"Snap It!" Solar Eclipse Photography Game

On April 8, 2024, a total solar eclipse was visible to over 30 million people across North America. To help kids learn about solar eclipses, NASA created Snap It! An Eclipse Photo Adventure.

The Snap It! game – designed for ages 7 and up – lets players help out the Traveler, an enthusiastic character who loves to explore the universe. The Traveler has previously learned about black holes and is now visiting Earth to learn about eclipses.

Through taking photos of the Sun and decorating postcards, the goal of this game is to learn about eclipses and objects that transit, or pass in front of, the Sun. The game can be played on any computer using an internet browser.

You can also play "Snap it! An Eclipse Photo Adventure" and learn more about solar eclipses at the NASA Space Place website: spaceplace.nasa.gov/snap-it-eclipse-game.

During the 3-minute gameplay, players snap photos of objects that pass in front of the Sun. Each time the game is played, players experience either a partial eclipse, an annular eclipse, or if they’re lucky, time slows down and they get to see the Sun’s atmosphere, known as the solar corona, around a total solar eclipse. The game shows real imagery of the Sun taken by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory, or SDO, and a real total solar eclipse image.

During gameplay, other objects also transit across the Sun, including NASA spacecraft, planets, hot air balloons, birds, butterflies, and more. These transiting objects are roughly accurate in size to what you would see with your eyes, challenging players to zoom in to see tiny, distant satellites streaking across the sky, and to zoom out to capture the Sun in all its glory.

Players can also flip through various filters, just like a phone camera app, but these filters are the ones actually used by SDO to view solar flares, sunspots, and more. Players can learn the science of light while also choosing colorful backgrounds for their photos.

Players build a photo album across multiple sessions of gameplay and can assemble postcards using those photos and fun stickers that they can send to the Traveler’s home world. They can also download the postcard to share with friends. This feature allows players to share their results with each other and define what success looks like for themselves.