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In some Indigenous traditions in North America, people run toward solar eclipses, chasing away the Sun's attackers; others stay inside and avoid the event.
native americans

Indigenous Solar Eclipse Stories From Across Turtle Island

From rodents of unusual size to flaming arrows, communities across North America share solar eclipse traditions.
Roxanne Hoorn March 14, 2024
An 1851 diagram of eclipses and the theory of the tides.
maps

Eclipse Maps Entered a Golden Age Thanks to Edmond Halley

In the 18th century, the English astronomer created a new appreciation for these celestial events.
Sarah Laskow March 11, 2024
In Norse mythology, the wolves Sköll and Hati were hungry for the Sun and Moon.
mythology

Behold Rahu, the Beheaded Asura, and Other Eclipse Monsters of Yore

From cosmic serpents to demon warriors, these creatures have been blamed for messing with the Sun and Moon.
Robert Lamb March 11, 2024
Seagulls fly above a beach in Kuwait City during the 2019 partial solar eclipse event.
animals

Animal Behavior During a Total Solar Eclipse Is Wild

The 2017 eclipse across North America generated some surprising data.
Jessica Leigh Hester March 11, 2024
An eclipse from almost space.
airplanes

This Eclipse Video Changed Air Travel History

Shot from a plane and narrated by a giddy astronomer, the footage made airborne eclipse-chasing a thing.
Eric Grundhauser March 11, 2024
A still from the film, which captured an eclipse in North Carolina in the year 1900.
astronomy

The Earliest Film of an Eclipse, Recently Rediscovered, Is Pure Magic

Nevil Maskelyne, Jr., made history in 1900 with footage that still astonishes experts.
Sabrina Imbler March 11, 2024
A copy of a 15th-century chart, attributed to Regiomontanus, to plot the movement of the Moon using a string attached to the chart's center.
astronomy

How One of Science's Biggest Errors Persisted for 1,500 Years

Ptolemy's compendium, later known as the Almagest, dominated Western astronomy for 15 centuries. It was also wrong, and it took the fall of an empire to fix it.
Rebecca Boyle February 28, 2024
An annular eclipse over the northern Chinese city of Jinan in 2010.
astronomy

During an Annular Eclipse, Look to the Shadows

While some people in the Western Hemisphere will witness a "ring of fire" during the eclipse, many more will experience the phenomenon of crescent sunlight.
Rebecca Boyle October 11, 2023
The sun sets over West Bali National Park, ushering in the first of three twilights that herald night the world over.
sailors

Why Are There Three Twilights?

And we’re not talking about vampire books.
Gemma Tarlach July 5, 2023
We asked readers to share their best stories about the night sky—quite a few included magical tales of seeing the northern lights.
meteorites

9 Summer Night Sky Stories From Our Readers to Warm the Heart

From seeing the northern lights aboard a Navy ship in Norway to braving the cold for a glimpse of a blood moon.
Sarah Durn June 28, 2023
The Milky Way and curtain-like auroras fill a clear southern sky off Nugget Point, at the edge of New Zealand’s remote Catlins. While the island nation is too far north to see the aurora australis regularly, aurora-hunters flock to the Nugget Point lighthouse area for its dark skies and unobstructed view off the South Island’s southeastern coast.
science

Aurora Hunters Capture the Wonder of the Northern (and Southern) Lights

A curated collection of images shows why this natural phenomenon has fascinated and inspired humans for millennia.
Gemma Tarlach December 21, 2022
Physics of the Sun
Changikhisarak, Uzbekistan

Physics of the Sun

More than 10,000 small mirrors cover the curved surface of the world's second-largest solar oven, located in a remote village in Uzbekistan.
Zaragoza, Spain

Reloj Solar Multicaja-Zaragoza

The world's largest sundial can cast a shadow more than 1,600 feet long.
All illustrations: John Mata for Atlas Obscura
japan

Puzzle Monday: Charting a Path Between Day and Night

AO Puzzles August 15, 2022
Richard B. Dunn Solar Telescope
Sunspot, New Mexico

Sunspot Solar Observatory

High in the Sacramento Mountains, a facility dedicated to studying the sun.
Big Sur, California

Keyhole Arch at Pfeiffer Beach

Centuries of crashing waves carved out this small hole in the rock, which lights up at certain parts of the year.
The corona is most visible during a total solar eclipse, like this one, captured on August 21, 2017.
telescopes

How Do You Do Color Commentary for an Eclipse?

Live from space, it’s a grand celestial phenomenon!
Jessica Leigh Hester July 2, 2019
Researchers testing for wind in the lab.
insects

When the Sun Is High, Dung Beetles Navigate With the Wind

There's more than one way to get from point A to point B while rolling a ball of dung.
Evan Nicole Brown June 25, 2019