A rare solar eclipse on Saturday (April 30) stunned viewers in Antarctica, the southern tip of South America, and the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.
While much of the event took place in remote areas, live cameras on Earth and satellites in space allowed people from around the world to witness up to 64% of the sun being blocked out by the moon. The eclipse occurred during a Black Moon, which is the second new moon in a single month.
Heliophysicist C. Alex Young, associate director of science in the heliophysics science division at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, shared several screenshots from a timeanddate.com live stream, showing a beautiful sun, apparently distorted, with a bite.
The eclipse was broadcast from numerous locations in the viewing area and, as Young said in one of his tweets, there are “additional sunspots” available to look at after an exploding month of our sun. The sun generated several X-class (very strong) flares as it slowly inched towards its peak of solar activity in 2025.
Related: Here’s a step-by-step guide to making your own solar eclipse viewer.
And so it begins! #reclipsepartialsolar visible in parts of southern South America, Antarctica, and the Pacific and Southern Oceans. Screenshots from @timeanddate pic.twitter.com/LxLzesdRTnApril 30, 2022
Partial solar eclipse in Argentina #sunset #moonset #newmoon #blackmoon 🌞 🌑 🌎 Screenshots from @timeanddate pic.twitter.com/OC3GftJafwApril 30, 2022
Partial solar eclipse in Chile #sunset #moonset #newmoon #blackmoon 🌞 🌑 🌎 Screenshots from @timeanddate pic.twitter.com/eGHnPvyQUpApril 30, 2022
🌞 🌑 🌎 #reclipsepartialsolar visible in parts of southern South America, Antarctica, and the Pacific and Southern Oceans. Sunspot Bonus! Screenshots from @timeanddate pic.twitter.com/LLErhYvPCYApril 30, 2022
🌞 🌑 🌎 #partialsolareclipse on April 30, 2022. Eclipse at sunset in Chile, with additional sunspots and sunset with mountains! What a show!! 😎 ☀️🌑⛰️🌅 Screenshots from @timeanddate pic.twitter.com/fDfr0ixNMoApril 30, 2022
The eclipse was also visible from space via a satellite called GOES-16 (GOES-R when it was launched in 2016). The satellite records lightning, severe storms, and solar activity on behalf of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
While NOAA’s Twitter feed was not active over the weekend, the satellite transmitted images via the GOES Image Viewer website, and attentive viewers caught near real-time views of the eclipse from space.
Here is a view of the partial solar eclipse that occurred today in the southern hemisphere via the GOES-16 satellite. pic.twitter.com/ZFSJZY9uE6May 1, 2022
#GOESEast #GOES16 #GRB #SUVI Solar eclipse as seen from the GOES-16 satellite at noon today (EDT). Fe195 wavelength. pic.twitter.com/2r7uLorNOuMay 1, 2022
NASA said at least part of the eclipse was visible “in Chile, Argentina, most of Uruguay, western Paraguay, southwestern Bolivia, southeastern Peru, and a small area of southwestern Brazil.” (That assuming clear skies).
Some well-known cities or regions with views of the eclipse included Buenos Aires (Argentina), the Falkland Islands (UK), Machu Picchu Base (Peru), Montevideo (Uruguay), and Santiago (Chile), according to Unitarium.com. Additionally, at least one cruise ship was active in the eclipsing region via EclipseTours.com.
I spend the eclipse in Buenos Aires with many clouds. Some can see it.#astronomy #astronomia #Eclipse2022 pic.twitter.com/diZ4bnNUxvMay 1, 2022
Solar Eclipse, Santiago de Chile.#Eclipse pic.twitter.com/HcnOkFyBa3May 1, 2022
The next solar eclipse, also partial, will occur on October 25. It will be visible from Europe, northeast Africa, the Middle East and western Asia, according to NASA. There will be no total solar eclipses this year.
Publisher’s note: If you take an amazing photo of a solar eclipse and want to share it with WordsSideKick.com readers, please send your photos, comments, and your name and location to community@livescience.com.
Follow Elizabeth Howell on Twitter @howellspace.