Incredible image shows what 2026’s first solar eclipse looked like from space

A satellite captured a recent “ring of fire” eclipse from a stunning new angle

By Jackie Flynn Mogensen edited by Claire Cameron

The sun's ring, shown in high resolution, peeks from behind a dark circle — The "ring of fire" solar eclipse on February 17

ESA/Royal Observatory of Belgium

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Just days ago the moon traveled directly between Earth and the sun in what was the first solar eclipse of the year, producing a striking “ring of fire” effect in the sky. Unluckily for many sky-gazers, however, only those in Antarctica, or just off the coast of it, would have seen the full eclipse on February 17.

But now new images from the European Space Agency (ESA) reveal the solar eclipse in all its plasmatic glory thanks to ESA’s PROBA-2 satellite. PROBA-2 is a small satellite that hosts two primary instruments designed to observe the sun and other instruments to study space weather. As the craft orbited our planet, the satellite imaged the eclipse at least four times and captured a “perfect” ring of fire, according to the agency.

Also known as an annular eclipse, the ring of fire effect is created because the moon appears slightly smaller than the sun in the sky. Although the moon passes directly in between Earth and our star during this kind of eclipse, it isn’t close enough to totally block out the sun’s light, leaving a glowing halo.

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A video of the moon (a dark circle) appearing to pass over the sun four times at varying coverages — Images from four of PROBA-2's passes over the eclipse zone
ESA/Royal Observatory of Belgium

From the prime viewing spot of Concordia Station in Antarctica, the ring was reportedly visible for about two minutes.

The next eclipse of 2026 is a total lunar eclipse beginning on March 3 UTC. Then Earth will cast a shadow on the moon, imbuing it with a red hue. Known as a “blood moon,” the eclipse will be at least partially, if not totally, visible to viewers in Asia, Australia, the Pacific Islands and the Americas.

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