Total(lit)y awesome! This beautiful image depicts a total solar eclipse that was seen on Monday, August 21, 2017 above Madras, Oregon. The eclipse revealed the Sun’s outer atmosphere, called the corona, which is otherwise too dim to see next to the bright Sun. Sweeping across a narrow portion of the contiguous United States, the total solar eclipse gave scientists a unique opportunity to study the Sun. Swipe to see other stages of the total solar eclipse! The Bailey’s Beads effect is visible in image two, as the Moon makes its final move over the Sun. Bailey’s Beads occur when the rugged lunar geography allows beads of sunlight to shine through in some places but not others. Image three depicts the Diamond Ring effect, which is created when rays of sunlight shine through edge-on lunar valleys creating the fleeting appearance of a single glistening diamond set in a bright ring around the Moon's silhouette. Because Earth’s surface is mostly ocean, most eclipses are visible over land f...