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NASA’s EPIC has captured something rare:

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a solar eclipse.

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Pointing at our planet from nearly one million miles away,

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the Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera, or EPIC, 

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snaps more than a dozen photos every day.

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The high quality images are useful

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for monitoring factors like the planet’s

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vegetation, cloud height, ozone, and wildfire smoke.

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These images, taken by EPIC on June 10, 2021,

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show what Earth looks like from space

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during an annular solar eclipse.

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A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon is positioned between the Sun and Earth. 

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The Moon's shadow is projected onto Earth's surface.

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An annular eclipse takes place when the Moon is near its farthest point from Earth. 

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The Moon appears smaller than the Sun in the sky. 

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As the two align, the Sun appears as a ring of fire

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surrounding the dark disk of the Moon.

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EPIC sits aboard NOAA's Deep Space Climate Observatory satellite, DSCOVR.

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Since its launch in 2015, 

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it has been orbiting a point of gravitational balance between the Sun and Earth

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known as the L1 Lagrange point.

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EPIC’s unique perspective gives us insight into how our planet is changing.

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And during an eclipse, it can make for some photos that are...

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pretty epic.