Earth observation
A weather satellite catches the eclipse shadow crossing Europe
From geostationary orbit, MTG-I1 followed the Moon’s shadow as it moved across the continent and met the advancing twilight.
The spacecraft’s position about 36,000 kilometres above Earth allowed it to keep Europe and northern Africa in view as the path of totality moved from Greenland and Iceland toward Portugal and Spain.
MTG-I1 occupies geostationary orbit, matching Earth’s rotation so that its instruments repeatedly view Europe and northern Africa from roughly 36,000 kilometres above the planet. That continuous perspective is designed for weather monitoring, but it also made the satellite an ideal witness to the eclipse.
In the short ESA sequence, the lunar shadow moves across the surface and converges with the advancing boundary of evening. Ground observers experienced only the few minutes around their own location; the satellite captured the geometry of the event unfolding across a much larger region.
The observation also previews the wider Meteosat Third Generation system. ESA noted that MTG-I2 was scheduled for an Ariane 6 launch on 27 August 2026. The programme’s main purpose is operational meteorology, yet unusual events like an eclipse provide an intuitive demonstration of its rapid imaging capability.
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