www
A partial solar eclipse, like this one, will be visible from parts of Earth Wednesday and Thursday. Oddly, it will start on Thursday and end Wednesday (learn why).
Unlike eclipses of the Moon, which can be visible from all parts of Earth that are on the night side during the event, eclipses of the Sun cast a narrow shadow on the planet and are only visible from a thin swath of the surface.
This view was taken on June 10, 2002, from the Kitt Peak National Observatory during a partial solar eclipse, in which the Moon gets between the Sun and Earth. (A lunar eclipse occurs when Earth casts its shadow on the Moon. There will be one of these -- visible from most of North America and Europe -- on Oct. 27.)
This week's solar eclipse, which occurs on Wednesday or Thursday depending on which side of the International Date Line one lives on, will be seen from parts of Asia, Alaska and Hawaii, weather permitting. Full Story
-- SPACE.com Staff
Credit: Matt Wood and Randall Perrine/Adam Block/NOAO/AURA/NSF
Return each weekday for a new SPACE.com Image of the Day.
| 
