Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
No shade, but are you ready for the total solar eclipse on August 12? ☀️🌑🌍
In this Goddard Glossary, dive into the difference between umbra and penumbra — two parts of the same shadow you may see as the Moon passes in front of the Sun. Remember: It is only safe to look directly at an eclipse during totality — otherwise, wear eclipse glasses or use another safe viewing method.
Check visibility: science.nasa.gov/eclipses/future-eclipses/total-solar-eclipse-on-august-12-2026/#where
Music: "Snarky" from Universal Production Music
Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/Scientific Visualization Studio
Katy Mersmann (NASA/GSFC): Producer
Miles Hatfield (eMITS): Writer
Lacey Young (eMITS): Project Support
Video description:
0:00 A woman wearing a rainbow NASA shirt talking under the word "umbra" spelled out syllabically.
0:02 The letters "pen" slide in, so the text reads "penumbra."
0:09 Animation of Earth, centered on the United States. A small black circle is moving across the country from left to right. A lighter dark cone stretches out from the circle, reaching toward the Moon, which is in the extreme foreground, casting the shadow.
0:11 The word "umbra" with an arrow pointing to the small black circle.
0:17 The word "penumbra" with an arrow pointing to a lighter shadow covering much of North America.
0:19 The same woman talking.
0:22 Animation of Earth rotating in the center of the screen. The upper half is well lit, while the lower half is in shadow. A red line runs through the center of the image, vertically. The Moon orbits around the planet. As it enters into the sunlit side, the Moon casts a shadow on the surface.
0:28 Animation of a solar eclipse. The dark disk of the Moon moves in front of the bright, glowing Sun, darkening it.
0:31 The eclipse reaches totality, with a thin halo of light around the Moon's dark disk.
0:33 People wearing eclipse glasses looking up at the sky.
0:36 Picture of a partial solar eclipse, where the dark disk of the Moon blocks most of the Sun, leaving a bright crescent, with wispy clouds.
0:38 Another partial solar eclipse. In this one, the crescent Sun looks orange.
0:41 Animation of the Moon between the Sun and Earth, with a representation of the Moon's shadow reaching Earth.
0:44 The animation swings to show Earth's surface, where a thin, curvy red line indicates the path of the Moon's shadow as it moves.
0:51 The Moon swings into the image, with the shadow as a cone, reaching the small dark umbra, and larger, lighter penumbra, projected on Earth's surface.
0:53 The woman talking again.
0:55 August, 12, 2026 appears in text.
0:57 Animated globe tightly zoomed on western Europe and the Atlantic Ocean. A curved red line indicates the path of totality, passing by Iceland, through the ocean, and over Spain.
1:01 Animated map of the eastern United States, where a thin yellow line indicates the extent of eclipse visibility, running through northern Indiana, most of Ohio, West Virginia and northeastern Kentucky.
1:05 The woman talking again.
1:09 She puts on a pair of NASA eclipse glasses.
This video can be freely shared and downloaded at svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14142.
While the video in its entirety can be shared without permission, the music and some individual imagery may have been obtained through permission and may not be excised or remixed in other products. Specific details on such imagery may be found here: svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14142.
For more information on NASA’s media guidelines, visit nasa.gov/multimedia/guidelines.
If you liked this video, subscribe to the NASA Goddard YouTube channel: youtube.com/NASAGoddard
Follow NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
· Instagram instagram.com/nasagoddard
· X twitter.com/NASAGoddard
· Facebook: facebook.com/NASAGoddard
· Flickr flickr.com/photos/gsfc
No shade, but are you ready for the total solar eclipse on August 12? ☀️🌑🌍
In this Goddard Glossary, dive into the difference between umbra and penumbra — two parts of the same shadow you may see as the Moon passes in front of the Sun. Remember: It is only safe to look directly at an eclipse during totality — otherwise, wear eclipse glasses or use another safe viewing method.
Check visibility: science.nasa.gov/eclipses/future-eclipses/total-solar-eclipse-on-august-12-2026/#where
Music: "Snarky" from Universal Production Music
Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/Scientific Visualization Studio
Katy Mersmann (NASA/GSFC): Producer
Miles Hatfield (eMITS): Writer
Lacey Young (eMITS): Project Support
Video description:
0:00 A woman wearing a rainbow NASA shirt talking under the word "umbra" spelled out syllabically.
0:02 The letters "pen" slide in, so the text reads "penumbra."
0:09 Animation of Earth, centered on the United States. A small black circle is moving across the country from left to right. A lighter dark cone stretches out from the circle, reaching toward the Moon, which is in the extreme foreground, casting the shadow.
0:11 The word "umbra" with an arrow pointing to the small black circle.
0:17 The word "penumbra" with an arrow pointing to a lighter shadow covering much of North America.
0:19 The same woman talking.
0:22 Animation of Earth rotating in the center of the screen. The upper half is well lit, while the lower half is in shadow. A red line runs through the center of the image, vertically. The Moon orbits around the planet. As it enters into the sunlit side, the Moon casts a shadow on the surface.
0:28 Animation of a solar eclipse. The dark disk of the Moon moves in front of the bright, glowing Sun, darkening it.
0:31 The eclipse reaches totality, with a thin halo of light around the Moon's dark disk.
0:33 People wearing eclipse glasses looking up at the sky.
0:36 Picture of a partial solar eclipse, where the dark disk of the Moon blocks most of the Sun, leaving a bright crescent, with wispy clouds.
0:38 Another partial solar eclipse. In this one, the crescent Sun looks orange.
0:41 Animation of the Moon between the Sun and Earth, with a representation of the Moon's shadow reaching Earth.
0:44 The animation swings to show Earth's surface, where a thin, curvy red line indicates the path of the Moon's shadow as it moves.
0:51 The Moon swings into the image, with the shadow as a cone, reaching the small dark umbra, and larger, lighter penumbra, projected on Earth's surface.
0:53 The woman talking again.
0:55 August, 12, 2026 appears in text.
0:57 Animated globe tightly zoomed on western Europe and the Atlantic Ocean. A curved red line indicates the path of totality, passing by Iceland, through the ocean, and over Spain.
1:01 Animated map of the eastern United States, where a thin yellow line indicates the extent of eclipse visibility, running through northern Indiana, most of Ohio, West Virginia and northeastern Kentucky.
1:05 The woman talking again.
1:09 She puts on a pair of NASA eclipse glasses.
This video can be freely shared and downloaded at svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14142.
While the video in its entirety can be shared without permission, the music and some individual imagery may have been obtained through permission and may not be excised or remixed in other products. Specific details on such imagery may be found here: svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14142.
For more information on NASA’s media guidelines, visit nasa.gov/multimedia/guidelines.
If you liked this video, subscribe to the NASA Goddard YouTube channel: youtube.com/NASAGoddard
Follow NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
· Instagram instagram.com/nasagoddard
· X twitter.com/NASAGoddard
· Facebook: facebook.com/NASAGoddard
· Flickr flickr.com/photos/gsfc
