Sun eclipsed by Earth from the SDO. Image of the Sun being eclipsed by the Earth as seen from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). The SDO is an Earth-orbiting spacecraft launched in 2010 by NASA and used to observe the Sun. It orbits the Earth in a geosynchronous orbit. This motion around the Earth, combined with the motion of the Moon around Earth and the Earth around the Sun creates opportunities for it to experience eclipses in the same way as the Earth itself experiences them due to its motion. Imaged on 11th March 2013.