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NASA’s Solar Observatory Sees Two Eclipses in One Day

NASA’s Solar Observatory Sees Two Eclipses in One Day

NASA’s SDO recorded two eclipses on July 25, 2025—one by the Moon and one by Earth.

Written by Gadgets 360 Staff | Updated: 29 July 2025 21:18 IST

NASA’s Solar Observatory Sees Two Eclipses in One Day

Photo Credit: Courtesy of NASA/SDO and the AIA, EVE, and HMI science teams

Moon crosses the sun on July 25, 2025, captured by SDO

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Highlights

SDO witnessed both Moon and Earth eclipse the Sun on July 25, 2025
Lunar transit covered 62% of the Sun’s disk during peak moment
Earth’s eclipse showed soft edges due to atmospheric scattering

NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) has witnessed and recorded an unprecedented phenomenon of two solar eclipses in one day on July 25, 2025. These two eclipses took place only hours apart that day, and were photographed by SDO instruments pointed up and away from the Sun in geosynchronous orbit. First, around 2:45 UTC, the Moon passed between SDO and the Sun. Then, starting at about 6:30 UTC, Earth itself eclipsed the Sun from SDO's point of view, with the Sun disappearing behind our planet shortly before 8:00 UTC. Since launching in 2010, SDO has continuously monitored the Sun's activity, from solar flares to magnetic fields, helping forecasters predict space weather.

Moon Transit

According to NASA, SDO orbits Earth in a high geosynchronous orbit, so it has an almost constant view of the Sun. On July 25, this vantage point captured a partial solar eclipse as the Moon passed between the spacecraft and the Sun. NASA's mission team had predicted this “lunar transit” would cover about 62% of the solar disk. Indeed, the Moon's silhouette moved slowly across the Sun (around 2:45–3:35 UTC), blocking roughly two-thirds of the bright disk at maximum. The observatory's ultraviolet telescope (AIA) recorded the event, revealing the Sun's lower atmosphere and coronal loops around the sharply defined lunar edge. This transit was the deepest lunar eclipse SDO saw in 2025.

Earth's Eclipse from Space

Hours later, on the same day, Earth itself passed between SDO and the Sun. Beginning around 6:30 UTC on July 25, our planet fully blocked the observatory's view of the solar disk. This occurred during SDO's regular eclipse season (a roughly three-week period twice each year when Earth's orbit crosses the satellite's line of sight). The total eclipse lasted until shortly before 8:00 UTC. In SDO's images, Earth's shadow has a fuzzy edge because our atmosphere scatters sunlight, in contrast to the Moon's crisp eclipse.

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Further reading: NASA, Solar Eclipse, SDO, Space Weather, Solar Observations, Lunar Transit, Earth Eclipse, Solar Dynamics Observatory, Astronomy, Space Science