December 4, 2021

Today the Moon reached new moon around 2 am. When the Moon passed between Earth and the Sun today it was in syzygy. When three or more astronomical bodies are in alignment, a syzygy occurs. If those objects are the Sun, Moon and Earth, you get an eclipse. As this occurred at new moon, it was a solar eclipse. To have seen this total solar eclipse, you would have had to be in Antarctica or on a ship.

During a solar eclipse, the Moon shadow passes over Earth’s surface. The shadow seen in this image is that cast by the Moon on August 21, 2017, captured by the DSCOVER satellite. Image credit: NASA – Goddard