Caption

Projections of the partial solar eclipse, 21st August 2017. Solar eclipses occur when the Moon passes across the Sun as seen from Earth. This eclipse tracked across a narrow portion of the contiguous United States from Lincoln Beach, Oregon, in the north west, to Charleston, South Carolina, in the south east. A partial solar eclipse was visible across the entire North American continent. Solar eclipses usually occur less than once a year, and can only be seen from a small area of the Earth's surface. Photographed at NASA's Johnson Space Centre, Houston, Texas, USA.