This photo, taken during a solar eclipse, captures Baily's beads, a result of shafts of sunlight that just barely visible past the edge of the moon. The cratered lunar surface breaks up the slender slice of light peeking through, resulting in a bumpy appearance.

The beads only last for a few seconds, at the beginning and the end of an eclipse. Fred Espenak, who took this photo, has traveled around the world to view and photograph more than 20 eclipses.