A Green Flash and Partial Solar Eclipse over Hawaii's Maunakea Volcano
This lucky shot of the rising Sun from Maunakea combines several natural light effects, rendering our closest star almost unrecognizable. This photo was taken near Gemini North, one half of the International Gemini Observatory, supported in part by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) and operated by NSF NOIRLab.
The Sun usually looks spherical, but during a partial solar eclipse on October 2, 2024, the Moon’s shadow appears to take a bite out of our nearest star. While this sight is already strange, the Sun’s low position on the horizon distorts its appearance further. When the Sun is low on the horizon, light must travel through more atmosphere than when the Sun is directly above. Thanks to an effect called atmospheric refraction, the extra matter that the light travels through ‘squashes’ the Sun and, in this photo, the Moon’s shadow. Also in this image is a rare effect of atmospheric refraction known as a green rim, or green flash. In this image, the green rim is on the underside of the ‘bite’ of the Moon. Atmospheric refraction can separate white sunlight into its constituent wavelengths, and under the right conditions, the green color is visible. Sometimes it can be visible for a handful of seconds, just as the top of the Sun disappears below the horizon. The darker vertical spots and a portion of the horizontal spots on the Sun are sunspots distorted by the atmosphere.
Release Date: Feb. 18, 2026
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