The Artemis 2 astronauts saw a rare solar eclipse from beyond the moon. Here's what it looked like

阿耳忒弥斯2号宇航员从月球外看到了罕见的日食。这是它的样子

A newly released NASA timelapse offers a rare look at a solar eclipse observed from deep space during the Artemis 2 mission, when astronauts aboard the Orion spacecraft watched the moon fully obscure the sun during their far-side lunar flyby.

美国国家航空航天局（NASA）最新发布的一段延时摄影，罕见地呈现了阿尔忒弥斯 2 号任务期间从深空观测到的日食景象：当时 “猎户座” 飞船上的宇航员在月球背面飞掠时，目睹月球完全遮挡住太阳。

The video compresses nearly an hour of totality into a short sequence, showing the precise alignment of the sun, moon and spacecraft, as the Artemis 2 crew flew around the far side of the moon on April 6.

该视频将近一个小时的全食压缩成一个简短的序列，显示了4月6日阿耳忒弥斯2号机组人员绕月球背面飞行时，太阳、月亮和航天器的精确对齐。

"As the sun disappears behind the moon, it reveals a glowing halo around the lunar disk," NASA officials said in a post on Instagram, sharing the new timelapse video. "Science team members are investigating whether this effect is due to the corona, zodiacal light or a combination of the two."

美国国家航空航天局在社交平台 Instagram 发布这段全新延时影像并配文称：“当太阳隐入月球后方，月球盘面周边便显现出一圈耀眼光晕。科研团队正研究这一现象究竟源于日冕、黄道光，或是二者共同作用所致。”

As Orion moved behind the moon, the lunar disk gradually covered the sun until only the solar corona — the sun's outer atmosphere — remained visible as a bright halo. The timelapse highlights changes in brightness and structure within the corona, which become easier to observe when the sun's photosphere is completely blocked.

当猎户座飞船运行至月球后方时，月面逐渐遮蔽太阳，最终仅剩太阳外层大气日冕化作明亮光晕显露在外。这段延时影像清晰展现出日冕亮度与形态的变化，在太阳光球层被完全遮挡后，这类观测也变得更为容易。

Unlike solar eclipses viewed from Earth, which typically last only a few minutes, the geometry of Artemis 2's trajectory allowed for an extended period of totality lasting about 53 minutes. This longer duration provided sustained observing conditions for both the crew and onboard instruments, enabling clearer visibility of faint coronal features and background stars. The footage was captured using Orion's solar array wing cameras, showing the progression of the eclipse as seen from the capsule, according to the statement released on Instagram.

从地球上观测的日食通常仅持续数分钟，而依托阿尔忒弥斯 2 号飞船的飞行轨道几何角度，此次深空日全食时长达到约 53 分钟。更长的观测时长为航天员与机载探测设备创造了稳定持久的观测环境，得以更清晰捕捉到日冕细微结构与背景恒星。NASA 在社交平台发文表示，这段影像由猎户座飞船太阳能帆板搭载相机拍摄，完整记录了载人舱视角下日食发生的全过程。

Because the observation occurred beyond Earth's atmosphere, the view was not affected by atmospheric scattering or distortion, offering higher contrast and sharper detail. As totality progressed, the reduction in scattered sunlight revealed additional phenomena, including stars and planets in the background sky and faint illumination of the lunar surface from sunlight reflected off Earth, also known as earthshine.

此次观测在地球大气层外完成，画面不受大气散射与光线畸变影响，对比度更高、细节成像更为清晰。随着日全食持续推进，散射日光逐渐减弱，诸多天文景象随之显现，其中包括天幕中的恒星与行星，以及经由地球反射阳光形成、柔和照亮月表的地照光。

The eclipse took place as Orion passed behind the moon, a phase of the mission that also involved a temporary communications blackout with Earth. During this time, the spacecraft entered the moon's shadow, creating ideal conditions for observing the sun's corona over an extended period.

日食发生在猎户座经过月球后面时，这是任务的一个阶段，也涉及到与地球的暂时通信中断。在此期间，航天器进入了月球的阴影，为长时间观测日冕创造了理想的条件。

For the Artemis 2 crew — which includes commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover and mission specialists Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen — the event provided a direct view of solar and lunar alignment from a vantage point rarely experienced by humans. While astronauts during the Apollo program also observed solar eclipses near the moon, those events were typically shorter because the spacecraft were in lunar orbit and moved quickly through the moon's shadow, whereas Artemis 2 follows a trajectory that allows for a longer observing window.

阿尔忒弥斯 2 号乘组包括指令长里德・怀斯曼、飞行员维克托・格洛夫，以及任务专家克里斯蒂娜・科赫与杰里米・汉森。此次观测让他们得以从人类极少抵达的绝佳视角，亲眼见证日月连成一线的天文景象。阿波罗计划时期的宇航员虽也曾在月球附近观测过日食，但彼时飞船处于月球轨道，穿行月影速度快，观测时长普遍较短；而阿尔忒弥斯 2 号的飞行轨道，大幅延长了此次观测窗口期。

NASA's timelapse documents the solar eclipse from deep space, capturing the sun's corona during totality and highlighting how missions beyond low Earth orbit can provide observational opportunities for otherwise short-lived events. Now, as the mission comes to a close, the Artemis 2 crew is heading back to Earth and is expected to splash down today (April 10) off the coast of San Diego.

美国国家航空航天局发布的这段深空日食延时影像，记录下日全食阶段的太阳日冕，也印证了近地轨道以外的太空任务，能够为这类转瞬即逝的天文现象创造难得的观测契机。目前本次任务已步入尾声，阿尔忒弥斯 2 号乘组正启程返航，预计于 4 月 10 日在圣地亚哥近海海域溅落返航。