It’s an event that many of us will never see in our lifetime, but one lucky photographer has snapped a total solar eclipse - twice.
Photographer Thierry Legault took the incredible photo of last month’s total solar eclipse over the La Cuesta Del Viento lake in San Juan.
The photographer timed his shot perfectly, revealing the total solar eclipse both in the sky and reflected in the lake.
NASA has now featured the incredible photo as its Astronomy Picture of the Day.
NASA explained: “The day before totality, he visited a lake called La Cuesta Del Viento (The Slope of the Wind) and, despite its name, found so little wind that the lake looked like a mirror. Perfect.
“Returning the day of the eclipse, though, there was a strong breeze churning up the water - enough to ruin the eclipse reflection shot. Despair. But wait! Strangely, about an hour before totality, the wind died down.
“This calmness may have been related to the eclipse itself, because eclipsed ground heats the air less and reduces the amount rising warm air - which can dampen and even change the wind direction.
“The eclipse came, his tripod and camera were ready, and so was the lake.”
A total solar eclipse occurs when the moon moves between the sun and Earth, blocking the light from reaching our planet.
However, these events are only visible from a very small area of Earth, at the centre of the moon’s shadow when it hits Earth.
For example, the recent total solar eclipse that Mr Legault photographed, was only visible in a small area of South America.
The next total solar eclipse is will take place on 14 December 2020, although again, this will only be visible from South America.
