Artemis 2 astronauts saw a rare solar eclipse beyond the moon

NASA released a timelapse showing Artemis 2 astronauts observing a total solar eclipse from beyond the moon during their April 6 far-side flyby, with totality lasting about 53 minutes and the solar corona visible.

NASA released a timelapse showing a total solar eclipse observed from deep space during the Artemis 2 mission. The crew aboard the Orion spacecraft watched the moon fully obscure the sun as Orion flew around the far side of the moon on April 6. The video compresses nearly an hour of totality into a short sequence and was recorded by Orion's solar array wing cameras. The observation occurred while the spacecraft passed behind the moon and experienced a temporary communications blackout. Observed details: - The lunar disk gradually covered the sun until only the solar corona remained visible as a bright halo. - Totality lasted about 53 minutes because the mission's trajectory provided an extended observing window compared with typical Earth eclipses. - The footage shows changes in brightness and structure within the corona and made faint coronal features easier to see. - Observing beyond Earth's atmosphere gave higher contrast and revealed background stars, planets and faint illumination of the lunar surface (earthshine). - NASA noted science teams are investigating whether the halo effect is due to the corona, zodiacal light, or a combination of the two. Summary: The timelapse documents how a deep-space vantage point and a longer period of totality can reveal coronal structure and faint background phenomena that are harder to see from Earth. The Artemis 2 crew is returning to Earth and is expected to splash down today off the coast of San Diego.