- The total solar eclipse was so eventful that you may have missed a few hidden gems.
- While everyone was looking for the diamond ring, other strange phenomena took place.
- Photos show the weird shadows, solar prominences, and views from space you probably missed.
The total solar eclipse that swept the US on Monday was so eventful that you might have missed some gems, even if you were in the path of totality.
Everyone expected to see the diamond ring or the 360-degree sunset, but so much more happened.
Thankfully, this may be one of the most heavily documented solar eclipses ever, so there are plenty of photos.
Here are some Easter eggs you may have missed, especially if you were peeping through clouds.
Solar prominences
Plasma loops often arc outward from the sun's surface, but you can't see them on a regular day. When the moon moved in front of the sun on Monday afternoon, though, it blocked the bright disc of our star.
That made the sun's outer atmosphere visible to the naked eye — that white glow around the moon — along with those solar prominences. In the above image from Cleveland, they're the pink spikes and loops protruding into space.
The sun is nearing the maximum of its 11-year solar cycle, which means it's displaying more activity than usual. That made this total solar eclipse extra special.
Weird shadows
When the shape of the sun's disc in the sky changes as the moon eclipses it, shadows can get weird. That even happens in places that only experience a partial eclipse, like in the above image from Wisconsin.
As the moon's disc creeps across the sun, crescent-shaped shadows can appear on the ground in an ever-repeating mosaic. They're basically a pinhole projection of the eclipse, sometimes created by trees.
Shadows become even more eerie in the path of totality. In a phenomenon called shadow bands, long gray ripples appear and move rapidly along the ground or the sides of buildings just before and after totality. Scientists still aren't sure what causes them.
Space station view
Seeing a solar eclipse is basically being in the moon's shadow. Nothing shows that better than the view from the International Space Station, where you can simply see the round shadow of the moon cast over the Earth.
You can even see the difference between the darkest part of the shadow — the umbra, where totality happens — and the fainter, outer part of the shadow — the penumbra, where people saw a partial solar eclipse.
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