On 2 October 2024 an annular solar eclipse crossed the Pacific and parts of South America. NASA’s path data and a GOES satellite view reveal two perspectives on the same event.
Explore all six stories from 2 October.
The geometry of a ring
On 2 October 2024, the Moon crossed in front of the Sun as seen from Earth. For observers within a narrow path, it did not cover the entire solar disk. Sunlight remained visible around its edge, producing an annular eclipse. Elsewhere across a broader region, observers saw a partial eclipse. The difference was not a change in what the Sun or Moon did; it depended on the observer’s position relative to the Moon’s shadow.
Where the shadow went
NASA mapped annularity across parts of the Pacific and South America. Its account identifies the antumbra as the central shadow region in which the Moon’s silhouette is surrounded by a ring of sunlight. Beyond it lay the penumbra, where the eclipse was partial. This geometry explains why a place separated by a relatively short distance could experience a very different view, and why a global statement such as “the eclipse was visible” needs a location attached.
A view from above
The image on this page is a GOES-16 satellite view dated 2 October 2024. NOAA and the Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere identify the dark moving region over the Pacific and southern South America as the Moon’s shadow. It is not a photograph of the bright ring as a person on the ground would have seen it. That contrast makes the image useful: the same alignment can be described as a changing sky locally and as a moving shadow on a planetary scale.
What annular does not mean
The Sun is not completely blocked in an annular eclipse. Even at maximum annularity, its bright photosphere remains visible. NASA’s safety guidance therefore says that looking directly at the Sun without proper solar viewing protection is unsafe throughout an annular event. Ordinary sunglasses are not a substitute. This differs from the short totality phase of a total eclipse, when the solar disk is fully covered in a specific location. The 2 October event should not be confused with the separate total eclipse of April 2024.
Why a date can be predicted precisely
An eclipse is a repeatable consequence of orbital motion, but the exact local path depends on the geometry of the Sun, Moon and Earth and on the observer’s coordinates. NASA’s dated path map gives the event a testable historical record. The GOES imagery then documents the shadow’s actual passage. Together they show the relationship between advance calculation and observation, a central theme in the history of science. Read also our history of NASA’s first operational day.
Sources and method
NASA dates and explains the eclipse path. GOES-16 imagery documents the shadow; its caption does not claim to show the ring seen from the ground.
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