APOD: 2026 August 17 – A Golden Corona Eclipse
APOD Science APOD APOD: 2026 August 17 – A… Today’s APOD Archive Submissions Index Search Calendar RSS Education About Discuss APOD Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. A Golden Corona Eclipse Explanation: This total solar eclipse appeared not only poetically beautiful but scientifically interesting. Usually the solar corona appears white, and to some observers the corona of last week’s total solar eclipse did appear this pearly color . But this time, totality observers in Spain saw a corona that appeared unusually golden. For one reason, from Spain , the totality occurred when the setting Sun was near the horizon. That low, sunlight travels through a large amount of air which scatters out blue light. An unusual amount of smoke in the air from ne...
