Also See: New Photos of August 1 Eclipse >>

July 31, 2008—The sun's usually unseen outer atmosphere, the corona, blazes in the South African sky during a total solar eclipse on December 4, 2002.

Another total eclipse of the sun will be visible from a narrow arc spanning the Northern Hemisphere on Friday, August 1, 2008. Across a much wider swath of the globe—including northeastern North America along with most of Europe and Asia—people will be able to see a partial eclipse.

Scientists value total eclipses, in part because they provide a rare glimpse of the corona, which is usually obscured by the glow of the sun.