The full shadow of the moon can be seen as it passes between the Earth and the sun, during the total solar eclipse that occurred on March 8th 2016. The picture was taken from an aircraft flying over the northern Pacific Ocean. A total solar eclipse occurs somewhere on Earth about every 18 months. It will vary in duration and intensity according to where it is viewed from but lasts about 7 minutes. The area where the shadow is most intense is called the umbra. This is surrounded by the area of partial eclipse, the penumbra. Credit: Dan McGlaun/AP #eclipse #totaleclipse #sun #moon #space

A photo posted by The Economist (@theeconomist) on Mar 9, 2016 at 7:05am PST