Venus and Jupiter, the two brightest planets in the sky this month, will be joined by tiny Mercury for a rare celestial show.
The Kepler spacecraft lost the second of four wheels that control the telescope's orientation in space.
The powerful solar flare erupted on the side of the sun that was not facing Earth.
The moon glided between the Earth and sun, blocking everything but a dazzling ring of light.
The celestial spectacle is the second solar eclipse visible from northern Australia in six months.
A recently discovered comet is racing toward a November rendezvous with the sun.