Last week, Artemis 2 astronauts witnessed a total solar eclipse from space as the Orion spacecraft spent nearly an hour in the moon’s shadow. But you don’t have to travel beyond the moon to see a truly private solar eclipse, as a remote team from France and Italy’s Concordia Institute recently experienced.
Concordia Research Station is Antarctica’s most remote research station, located 750 miles (1,207 kilometers) inland and 10,600 feet (3,230 meters) above sea level. The small crew stationed there endures average winter temperatures of minus 58 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 50 degrees Celsius) and four months without seeing the sun rise over the horizon. This region is also one of the driest regions on Earth and is part of Antarctica’s vast polar desert.
On February 17, 2026, the Concordia team witnessed something that has probably never been seen anywhere else on Earth. annular solar eclipse.
An annular solar eclipse, often referred to as a “ring of fire” solar eclipse, occurs when: month pass in front of solar A point in orbit that looks a little small in the sky. Rather than completely blocking the sun, the moon leaves a visible ring of bright sunlight around its edge.
Unlike a total solar eclipse, which reveals a glimmer of the sun’s outer atmosphere, an annular solar eclipse is still a type of partial solar eclipse and requires proper eye protection to view safely.
During the February 17 event, a circular path of ring fire effects crossed Antarctica. It passed through only two inhabited places: Concordia Research Base and Mirny Base, a Russian base.
But clouds hid the view of Mirny.
Therefore, only a small group on Concordia witnessed this complete annular solar eclipse on Earth. I spoke to one of them, Andrea Traverso, about the experience.
Mr. Traverso will arrive at Concordia in November 2025 and will remain there until November 2026. He oversees scientific experiments and monitoring systems throughout the station, including geomagnetic, seismological, and meteorological research, as well as studies of the interaction of the upper atmosphere with the solar wind.
This will be the third “winter stay” at the base, following previous stays in 2019 and 2020.
When asked where he observed the eclipse from, Traverso explained the layout of the station. It’s two cylindrical towers with windows facing multiple directions.
During the event, he positioned himself in a “window that coincided perfectly with the eclipse”, offering “many possibilities from a photographic point of view”.
Escaped from the extreme cold, he began taking photos with the windows open to avoid the reflections on the glass.
The results were amazing.
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Traverso captured a striking image of the annular solar eclipse, which was subsequently shared widely. european space agency.
However, it was not until after the event that its full significance became apparent.
Traverso contacted other Antarctic bases and asked about weather conditions. Many people, including Mirny, were cloudy.
No one else saw it.
It was that he “noticed the peculiarity of my observations.”
In a Facebook post translated from Italian, Traverso wrote:
“Last night’s solar eclipse was photographed by me and can only be seen in this form from the Italian-French Joint Base Concordia in Antarctica. amazing white woman It was just me and 11 of my friends, giving me a spectacle to enjoy live. ”
Surprisingly, the team had not prepared for the event in advance.
“I didn’t know in advance about the eclipse and the possibility of observing it from Concordia,” Traverso said.
To photograph an annular solar eclipse, you will need a solar filter, similar to eclipse glasses, to safely reduce the sun’s brightness. However, nothing was prepared specifically for this event.
Instead, Traverso improvised.
He found a sheet of Mylar film stored at its base. This was once used for solar observation, and used cardboard and glue to make improvised filters for camera lenses.
“This solution has proven to be effective,” Traverso said.
It’s hard to argue otherwise, considering his image remains the only known photo of a solar eclipse from Earth.
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