast by the moon during a solar eclipse, observers may experience a total, annular, or partial eclipse.

View photographs of solar eclipses on Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn caused by the moons of these planets blocking sunlight.

Scientists validated Albert Einstein's theory of gravity by measuring the apparent positions of stars via their starlight as it traveled near the sun on its way to Earth during a total solar eclipse.

In 1676, Danish astronomer Ole Rømer determined that light did not travel instantaneously by observing a delay in the appearance of solar eclipses on Jupiter when it was farther from Earth.

Solar eclipses block the sun enough to enable scientists to observe its faint outer atmosphere, or corona, whose spectrum led to the discovery of helium over a decade before it was identified on Earth.

Some maps may incorrectly identify the boundaries of a solar eclipse's totality because they assume the Earth is a smooth surface.

Eclipse glasses protect the eyes from overexposure to the sun's ultraviolet, blue, and infrared light, as a person's instinct to look away from the sun is diminished when it's partly blocked.

Because the retina lacks pain receptors, during a solar eclipse, those watching without protective eyewear may suffer from permanent damage without realizing it.

View media of the sun's south pole, taken for the first time in 2025

Captured in March 2025 by the Solar Orbiter—a satellite developed by ESA and NASA—the images and video are the first to be taken by an object not moving around the sun's equator. The orbiter moved outside the plane of the planets by using Venus to slingshot it into a tilted orbit, and the data it collected will help scientists better understand the sun's magnetic activity.

A composite of telescope images of the sun, which each reveal unique solar features

While traditional cameras can reveal sunspots—cooler regions on the sun's surface—in visible light, x-ray detectors can highlight explosions of high-energy plasma and magnetic fields known as coronal mass ejections. Hydrogen-alpha filters can reveal clouds and filaments of material suspended in magnetic fields above the sun's surface.

First-ever image of the sun's south pole

For the first time, we have clear images of the sun's mysterious south pole. Captured in March 2025, by ESA and NASA's Solar Orbiter, this footage reveals magnetic chaos that could unlock answers about solar storms, the sun's strange 11-year cycle, and why its atmosphere is hotter than its surface.

The strongest recorded geomagnetic storm in history created auroras near the equator

On Sept. 1, 1859, the Carrington Event—named after the astronomer who observed the preceding solar flare—saw a massive coronal mass ejection strike Earth, disrupting telegraph systems, sparking electrical fires, and reportedly illuminating the night sky enough to allow newspapers to be read at night.

The first rooftop solar panels were installed in 1883

In 1883, New York inventor Charles Fritts created the first solar cell by coating selenium with a thin layer of gold. The cell achieved energy conversion rates of 1 to 2% compared to the 15 to 20% of modern photovoltaics.

Over thousands of years, the frequency of solar eclipses is greatest around the Arctic and Antarctic Circles and lowest near the equator.

Research shows that during total solar eclipses, some animals change their behavior to match their nighttime activities.

Electric grids that rely on solar power must compensate for reduced electricity generation during solar eclipses.

Some of the oldest photographs in the world

Scholar and artist Joseph-Philibert Girault de Prangey ventured around the Mediterranean with some of the earliest photographic equipment in tow. He captured hundreds of images during his tour of Rome, Venice, Cairo, and more, in what would become...

The first image of a black hole was captured by creating an Earth-sized virtual observatory from a network of eight radio telescopes.

Global eclipse tourism is a multibillion-dollar industry, with the 2024 total solar eclipse across North America estimated to have generated $6B in economic activity across regions along its path.

Could the world's largest solar storm happen again?

In 1859, the world witnessed the most intense solar storm in recorded history. The electromagnetic deluge of dust and gas lit up the night sky and sparked fires, disrupting Earth's magnetic field and putting on a show for the millions. If a storm with a similar intensity today occurred, scientists believe it would be catastrophic for our communications systems. Learn what would happen if the Carrington Event happened again here.

Photography was invented by a romantic artist

The invention of photography changed the landscape of art forever. The first photographs were created by Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre, a romantic era printmaker, by using light and chemistry to expand upon images produced by the earlier camera obscura.

View a colorful gallery of solar features, including coronal loops and filamentary prominences, curated by the National Solar Observatory.

By identifying patterns in the periodic movements of the sun, moon, and Earth, ancient civilizations realized that identical eclipses repeat about once every 6,585 days, known as the saros cycle.

