Photo credit: Albert Dros
This year’s only total solar eclipse passed over parts of the Pacific Ocean, Chile, and Argentina on Tuesday. The full eclipse was visible on land for more than two minutes, where tourists, locals, and scientists all gathered along its path to observe, take photos, as well as study the sun’s atmosphere. Photographer Albert Dros might take home the award of coolest photo of the eclipse along with his model, Bart Lablans, who was captured holding it at totality. No Photoshop trickery was used to compose the image, just a 100-400mm lens and 1.4x teleconverter. Read more for a few more images from the shoot and additional information.
Scientists view solar eclipses not just for their beauty, but also as an opportunity to study the solar corona, a region of extremely hot gas surrounding the sun. The sun’s corona is millions of times dimmer than the rest of the areas, which in normal conditions, makes it hard to see and study. During totality, the moon blocks the sun and leaves the corona visible. NASA recommends that everyone watching this type of phenomenon in person to use a solar filter like the ones found on special eclipse glasses.
