Last month I had the privilege of watching the North American total solar eclipse with some current and former Planet employees from my family’s home in Payette Idaho; which happened to be right in the path of totality.

The Moon's shadow travels over Grand Teton National Park</font size= "-1">While short, the animation proves fascinating. As the Dove orbited over Wyoming and Idaho, it snapped one image a second over a 100-second window. The capture window begins as with the Grand Tetons were already shrouded into darkness and shows the shadow moving off into the distance. You won’t find off nadir imagery like this in Planet Explorer Beta as our standard imagery is captured by satellites pointing straight down; but every once in awhile, it’s fun to run these experiments and show off the more unique views that satellites up in space provide us. The next total solar eclipse will cross the Pacific in July, 2019—and the next North American total eclipse won’t happen until April, 2024. No matter where and when it is, our satellites will snap some imagery of it, so stay tuned!