Blood moons only occur during total lunar eclipses, when the Earth blocks the sun, but its atmosphere lets redder parts of sunlight through to reflect off the lunar surface.

Learn about the sun's corona, which is nonlethal despite a temperature of millions of degrees

The outermost layer of the sun's atmosphere is best seen during a solar eclipse, when the moon blocks the much brighter (and significantly cooler) solar surface. Despite the high-energy particles in the corona moving fast enough to escape the sun's gravity and gradually become solar wind, their density is too low to contribute meaningfully to the region's overall radiation.

Just before and just after a total solar eclipse, sunlight can pass through uneven terrain on the lunar surface, producing disconnected bits of light around the moon called Baily's beads.

The selfie camera exists thanks to Einstein's discovery of the photoelectric effect

Smartphone cameras utilize sensors such as CMOS or CCD to capture light by converting it into electrical signals through the photoelectric effect. Einstein explained this effect by demonstrating that light behaves as both particles and waves simultaneously, a discovery that earned him the Nobel Prize in physics.

Radioactivity was accidentally discovered when uranium left marks on photographic plates

In 1896, Henri Becquerel had been exploring phosphorescence—the emission of light of one color after an object is exposed to another color. He expected these emissions to come from objects exposed to sunlight, but he observed emissions after an overcast day.

Every eclipse is preceded or followed by another eclipse, separated by about two weeks and alternating between solar and lunar types.

While solar eclipses were considered ominous throughout history, multiple cultures explained the celestial event as the result of mythical creatures nearly consuming the sun.

The first practical silicon solar cell was developed at Bell Labs

In 1953, scientists at Bell Labs attempted to develop a power source for phone systems in remote locations, as the dry battery cells lacked the necessary longevity. They experimented with solar power, but the selenium solar cells of the time were too inefficient, eventually leading to the usage of silicon.

Galileo’s discovery of Jupiter’s moons led to multiple scientific advancements

Beyond challenging Earth-centric views upon their discovery in 1610, the Galilean moons were also later analyzed to contribute to early astrometry and astronomical interferometry. Measurements of eclipses were also used to estimate the speed of light.

More than 2,000 years ago, a hand-powered model of the solar system called the Antikythera mechanism—the oldest example of an analog computer—could predict solar eclipses.

Enough sunlight hits Earth in just 90 minutes to power the planet for an entire year

Despite this, in 2023, only 5.1% of electricity in the US came from solar energy. Solar panel technology has nonetheless made significant advancements since the 19th century, largely due to NASA's efforts in the space race.

The world's first digital camera was invented in 1975 and took 23 seconds to capture a 0.01 megapixel, black-and-white photo.

Nearly 50 years before the first observational evidence, a soldier fighting on the Eastern Front in World War I found a mathematical solution to Einstein's equations that suggested the existence of black holes.

While the sun, moon, and stars rise and set from east to west due to Earth's rotation, the moon's eastward revolution around the Earth causes its shadow to move from west to east during a solar eclipse.

In the third century BCE, the Greek astronomer Aristarchus of Samos estimated the distance to the moon using geometry after measuring the length of Earth's shadow during a lunar eclipse.

Four astronomical discoveries from ancient Greece

Modern astronomy relies on making discoveries without being present on the planets, stars, galaxies, and other objects studied. Imagine the difficulty the ancient Greeks had studying them without computers and telescopes. Yet somehow they calculated precise measurements of planetary distances, sizes, and more. Read this page to learn more about early triumphs in astronomical science.

See a lunar eclipse share the night sky with the Milky Way

Photos taken at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile in March 2025 captured a blood moon and the Milky Way galaxy within the same field of view. The moon appears red from the bluer parts of its reflected sunlight being scattered by Earth's atmosphere.

The majority of exoplanets—planets outside the solar system—have been discovered through mini-eclipses created when they pass in front of their host star and block some of its light from reaching Earth.

Although the moon passes between the sun and Earth each month, its orbit is tilted by five degrees, preventing Earth from experiencing a solar eclipse each month.

East Asian records of auroras may date back to 10,000 BCE

Ancient texts from Japan, Babylon, and China contain accounts of auroras dating back millennia. Because auroral activity and intensity are driven by periodic ebbs and flows in solar activity, these records allow scientists to identify patterns that may help anticipate particularly dangerous future solar storms.