What does it feel like to see a total solar eclipse from the moon? We have all imagined before, will there be a corona? Will there be Bailey beads? A total lunar eclipse will be staged on the Earth on March 14, 2025. The visible range is mainly North and South America, the Eastern Pacific and other places. At the same time, a rare total solar eclipse came to Guanghan Palace 400,000 kilometers away from the earth.
Coincidentally, the lunar lander Blue Ghost developed by Firefly Aerospace, an American commercial aerospace company, is operating on the moon, and its camera can be pointed at the sun. Therefore, it seized this opportunity to present us with this rare "extraterrestrial phenomenon".
The photo shows a beautiful "ring" that looks like the Bailey's Bead of total solar eclipse seen on Earth. Why do you say "very similar"? Because there are still slight differences in principle.
A total solar eclipse seen from the ground is caused by the moon blocking the sun. The apparent discrepancies between the moon and the sun don't seem to be that big of a difference. When the sun happens to be completely blocked (during an eclipse, the sun's apparent circle is inscribed with the moon's apparent circle), the sun's light shines out from the undulating mountains on the moon's surface, and a very dazzling spot appears on the left side of the sun. Astronomer Bailey was the first to explain this phenomenon, so it is called Bailey's Bead. More importantly, there is no atmosphere on the moon, so as the moon continues to move to the left, many Bailey's beads will appear and disappear quickly. Conversely, when the moon exits the sun's apparent circle (generates light), a bright string of Bailey's beads will appear to the right of the sun.
So what are the differences between a total solar eclipse seen from the moon? This is a "big diamond ring"! The "ring" is thin and round, the "diamond" is large and bright, the outline is blurred, and the "diamond" has no obvious movement. This is because the apparent diameter of the earth is much larger than that of the sun, and the earth has an atmosphere. Therefore, Bailey's beads appear larger mainly due to the blessing of atmospheric scattering. Halos are formed for the same reason.
What’s more interesting is that due to atmospheric refraction, when a total lunar eclipse occurs, the moon we see is brick red, so if we were on the moon, we would see red satin covering the lunar land.
At 1:11 a.m. Eastern Time on January 15, 2025, the SpaceX "Falcon 9" rocket launched the "Blue Ghost" into space. Four days later, it landed in Mare Crisis near the edge of the front side of the moon, starting a 45-day journey to the moon. Because it is located in the east of the moon, the total solar eclipse on the moon is close to sunset for the "Blue Ghost", and the lower sun altitude also provides convenience for it to take pictures.
(Source: FireflyAerospace)