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A satellite 1 million miles from Earth recorded the total solar eclipse and the video is epic

Sean Kane   

A satellite 1 million miles from Earth recorded the total solar eclipse and the video is epic

march 2016 total solar eclipse space satellite

NASA's Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) captured these amazing images of the moon's shadow crossing the western Pacific during Wednesday's total solar eclipse.

The GIF above was compiled from 13 images taken by the Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC) and Cassegrain telescope aboard the satellite.

DSCOVR is parked in space a million miles away, positioned between the Earth and the Sun to get a constant, sunlit view of our planet.

The satellite normally takes a shot every 108 minutes, but for the March 8-9 eclipse, the EPIC team snapped one every 20 minutes, capturing the entire four-hour-and-20-minute eclipse in 13 images.

NASA also uses the DSCOVR satellite to monitor how much solar energy is emitted off of the Earth into space. In the coming weeks, scientists will analyze this data, collected by the National Institute of Standards and Technology Advanced Radiometer (NISTAR) aboard the satellite.

Until then, we'll be watching this over and over and over again.

NOW WATCH: Watch stunning footage of last night's solar eclipse

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