View of crescent-shaped shadows from partial solar eclipse in US

Ryan Crescent Eclipse Shadows 10/16

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — This past Saturday, many were treated to the partial solar eclipse across the country.

The eclipse from Oregon to Texas was annular, which means the sun wasn’t completely covered.

Despite a lot of cloud cover in central Indiana, some of us lucked out with the partial solar eclipse breaking through the clouds at times. Our peak of the eclipse was at 1:02 p.m. Saturday, which had over 44% of the sun covered here in Indianapolis.

Other spots in the country that had less cloud cover could see a cool phenomenon within the shadows. Crescent-shaped shadows were noted by multiple National Weather Service offices in the United States.

Photos of the crescent shape shadows

(Provided Photo/National Weather Service office in Cheyenne, Wyoming)
(Provided Photo/National Weather Service office in Shreveport, Louisiana)
(Provided Photo/National Weather Service office in Tampa, Florida)

What happened?

The crescent shadows were caused by tiny spaces between tree leaves, which creates a pinhole effect. That pinhole effect projects crescents during the partial eclipses, especially noticeable on tree shadows.

On April 8, Hoosiers should see these shadows in the lead-up to the total solar eclipse, assuming we do not have cloud cover in place.

Even more interesting in areas that saw the complete annular eclipse, temperatures dropped a few degrees, as the Amarillo weather service noted on the X platform.

Total solar eclipse path on April 8, 2024